Levelling-up Secretary Michael Gove has accused Ipswich's Labour council of failing to deliver for residents because of delays with getting Town Deal projects up and running.

Answering a question in the House of Commons from Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, Mr Gove said the government had not seen the progress it had expected from the deal which was first announced in 2019.

Ipswich council announced the launch of a fund to find new uses for empty units in the town centre in January - four years after the Town Fund was first proposed by former Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick.

Mr Hunt had said: "We are still desperately waiting for delivery on the ground.

"When bodies other than the Labour-led council are responsible for projects, they are delivered, no problem, but when the council is in the driving seat, what we see is no delivery.

"Whether it is cock-up or conspiracy, it is not good enough." 

Mr Gove replied: "(Mr Hunt) is a Bonnie Fighter for Ipswich, and he is absolutely right about, for instance, the local shopping parades project and the former R&W Paul Silo building.

"I am afraid that we have not seen the progress that we would expect.

"It is indeed the case that the Labour Council in Ipswich is not delivering for the people of Ipswich in the way that (Mr Hunt) so brilliantly does."

He added that Ipswich was an area that deserved investment which had been overlooked and undervalued under Labour Governments. 

Ipswich council's Labour leader Neil MacDonald said that three of the 10 Ipswich Town Deal projects have completed, including the Post Office conversion to the Botanist, which was led by IBC - which was better than the national average.

He said nationally only 20% of Town Deal projects had been completed by the start of March.

And he added: "Since the Tory government mis-handled the economy, many capital projects have had financial gaps, and Paul’s Silo is no different.

"Ipswich council has worked hard to fill funding multi-million pound gaps on both Broomhill Pool and Ipswich Museum. The borough has already started on work to close the financial gap on the Silo."