Boris Johnson's Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove says he hopes people in the North East will feel they've been treated fairly when his Government reveals how much post-Brexit regeneration funding is coming to the region.
Speaking at the Convention of the North conference in Liverpool, senior Tory Mr Gove was challenged by Durham County Council leader Amanda Hopgood about how the UK's Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) would be divided equally.
Recent analysis by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership suggests that every region in England except Cornwall risks seeing a big drop in its funding when more details emerge about the successor to the UK's European Union funding.
Eight out of 10 of the areas that stand to see the biggest cuts per person are in the North, with the Tees Valley standing to lose the most, equivalent to roughly £19 per person a year. The North East stands to lose £17 per person a year.
Ms Hopgood, the recently-elected Liberal Democrat leader of Durham County Council, told the audience of Northern leaders in Liverpool that her area was one of those in talks over a devolution 'county deal'.
And she asked Mr Gove: "My question is about the Shared Prosperity Fund and how are we going to make sure that's divided equally, especially for those areas who have lost out significantly from the European funding?"
Mr Gove, who said in his speech that the North was "where the action is" and pledged to visit the area much more in the coming months, said he wanted the UKSPF to be distributed to mayors and also local authorities.
He said: "We're committed to making sure that there is no diminution in the amount that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Cornwall receive in real terms.
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"But we're also going to be talking too, and I believe (Levelling Up Minister) Neil O'Brien will be leading this, local authorities to make sure that not just the UKSPF, but other shifts in how Government supports not just local government, but more broadly, individual actors across the North and Midlands is fair.
"So I hope when we are discussing in the round, where we're shifting funding and why we're shifting funding, people will see that it's fair.
"I know that Neil will be talking directly to you and colleagues in County Durham not just about the county deal but also the UKSPF and other funding."
In his speech, Mr Gove called on “red and blue” to unite as he spoke to leaders in the North about Government plans for “levelling up”.
The politician was introduced by Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram, who jokingly compared him to new Everton manager Frank Lampard as he welcomed the “true blue” to Merseyside.
Mr Gove spoke about plans to improve transport, digital connectivity, research and development, public health, urban regeneration and to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in the North and Midlands.
He said: “We simply can’t go on with the gulf between rich and poor, North and South, growing. It is not simply a matter of social justice, it is also a matter of economic efficiency.
“Inevitably in the course of however many years we take to meet that mission there will be arguments between left and right, between red and blue, but ultimately we are all on the same team and that is a team committed to making sure opportunity is more equal across the whole of our United Kingdom.”
Mr Gove said the North of the country would be where “political action” was for the next nine years and beyond and vowed to empower regional political and business leaders.
He said: “You cannot achieve positive change in all of these areas if you simply rely on a centre to direct investment, to intervene, to determine and to dictate.”
He told the conference the Government had to act to tackle inequalities in different parts of the country.
He said: “If you leave the free play market forces entirely to themselves then what you see is inequality grow, in particular geographical inequality growing as well.”
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Asked if he recognised the role previous government cuts had played in some of the problems, Mr Gove said: “I can quite understand why communities which were already facing a tough time, facing a uniquely tough time during austerity, will be at best sceptical, at worst cynical about the Government’s commitment to level up.
“All I would say is judge us on our actions in the future.”
He added: “I entirely understand why people in Liverpool will require convincing that the Government is serious, it’s part of my job to do that.”
His speech came after a 330-page White Paper was published last week detailing plans to “level up” the country and narrow the vast regional disparities faced across the UK.
The plans included “missions” to be completed by 2030 to meet the “levelling up” aim promised as part of Boris Johnson’s 2019 election campaign.
But the plans were criticised by some, including Mr Rotheram, who said: “If ‘levelling up’ was supposed to be the Prime Minister’s defining mission then I am sorry to say that it is going to be mission impossible with this thin gruel on offer.”
