Levelling Up White Paper delayed

This article for appeared in the Times

Boris Johnson faces another wait to unveil his levelling up white paper as Downing Street prepares for the start of this year to be dominated again by coronavirus.

The government had hoped that the document of more than 100 pages, marking the first attempt to flesh out the prime minister’s slogan, would be its first major intervention of the year.

The paper, being written by Michael Gove, the secretary for housing, communities and levelling up, is now more likely to be published later this month.

Johnson promised last May that it would be published by the end of the year. It emerged in December, however, that the white paper had slipped back to this year.

Gove, now in his sixth cabinet position since becoming education secretary in 2010, was handed the task of taking charge of the prime minister’s key domestic drive in the reshuffle last September. He was given the renamed and expanded role of levelling up secretary.

He has clashed with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, over whether any new money should be available for the agenda, leaving officials trying to develop plans within the existing government budgets.

Gove’s department was given a real-terms budget increase in the October spending review but the £4.8 billion levelling-up fund was left untouched.

Johnson held talks with Gove about the paper at Chequers over the festive period, The Sunday Times reported.

A Whitehall source told the newspaper: “There are some bold policies in there on how to make tangible change to communities and transform town centres in places that have been undervalued and overlooked for years.”