Shared Prosperity Fund: Wales

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, I add my congratulations to the Wales women’s football team on reaching the Euro 2025 finals.

My noble friend makes a very important point. Having worked alongside her for many years, I have deep respect for her passion for the prosperity of local government in Wales. This Government know that uncertainty about local allocations is causing concern for our partners in local government. My department is working tirelessly to confirm local allocations and we intend to publish them shortly. I am pleased that we have been able to announce that the fund will continue for a further year. This transitional arrangement will provide a period of stability in advance of wider local growth funding reforms beyond March 2026, when we will work with the Welsh Government to honour our manifesto commitment to return decision-making on these funds to representatives of Wales.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, llongyfarchiadau i chi on bringing football into this Chamber—a rare event these days, of course. The shared prosperity fund was a central part of the Conservatives’ levelling-up agenda, which involved the allocation of funds to elected local authorities, which know their communities best. Given that the shared prosperity fund already works with local authorities throughout Wales, what benefit will be achieved by extending decision- making powers to Senedd Members, who are not always known for their sensible financial decision-making?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, I politely disagree with the noble Baroness. The previous Government funded many local growth programmes, including the UK shared prosperity fund. However, they did not make adequate provision in the Budget to do so. This Government have been clear that they will take the difficult but responsible decisions to ensure we fix the foundations of our country’s finances and, more importantly, meet the commitment in our manifesto. From March 2026, we will work with our Welsh Government counterparts to ensure that the allocation of that money is decided by people in Wales.