With pre-Budget battle lines drawn and firmly occupied in the run-up to 20 March, a group of cross-party MPs have put aside political differences and given their firm support for Lord Heseltine's proposals to devolve funding for local growth in a report published last week.
The collection of articles introduced by Lord Heseltine sees prominent MPs, including several Shadow Ministers, discuss the benefits of decentralisation and the need for greater freedoms on spending and investment at a local level.
Recognising the importance of the local growth agenda to our economic recovery, the government is expected to publish its response to Lord Heseltine's review of growth alongside the Budget.
Lord Heseltine said in his foreword, "The support for my recommendations shown in these articles is very timely. The Government will shortly give their response to my report, and the battle lines in Whitehall are drawn as I predicted. I am pleased by the cross-party support demonstrated here."
Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Local Growth, Caroline Dinenage MP said:
"This publication shows the strength of the cross-party consensus in favour of moving money and power from Whitehall to where they can be of most use in driving growth on the ground. This is an unprecedented window of opportunity and we look forward to a response from government that matches the ambition of Lord Heseltine's proposals and paves the way for a more place-based, locally driven approach to investment in business, skills and infrastructure."
The publication is available here