Questions have been raised about the amount of money Teesside will get from the funds that will substitute for EU cash.
The spotlight has been placed on the “Levelling Up” agenda – thanks to the release of a comprehensive white paper on Tuesday that spells out goals to boost the quality of education, skills jobs, infrastructure, and education over the next ten years.
However, it appears that the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) has expressed concerns about funding for Teesside and the North of England after analyzing the issue with a Teesside University think-tank and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Their research looked at the combination of EU funds, specifically the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as well as the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Local Growth Fund between 2014 and 2020/21.
The study was complemented by projections of future funding with an eye at the cash coming from the newly launched Shared Prosperity Fund and Levelling Up Fund.
The study predicted that the Tees Valley could see annual funding reduced from PS46m to PS21m, a reduction of about PS37 per person each year.
Henri Murison, from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “This shows in pounds and pence the disparity between the rhetoric and the reality of the agenda to level up and broken promises about keeping regional investment after Brexit.
“Many of the regions which are at risk of losing in the current formula for funding are those that are needing serious investment. This calls for a swift change to ensure the areas are re-leveled and not sunk.”
“At the very minimum, Government needs to keep its word regarding the matching of EU funding. The EU funding should not compete with other regions through bidding competition, but instead, be transferred to metropolitan mayors who can allocate funds more efficiently in areas such as skill development.”
But, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen claimed that the gap that was being discussed was only a theoretical issue – discussing funding that had not been announced until now.
The Conservative mayor said: “I’ll always ask for the most we can.
“Teesside should be given its fair share, as it has not received investments for a long time under the governments of both hues.
“At at a minimum we shouldn’t be in any way and we should be able to get the same amount of money we were before.
“Realistically we should get more!”
EU structure funds are spent up to 2023.
Government officials also say that more information about the Shared Prosperity Fund will be released “in due course”.
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson stated: “Once EU funding ends it is expected that this UK Shared Prosperity Fund – with a value of more than PS2.6bn – will at a minimum match the receipts of EU structural funds. This was around PS1.5bn annually.
“We have also announced other new investment schemes to help level the playing field for the nation, including a PS200 million Community Renewal Fund, PS150m Community Ownership Fund, PS200 millions Community Renewal Fund, PS150m Community Ownership Fund, a PS4.8bn Levelling Up Fund, PS2.3bn Towns Fund, and PS830m Future High Streets Fund.
“Alongside commitments to support regional finance funds across the UK via the British Business Bank, this exceeds the UK Government’s commitment to matching EU structural fund receipts for each nation.”
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