Bishop calls for greater South West investment

THE Bishop of Exeter has challenged the Government on its ‘Levelling-Up’ plans for the South West in a debate in the House of Lords.

The Rt Rev Robert Atwell, who became one of the 26 Lords Spiritual last November, was granted the hourlong debate after putting forward the motion: “The Lord Bishop of Exeter to ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their ‘levelling up’ plans for the South West of England.”

Bishop Robert said people in the South West were losing out in education, housing, farming, transport, digital infrastructure and life chances for the young.

“I support the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ strategy,” he told the House of Lords. “However, the narrative accompanying it continues to focus on the North-South divide to the neglect of other regional inequities and the unacknowledged urban-rural fault line that runs through many Government’s policies.

“The South-West has a number of reasonably sized conurbations around which our hospitals and services constellate. Between them is a patchwork of market towns, villages and hamlets served by a rail network that is vulnerable to the weather and poor public transport that disadvantages poorer residents and young people who wish to engage in educational and apprenticeship opportunities.

“A fundamental question is whether the Government’s strategy for targeted interventions actually reaches into this rural hinterland to effect change.”

Bishop Robert also cited the vulnerabilities and health inequalities of some of the region’s coastal communities and the shortage of affordable housing in Cornwall and areas like

Devon’s South Hams and Ilfracombe in North Devon.

He concluded: “We need the Government’s help to address the historic and current under-resourcing of the region.”

In response, Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, Minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, rejected the suggestion too little was being invested in the South West, saying the sums promised were “staggering.”

He went on: “There is an initial £131million investment through round one of the levelling-up fund – that is money. The towns fund is investing £198 million across nine towns in the South West – that is money.

“Eleven places in the South West have received over £138.5 million of funding through the future high streets fund – that is money. There is £92.6 million allocated to the South West through the getting building fund – that is money.”

Lord Greenhalgh also said that the Government was due to publish a second report on “rural-proofing England” imminently: “It will set out how government departments are working to support levelling up in rural areas through targeted approaches where needed, and how we are strengthening the rural economies,” he said.

He also acknowledged the valuable role of the Church, particularly in education. The Right Reverend Prelate mentioned the diocesan schools. “We have wonderful voluntary aided schools that provide first-class opportunities within the maintained sector for young people to get on in life. Long may that continue,” he said.