Poor areas risk losing EU funding

Organisations allocating European Union money to boost local economies have been abolished in rush to cut spending, MEPs say Some of England’s poorest areas risk losing millions of pounds in EU development funding as a result of government cuts, it has been claimed. Labour MEPs and the shadow European minister, Wayne David, said almost £1.5bn of funding for English regions from the 2007-2013 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) had not yet been allocated to projects. Labour claims spending cuts, along with the abolition of regional development agencies (RDAs), means the government may not be putting in the funding necessary to unlock millions of pounds of EU cash. The EU money is allocated to projects that boost local economies and infrastructure, and is supposed to be targeted at areas most in need of support. The fund has previously financed initiatives including the Eden Project, in Cornwall, and the redevelopment of Liverpool’s docks. But David claimed organisations that hold responsibility for distributing the money and for finding ways of identifying the government and private sector cash needed to access the matching Brussels cash had been abolished without the consequences being thought through. The Labour MEP Glenis Willmott added: “This is just another example of the government’s cuts hitting the poorest hardest. “This EU cash was intended to give a boost to areas facing some of the toughest economic conditions in the country,” she said. “It is supposed to be about sowing the seeds for growth and more jobs. “But thanks to the government’s rushed-through programme of cuts, it looks like English towns and cities could be missing out. “By cutting investment in economic growth, George Osborne is effectively stealing millions in EU cash from the areas that need it most. We want a cast-iron government commitment to ensure that communities won’t be denied this EU money because of government cuts.” Labour’s European spokesperson on EU regional funding, Derek Vaughan MEP, said: “Last year, the European commission blocked ERDF payments to Britain because of concerns about how the scheme was being administered. “Those concerns have now been allayed and payments continue – but now they could be under threat once again because of the government’s changes. “Despite attempts by ministers to reassure local government leaders on this issue, there are still very important questions that have been left unanswered. It is still unclear how the government intends to ensure that match funding will be available to access EU money. “We still don’t know how the government will ensure local accountability in the way project money is allocated. And we still don’t know how funding programmes will be monitored to ensure they do actually boost the local economy. “Without answers to these questions, there are real dangers that EU money could be lost.” RDAs are being abolished as part of a cost-cutting measure, although the short-term costs of closure through redundancies will be £460m by 2015. The government has said the department of communities and local government will take over responsibility for what it admits is complex day-to-day administration of the ERDF. Ministers have set up a £1bn regional growth fund aimed at stimulating private-sector job creation by focusing on cities where private-sector demand is high. But critics claim ERDF and the government regional growth fund are not seeking to do the same thing. The government has said that administration of EDRF funding will move to the department for communities and local government, but has provided little detail about how this will happen. Development Liberal-Conservative coalition European Union Public sector cuts Public finance Regeneration Communities Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 29, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.