Northern leaders want levelling up to be enshrined in law

The concept of levelling up should be "hard wired" into UK law to help close the gap in living standards, northern leaders have said.

The mayors and council leaders said the current system that sees towns and cities bidding for government cash was "unfair" and should be scrapped.

They will outline their demand at the Convention of the North conference in Manchester later.

The government said it was "absolutely committed" to its levelling up project.

The call comes after a report by the IPPR said the North of England receives one of the lowest levels of investment for an advanced economy.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and his Labour counterpart Lisa Nandy will both address the convention.

The government announced the latest tranche of levelling up funding last week, but some areas complained they had not received a fair share.

Northern mayors Andy Burnham, Oliver Coppard, Tracy Brabin, Steve Rotheram and Jamie Driscoll have joined together in a bid to heap fresh pressure on Whitehall.

Mr Burnham said: "Hard-wiring levelling up into UK law would move us away from policy by press release and start to tackle the unequal living standards we have in our country.

"Our own history has shown us that, too often, the north struggles to get to the top of the government's to-do list - whichever political party is in charge."

North of Tyne Mayor Mr Driscoll said: "We must bin the beauty pageant of competitive bidding between councils.

"We need to replace it with a new social settlement that finally proves to the apprentice in Blyth that they are just as important to the future of this country as the graduate in Kensington."

Mr Coppard, South Yorkshire's mayor, added: "If you live in Rotherham you're likely to die five years earlier than if you live in Richmond. If you live in Barnsley you're paid £600 less a month than if you live in Berkshire."

Last week, the West Midlands' mayor Andy Street began setting out the message by calling for an end to Whitehall's "broken begging bowl culture".

A Department for Levelling Up spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to our levelling up missions, which are clearly defined, measurable and will be recognised in law.

"They are underpinned by robust public metrics that will hold this and future governments to account and we are committed to publishing an annual report on progress.

He said the scheme was designed to "shift power away from Whitehall and into the hands of local leaders".

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk