UK Shared Prosperity Fund From The EU - Uncertainty Over Replacement Funding

3rd July 2020

You may know little but huge sums of money about EU funding came to the UK from the EU. Highland in particular gain funds under several headings. Did people who voted to leave the EU really understand the magnitude for Highland with the loss of EU funding that is approaching very soon now.

The UK has left the EU and it will no longer receive support from the European Structural Funds. The purpose of these funds is to "invest in job creation and a sustainable and healthy European economy and environment." . In Scotland, they have played a vital role in reducing disparities across different parts of the country for over 40 years.

Under the current 2014-2020 programme Scotland benefits from over £780m of such funding through the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. This provides investment for key policies such as our Modern Apprenticeship schemes and our Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme. The loss of this funding will have a significant impact on the ability of local authorities, community groups, funding bodies and enterprise and skills agencies to deliver the kinds of initiatives that will drive inclusive economic growth and promote wellbeing and cohesion in communities across Scotland.

The UK Government has indicated its intention to provide successor funding to EU Structural Funds through its proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund but there is little or no detail as yet on the scale, objectives or allocation of such funding.

Commenting on the news that the Scottish Government have sought urgent clarification from the UK Government about the replacement of EU Structural funds, Cllr Margaret Davidson, Leader of the Highland Council said:

"The Highlands have benefited considerably from access to EU structural funds which recognised the particular challenges facing the Highlands & islands and saw us given the highest level "Objective 1" status during previous EU funding programmes. Even then the constraints that we faced were deemed significant enough to still justify a higher level of support provided through Transition status.

"We need a replacement programme, not a lesser programme, but a programme that recognises the specific challenges that the Highlands face. We need a programme that provides the support and funding that allows us to not only recover from this pandemic, but to grow our economy and sustain our communities.

"I would echo the Scottish Government's call for clarity over what will replace these EU funds. Time is running out and they need to get on with it."