Doubts over how UK will replace EU regional funds

WITH less than six months to go until the UK leaves EU funding programmes, the Government still hasn’t revealed how hundreds of millions of pounds earmarked for the West Midlands will be replaced.

Think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said it was “concerning” that regions still didn’t know what funding they can expect.

The West Midlands region was allocated £909 million from EU funds between 2014 and 2020, and the Government promised the cash would be replaced by a new UK scheme.

According to IFS researchers, the Midlands – and the Black Country in particular – should be near the head of the queue for funding from any replacement scheme.

It said: “Most urban and former industrial parts of the Midlands and the North score poorly across a range of indicators and will receive above-average funding irrespective of the specific weights applied to them. The Black Country stands out as an area that would be in the top three in terms of per person funding if either deprivation, education, employment, pay or productivity were used to allocate funding.”

But there is concern the Government still hasn’t explained how the new funding scheme will work.

David Phillips, of the IFS and an author of the report, said: “With less than six months until it will have to be in place, it is therefore disconcerting that detailed proposals have yet to be consulted on, let alone finalised and approved.”

The Government has announced plans for a new Shared Prosperity Fund. However, it has not confirmed how much money will be available or how it will be shared out.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said the Government intended to give the bulk of the funding to regions with mayors. But a white paper setting out devolution plans is now not expected until the autumn.