Conservatives’ manifesto pledge sparks jobs fear
FEARS are growing that around 200 civil service jobs could be lost in Merthyr Tydfil if a re-elected Conservative government were to press ahead with plans to directly fund replacement regional aid projects in Wales after Brexit.
The Tory manifesto says the party would set up a “United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund” to help poorer UK regions like west Wales and the Valleys, which has received three successive rounds of EU “structural funds” aimed at increasing prosperity.
The manifesto states: “We believe in one nation – in helping every part of our country share in the prosperity and opportunity of our great UK.
“Yet there is much to do. Current EU-wide structural funding was designed to tackle disparities, but it is expensive to administer and poorly targeted.
“As we leave the EU, we must look at how we can better reduce and eliminate these inequalities.
“We will use the structural fund money that comes back to the UK following Brexit to create a UK Shared Prosperity Fund, specifically designed to reduce inequalities between communities across our four nations. The money that is spent will help deliver sustainable, inclusive growth based on our modern industrial strategy.”
The manifesto goes on to state that a UK Conservative government would consult widely on the design of the fund, including with the devolved administrations, local authorities, businesses and public bodies.
The section concludes: “The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be cheap to administer, low in bureaucracy and targeted where it will be needed most.”
As yet, the Conservatives have not been more specific about their plans, but if a new aid programme is run directly by Whitehall, existing arrangements will presumably cease.
Currently structural funds in Wales are administered by the Welsh European Funding Office (Wefo), a branch of the Welsh Government, whose main office is at Rhydycar Business Park in Merthyr Tydfil. Wefo employs around 200 civil servants.
A Welsh Labour spokeswoman said: “Every day since their botched Welsh manifesto launch, the Tories have been trying to dodge the issue of EU funding. But with every botched briefing and evasion, the truth is becoming increasingly clear. On funding, [Welsh Secretary] Alun Cairns has repeatedly refused to commit to the Tory promise that Wales will not lose a penny of EU funding following Brexit. Meanwhile, on the issue of allocating funding, it is clearer by the day that the Tories are trampling all over the devolved arrangements around economic development, not only launching a cash grab but a power grab. The Tory ‘shared prosperity fund’ is, in truth, anything but.
“Welsh Labour in Government, and Welsh Labour MPs in Westminster, will oppose vigorously any Tory attempt to steal money or responsibility from Wales.”
The spokeswoman pointed out that the Welsh Government has repeatedly made it clear that it expects to receive full compensation from the UK Government for the £680m of needs-based European structural and investment funds, together with Common Agricultural Policy funding it receives each year from the EU and which will be lost after Brexit.
The spokeswoman said: “Economic development is clearly a devolved issue. In line with both main UK parties’ commitments that there should be no diminution of the scope of devolved policies after Brexit, we will not accept diktats from Whitehall as to how these resources should be used. The structural funds have played a hugely positive role in economic development in Wales over the last two decades.”