Extract from
Committee stage (Lords) of the Agriculture Bill
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs () (Con):...The
Government intend to introduce the UK shared prosperity fund to
replace EU structural funds. I said on Tuesday that its design will
take into account the dynamics of rural economies and the
particular challenges faced by rural communities. Defra and MHCLG
are engaging with rural stakeholders to support development of the
evidence base around which the needs of rural communities can be
properly catered for. This is another very important way in which
the rural economy will be supported...
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Extracts from Estimates
day debate on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local
Government: Departmental Spending
(Glasgow East) (SNP):
I am grateful to the Chair of the Select
Committee, the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), for
opening today’s debate, which has certainly been wide-ranging and
informative in terms of scrutinising MHCLG policy. I want to use my
speech to touch on three areas of policy and spending, relating
mainly to the shared prosperity fundthe stronger
towns fund and, latterly, homelessness.
Yesterday was a set-piece day on which the Chancellor came
forward and made some big spending commitments, some of which I
certainly welcome. However, as always with this Government, they
are very good at announcements but less so on the delivery and
the detail. There is perhaps no greater example of that than the
much-vaunted UK shared prosperity fund details
of which have been conspicuous by their absence, to say the
least.
The reality is that we face the very real prospect of crashing
out of the European Union at the turn of the year, and still no
meaningful details have been outlined about the future of funding
for our communities. As a member of the European Union, the UK
received structural funding worth about £2.1 billion per year.
Scotland itself has benefited from billions in European
structural fund money since joining the EU in 1973. These funds
have been used to support getting people into work and out of
poverty, improving their education and skills, and investing in
our infrastructure and our communities. They have come from the
regional development fund, which promotes balanced development
across the EU, and the European social fund, which invests in
employment-related projects.
Analysis from the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions
estimates that the UK would have been entitled to approximately
€13 billion of regional development funding in the 2021 to 2027
period if it had stayed in the EU. The same analysis shows that
Scotland will lose over €840 million by 2027, with the highlands
and islands alone losing €130 million. It is therefore urgent
that the UK Government outline what the shared prosperity
fund will look like, how it will operate, the level of
funding it will manage and whether that funding will be
allocated. It is essential that the fund is no less in real terms
than the EU funding it replaces. I hope when he sums up that the
Minister will be able to update us on the future of the
shared prosperity fund because communities
cannot be left in the dark any longer...
The Minister of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government ( ):...On the comments from the SNP Front Bench, I can
also confirm that we will publish our White Paper on devolution
and local recovery in the autumn, which will address issues
concerning the UK shared prosperity fund
which I should point out is our money, top-sliced and sent back
to us by the EU. None the less, we will provide detail on that.
Clearly, it is very important and he can rest assured we are
working hard to work out how we can safely allocate that money,
but we made a commitment in our manifesto at the general
election that no part of the UK would receive
less from the shared prosperity
fund than they currently do under EU
structural funds...
(Sheffield South East) (Lab):...Finally, I want to pick up on the
shared prosperity fund. No area
should get less than it gets now, but no area should get less
than it would have got under the new arrangements that would have
come into place if we had remained in the EU. That is a very
important point for South Yorkshire, and I hope that the Minister
will consider it....
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