A new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Post-Brexit
Funding for Nations, Regions and Local Areas has warned the UK
government against short-changing Britain’s most disadvantaged
communities when it comes to replacing European Union
investment.
The promised UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UK SPF) will replace the
EU’s regional development money from 2021 as promised in the 2017
Conservative manifesto, but there are increased fears of a
Westminster “money grab”. The UK government must find £1.8bn per
year to replace EU funding for the UK’s poorest regions, but that
figure will reach £4bn per year should the government merge the
Local Growth Fund for England into the UK SPF – a move that
government officials are giving serious consideration.
The a cross-party group of MPs is demanding that the most deprived
areas of the UK receive “not a penny less” than Britain would have
been in line to receive had it voted to remain, but the possibility
of combining existing UK-managed funds with the new UK SPF has led
to fears of double-counting. There were already fears that funding
for the UK SPF funding may fall short of the EU’s projected
2021-2027 budget, given that three areas of the UK – Lincolnshire,
South Yorkshire and Tees Valley & Durham – have now fallen into
a higher priority category and would therefore receive more money
in the next tranche than they each did between 2014 and 2020.
The APPG also fears a Westminster “power grab” with decision making
powers that would most naturally sit with the devolved nations
being appropriated by the UK government. These fears have been
compounded by the fact that the UK government has delayed its
planned consultation on the UK SPF until after decisions have been
made regarding the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review;
details will now not be published until 2020. This has left
stakeholders without a formal voice on the financing, structure and
management of the UK SPF with many groups across the UK also now in
limbo regarding their plans for future funding.
, the MP for Aberavon and the
chair of the APPG on Post-Brexit Funding for Nations, Regions and
Local Areas who has recently written to the Chancellor expressing
these concerns, said:
“The EU structural funding has been a lifeline for the least
developed parts of the UK, not least in Aberavon where the EU’s
£264m funding per year for West Wales and the Valleys has helped
fund important projects such as the Croeserw community enterprise
centre, the Swansea Bay Campus, and the renovation of Port Talbot
Parkway station.
“The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is set to replace EU funding, but
the government has failed to give any commitments on the level of
funding or how the fund will be managed. Now we’re told we must
wait until 2020. The uncertainty has increased concerns that the
UK SPF will be used as a political ‘slush fund’ where politicians
play pork barrel politics rather than ensure the funds reach the
communities who need it most.
“Now we’re hearing that the government might roll in the Local
Growth Fund with the UK SPF, meaning that the fund may need to
comprise £4bn per year if the government is to avoid
short-changing the British public and falling behind our European
neighbours. We urge the government to reconsider whether merging
an England-only fund with a UK-wide fund is logical, and to
recognise that rolling the two funds into one would inevitably
create confusion and raise serious doubts about transparency and
double-counting.
“Our APPG’s message is clear: not a penny less for poorer
regions, not a power less for the devolved administrations.”
, the MP for Leigh and Vice Chair
of the APPG on Post-Brexit Funding for Nations, Regions and Local
Areas said:
“After nine years of brutal austerity, EU structural funding has
become a key source of investment across the UK, and in
post-industrial towns such as Leigh it has become a lifeline.
“Our towns have seen the gradual decline of their voice in
Whitehall which is why the APPG is so concerned that their Shared
Prosperity Fund proposals could further erode the agency and
empowerment that is so essential if our communities are ever
going to take back control.
“The new Government, led by the figurehead of the campaign to
leave the EU, now has a responsibility to deliver their
referendum promises and match or exceed the levels of funding and
investment our communities would have received were we to remain
in the EU.”
The APPG as a whole has signed off the report. The other Vice
Chairs are Bill Grant, MP for Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock
(Conservative), for Glasgow South West
(SNP), , MP for Cardiff North
(Labour). Please contact the MP’s offices directly for
comment.
Notes to editor
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Attached is the APPG’s report ‘A note on the financing of the UK
SPF’ which is referenced above.
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Also attached is the groups’s initial report on the UK SPF from
November 2018 which includes 18 questions the government needs to
answer regarding the UK SPF.
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Also attached is a recent letter to the Chancellor expressing
these concerns.
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The Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Post-Brexit
Funding for Nations, Regions and Local Areas is . The Vice-Chairs are:
(Conservative), Ayr,
Carrick & Cumnock
(Labour) Cardiff North
(Labour) Leigh
Chris Stephens (SNP) Glasgow South West
