Julian Smith
Main Page: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)(12 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Grant Shapps
The hon. Gentleman and I have had many discussions about the issue, and he will know that his local authority is being paid for homes that are returned to use when they have been empty for a long time. I should have thought that the new homes bonus money would be welcome and useful to him in that regard. Moreover, his area has just received all the housing market renewal money for which it asked, but I did not hear him say thank you.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
15. What steps his Department is taking to ensure the efficient approval of applications to the European regional development fund.
The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark)
The Government have improved the management of the ERDF. We have already saved the taxpayer £100 million on the last programme, and two thirds of the way through the current programme, two thirds of the funds have been allocated.
Julian Smith
I thank the Secretary of State for using his weight to sort out the recent problems involving broadband and ERDF funding. Will he confirm that the North Yorkshire project and pilot can proceed to the next stage of the ERDF funding application?
Greg Clark
The Secretary of State has indeed been helping in the negotiations with the European Commission to ensure that there is more flexibility on broadband projects, which is absolutely right. I understand that Connecting North Yorkshire will proceed with those plans forthwith.