A County Durham MP will play a key role in ensuring left-behind areas of the UK will receive investment to redevelop communities and improve living standards.
Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison has begun work as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.
Her role sees her responsible for key aspects of the department such as delivering funding to help towns and cities redevelop vital public services and venues as well as breathing new life into dilapidated high streets. Funds included in her remit are the: UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), Levelling Up Fund (LUF), and the Community Ownership Fund (COF).
Ms Davison will also work on potential devolution deals and county deals, which is especially pertinent due to her own county council’s desire to strike a similar deal.
January’s Levelling Up White Paper said Durham County Council will be invited to agree a new county deal as part of plans to provide more power to the region in a “devolution revolution” with the offer of a London-style deal for any area of England that wants one.
Yet the council is yet to agree a deal, with councillors now concerned over whether a deal will happen.
Read more: Another row breaks out over plan for County Durham £3bn devolution deal
Labour leaders have called on Durham County Council to reject a "supersized" region-wide devolution deal, and has now launched a county-wide consultation to find out the public's views.
Council leader Councillor Amanda Hopgood said discussions with the government over devolution were expected to resume in the coming weeks, having been halted following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
But the Labour opposition says it fears one mayor covering the "enormous patch" of seven councils in the region would concentrate power in Tyneside.
They have urged the Conservative, Lib Dem and independent joint administration leading Durham County Council to secure a unique county-only deal, a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to become masters of our own destiny".
The Bishop Auckland MP joins Secretary of State Simon Clarke, Middlesbrough South and east Cleveland MP, on the department.
In a post on social media, Ms Davison MP said: “Getting stuck in as Levelling Up Minister.
“I will do all I can to make sure people from all corners of the UK have opportunities to get on.
“Chuffed to work with Simon Clarke, our fab ministers, and our brilliant officials to make levelling up a reality.”
Read next:
The devolution debate that Durham has to resolve
Durham County Council calls for government help as it faces £15m overspend
Many Durham schools 'will struggle to balance budgets next year'
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