Call for regional enterprise partnership to be given more funding

POLITICAL LEADERS and top business figures in the region aiming to promote economic growth want the Government to guarantee that funding increases after Brexit compared to what they already receive from the EU.

The Government has announced the creation of a new UK Shared Prosperity Funding after Brexit, but Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) wants its allocated funds to exceed the amount that the region currently receives from European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF).

The LEP is also calling for a reduction in red tape around future funding, giving local areas the freedom to allocate funding according to their own priorities and plans.

The Leeds City Region – which includes the areas of Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Selby, Wakefield and York – currently receives £350m of ESIF cash over six years to promote economic growth, social inclusion and rural development. The region also receives more than £100m in Growth Funding annually.

Roger Marsh OBE, chairman of the LEP, said: “Through our ESIF allocation and our £1bn Growth Deal, we’ve shown what we can achieve and it’s critical that we maintain this momentum after Brexit and beyond.

“Any financial loss if funding is stopped, paused or of less value, could have a significant impact on businesses, employment and skills.”

Projects which have been allocated ESIF funding in the Leeds City Region since 2014 are forecast to create more than 8,000 jobs and support more than 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises by 2020, said the LEP.