Thursday 27th June 2013

(11 years, 4 months ago)

Written Statements
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Vince Cable Portrait The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)
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I am today confirming how the €6.2 billion England allocation of the European regional development fund (ERDF) and the European social fund (ESF) will be allocated.

The European regional development fund, the European social fund and part of the European agricultural fund for rural development (EAFRD) will be allocated to local enterprise partnerships (LEP) areas for a full seven-year period through a new decentralised EU growth programme.

The Government have given a commitment that the growth programme funds will be allocated to local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas as an important new source of finance to stimulate local growth and jobs. This marks a significant shift from previous European programmes which were substantially centralised with limited local involvement in many key areas. Under this new model, decision-making powers will be transferred from Whitehall to local areas. LEPs and local partners will be in charge of European funds that will provide significant investment in innovation, business, skills and employment in a common agenda for growth and jobs that will integrate effectively with wider LEP strategic plans.

In February, the Prime Minister negotiated a real-terms cut in the EU budget for the first time in history. As the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has said, the effect of this deal was to reduce its forecast for what taxpayers across all parts of the UK will pay by £3.5 billion over the next five years.

The Government have set allocations that deliver the fairest split of funding across England, as far as EU rules allow. Allocations by LEP area for ERDF and ESF are set out in the annex. Allocations for the part of EAFRD being channelled through the growth programme will be published at a later date by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Gibraltar’s current allocation will be frozen at €9 million and will be taken from the England allocation for “more developed” regions (Gibraltar is counted in this category).

The Government have today also confirmed the detailed allocations for the highlands and islands region in Scotland as €172 million and the allocation for west Wales as €1,783 million and for east Wales as €361 million.

All allocations are subject to final agreement on the EU regulations and the EU 2014-20 budget in the European Parliament. The European Commission will also need to agree the UK Government’s specific proposals.

LEP Allocations for ERDF and ESF 2014-20

LEP

Allocation €m1

Black Country

177.4

Buckinghamshire Thames Valley

13.9

Cheshire and Warrington

142.2

Coast to Capital

67.3

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

592.9

Coventry and Warwickshire

136.0

Cumbria

91.4

Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

249.7

Dorset

47.3

Enterprise M3

45.7

Gloucestershire

38.3

Greater Birmingham and Solihull

255.8

Greater Cambridge & Greater Peterborough

75.5

Greater Lincolnshire

133.5

Greater Manchester

415.6

Heart of the South West

118.3

Hertfordshire

69.5

Humber

102.4

Lancashire

266.3

Leeds City Region

391.2

Leicester and Leicestershire

126.3

Liverpool City Region

221.9

London

748.6

New Anglia

94.5

North Eastern

539.6

Northamptonshire

55.0

Oxfordshire LEP

19.4

Sheffield City Region

203.4

Solent

43.1

South East

185.9

South East Midlands

88.3

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire

161.6

Swindon and Wiltshire

43.6

Tees Valley

202.6

Thames Valley Berkshire

28.7

The Marches

113.7

West of England

68.6

Worcestershire

68.1

York and North Yorkshire

97.5