Councils still ‘in the dark’ over UK Shared Prosperity Fund

A group of councils has vented their frustrations and claimed they are still ‘in the dark’ over the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, just weeks before it is due to go live. 

The Industrial Communities Alliance has written to the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick to express their concern about lack of progress on fund, which is due to replace various pots of EU regeneration cash.

The fund was first announced by the Conservatives in their 2017 general election manifesto, but details remain scant about how the fund will work or how much money will be allocated to it.

The letter warns that the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda cannot be delivered without funding that is strongly targeted at the less prosperous regions and devolved nations.

And it argues that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund needs to be a multi-year settlement to ensure that there is to be the longer-term projects that are often the key to regional and local regeneration.

‘With weeks to go before the Shared Prosperity Fund is due to go live, local authorities and devolved administrations are still in the dark about how this scheme will operate,’ said alliance chair, Cllr Keith Cunliffe.

‘We don’t know how much money will be on the table, how it will be shared out, what it can be spent on and how the scheme is going to work.

‘I appreciate the current pandemic has knocked a lot of government business off course, but to be frank, even before the pandemic, detail and discussion was scarce,’ added Cllr Cunliffe.

‘This scheme is meant to be the flagship of the government’s policy to level up the UK economy and will be crucial in helping those areas who were struggling even before coronavirus rebuild their economies and communities.

‘We need the government to engage now.’

In response, an MHCLG spokesperson said: ‘We’re committed to creating a UK Shared Prosperity Fund that binds together the whole of the UK while tackling inequality and deprivation

‘We’ll target the fund at the UK’s specific needs, driven by domestic priorities and with a focus on investing in people. We’ll also match the current levels of EU structural funding received in each nation of the UK.

‘The government has been working closely with interested parties across the UK whilst developing the fund. We will set out further details on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund following the Spending Review.’

Photo Credit – Stux (Pixabay)