Section 1 — Statement of levelling-up missions

(1) A Minister of the Crown must prepare, and lay before each House of Parliament, a statement of levelling-up missions.

(2) A “statement of levelling-up missions” is a document which sets out—

(a) objectives which His Majesty’s Government intends to pursue to reduce geographical disparities in the United Kingdom significantly (“levelling-up missions”), within a period specified in the statement (the “mission period”), and

(b) details of how His Majesty’s Government proposes to measure progress in delivering those levelling-up missions (the “mission progress methodology and metrics”).

(3) In the course of preparing a statement of levelling-up missions, the Minister of the Crown must have regard to—

(a) the importance of the levelling-up missions in the statement (taken as a whole) addressing both economic and social disparities in opportunities or outcomes, and

(b) the needs of rural areas.

(4) The mission period for a statement of levelling-up missions must not—

(a) begin before the statement has been laid before each House of Parliament, nor

(b) be shorter than five years.

(5) A statement of levelling-up missions must specify a target date for the delivery of each of the levelling-up missions in it, which may be before or at the end of the mission period.

(6) If different target dates are specified under subsection (5) for different levelling-up missions, the statement of levelling-up missions must give reasons for the different dates.

(7) The first statement of levelling-up missions must come into effect before the end of the period of one month beginning with the day on which this section comes into force.

(8) A statement of levelling-up missions comes into effect when—

(a) the statement has been laid before each House of Parliament and published by a Minister of the Crown, and

(b) the mission period in the statement begins.

(9) Before the end of the mission period in a statement of levelling-up missions (“the old statement”), a Minister of the Crown must prepare a new statement of levelling-up missions, lay it before each House of Parliament and publish it.

(10) The mission period in the new statement of levelling-up missions must begin no later than immediately after the end of the mission period in the old statement.

(11) When the new statement of levelling-up missions comes into effect it replaces the old statement, which ceases to have effect.

(12) References in this Part to the current statement of levelling-up missions are to the statement of levelling-up missions for the time being in effect.