The government “must” consult on the shape of the proposed replacement for European Union structural funding before this year’s Spending Review, according to a government minister.
In April, a report on the impact of Brexit on local authorities from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said that the government should publish plans for its proposed Shared Prosperity Fund urgently.
Speaking last week in a Parliamentary debate on the issue, junior local government minister Jake Berry said that “the government must come forward with their consultation – I am clear this must happen – before the Comprehensive Spending Review – to enable areas to contribute to that consultation”.
Berry said that the government has “not been sitting on our hands” and has already engaged with more than 500 stakeholders including devolved administrations and city regional mayors.
The minister slammed the existing system of EU funding, which he described as bureaucratic and “often inefficient”.
He said: “We in this place have to address some of people’s deep frustrations about inequality, which traditionally have not been addressed or targeted by European structural funds.”
