North 'lost' regeneration funds after Brexit

The North lost funding to support regeneration, jobs and training after Brexit, according to new analysis.

Dr Nick Gray, of Teesside University, said the replacement of European Union structural funding with the UK-led Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) after the UK left the EU, led to a "significant fall" in the support available.

EU cash helped pay for key projects including Gateshead's Millennium Bridge, improvements to Redcar seafront and support for broadband cabling in Cumbria.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was "fixing regional inequalities by providing long-term, targeted funding" to areas in need.

Grants from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) were worth about £112m a year to areas including the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire between 2014 and 2020.

After Britain quit the EU on 31 January 2020, the UK government introduced the UKSPF to fill the gap.

It paid out an average of £77m a year to the region between 2022 and 2026, a fall of roughly 31% in cash terms compared to its EU equivalent.

Dr Gray said the decline was more dramatic if inflation was taken into account.

He also said there had been wider changes in how regional funding was provided.

"The EU funds were much more long-term, seven years plus three years to wrap up, which cut across budget cycles.

"The post-Brexit funding has been much more short-term, initially three years, then another year added on and that creates a lot of uncertainty," Dr Gray said.

The findings have triggered fresh debate 10 years after the Brexit referendum.

Gateshead Liberal Democrat Councillor Ron Beadle, who supported Remain, said the region had been let down.

"We are literally surrounded by the results of EU funding.

"The Leave campaign said it would be protected - it hasn't been," Beadle said.

However, supporters of Brexit had previously criticised the EU regional funding for being overly-bureaucratic and for sending UK taxpayers' money back to Britain with strings attached.

North Tyneside Conservative Councillor Liam Bones, who backed Leave, said local people voted for Brexit on the issue of sovereignty.

"What we have seen since that Leave vote is that transfer of those powers back to Westminster, so we are all safe in the knowledge that if we don't feel the North East is getting the funding it needs and deserves, we can vote that government out," Bones said.

Earlier this year, the UKSPF was replaced by two new funding streams, the Local Growth Fund and the Pride in Place Programme.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We're fixing regional inequalities by providing long-term, targeted funding to areas which need it most.

"This includes £440m for 22 places in the North East through our landmark Pride in Place programme to help revitalise local communities."

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