Friday, October 02, 2020
Will Wales be left high and dry by Brexit funding deal?
The BBC report on the conclusions of parliament's Welsh Affairs Committee that "negligible" progress has been made by the UK government to replace EU funds in Wales after Brexit.
They say that the committee views the absence of detailed plans to replace £375m a year in European funding as showing a "lack of priority":
Currently, Wales and other nations in the European Union receive EU Structural Funds to support economic development - such as infrastructure, businesses and skills - with poorer regions receiving greater investment.
With higher levels of economic deprivation, Wales received five times more in funding per person than England between 2014 and 2020.
This funding is coming to an end as the UK has now left the EU and the Brexit transition period finishes on 31 December.
In 2017, UK government ministers pledged to introduce measures to replace the EU cash, known as the Shared Prosperity Fund.
But a new report published by the Welsh Affairs Committee warns, with just three months to go until the end of the transition period, "there is still no substantive detail from UK ministers about their plans and a range of issues remain unsolved".
Conservative, Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs have called for "urgent reassurance" on the new fund to avoid a "cliff-edge to EU funds from January 2021".
They also want a "firm date" for when substantive information about the fund will be made available - including what it will look like, how it will be funded and who will control it.
The committee has set out their key priorities for the fund, including asking for the money to be "needs-based" and "at least the current size of funding in real terms".
MPs also recommended the fund should be administered in co-operation and as a partnership between the UK government, the parliaments in Scotland and Wales, the Northern Ireland Executive, and local authorities.
The committee also said it wanted the funding to be made over an extended period of years to allow "effective planning and delivery"
During the referendum campaign we were told that this issue would not be a problem and that Wales would not lose out because of Brexit. Another broken promise by Johnson's Tory government.
They say that the committee views the absence of detailed plans to replace £375m a year in European funding as showing a "lack of priority":
Currently, Wales and other nations in the European Union receive EU Structural Funds to support economic development - such as infrastructure, businesses and skills - with poorer regions receiving greater investment.
With higher levels of economic deprivation, Wales received five times more in funding per person than England between 2014 and 2020.
This funding is coming to an end as the UK has now left the EU and the Brexit transition period finishes on 31 December.
In 2017, UK government ministers pledged to introduce measures to replace the EU cash, known as the Shared Prosperity Fund.
But a new report published by the Welsh Affairs Committee warns, with just three months to go until the end of the transition period, "there is still no substantive detail from UK ministers about their plans and a range of issues remain unsolved".
Conservative, Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs have called for "urgent reassurance" on the new fund to avoid a "cliff-edge to EU funds from January 2021".
They also want a "firm date" for when substantive information about the fund will be made available - including what it will look like, how it will be funded and who will control it.
The committee has set out their key priorities for the fund, including asking for the money to be "needs-based" and "at least the current size of funding in real terms".
MPs also recommended the fund should be administered in co-operation and as a partnership between the UK government, the parliaments in Scotland and Wales, the Northern Ireland Executive, and local authorities.
The committee also said it wanted the funding to be made over an extended period of years to allow "effective planning and delivery"
During the referendum campaign we were told that this issue would not be a problem and that Wales would not lose out because of Brexit. Another broken promise by Johnson's Tory government.
