Housing committee calls out delay of levelling up white paper

The housing committee group of cross-party MPs has called out levelling up secretary of state Michael Gove for delays in the promised white paper. The Levelling Up White Paper was originally due in autumn 2020. It was then known as the Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper. It has since had a number of setbacks and is expected next year. The committee’s chair Clive Betts and chair of the business, energy and industrial strategy committee, Darren Jones, have penned a letter to Gove demanding to know why the delay was not made clear in recent communications. In November, Gove told Betts and the housing committee that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities would publish the white paper this year. The letter said: “We would like to know why this delay was not mentioned to either committee. It would also be useful to understand what is holding up the publication of such an integral part of the government’s policy agenda.” The committees have asked for information regarding when the white paper will be published and called for a response to the letter by 6 January. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews\ Photo © Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock