Edinburgh West MP calls for leveling up rethink

This comes after a report from Bloomberg found that most UK constituencies have either made no progress or have fallen behind where they were in 2019.

Ms Jardine (Lib Dems) said: “These findings reveal just how far behind the Government is in its pledge to level up. As we recover from the coronavirus pandemic, people are looking to their Government to deliver on the promises of opportunity to their areas and yet, all they can see is stagnation.

“Two and a half years on from the General Election, there still seems to be no plan to improve standards fairly across the country. This is yet another example of the Conservative Government failing to deliver on their promises to the British people.

“We now face the stark reality where many constituencies are falling behind where they were in 2019.

“A change of approach is needed. We should be trusting local authorities and regions by giving them the power to support their own areas so nearly three years of Tory stagnation can be addressed.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “As we continue to recover from the pandemic in the years ahead, it is our central mission to unite and level up our whole country. That will require all levels of government to work together. We are ensuring the Scottish Government is resourced to play its part, with the largest financial settlement in real terms since devolution.”

The spokesperson added: “The UK Government supported all parts of the United Kingdom through the Covid-19 pandemic with a £400 billion package of support, the furlough scheme, and a world-leading vaccine roll-out.

"The new UK Shared Prosperity Fund will empower local leaders across Scotland with £212 million to improve their areas and increase life chances for the people of their communities.”