EU Funding (Rotherham and Barnsley)
Debate between Michael Fallon and Lord Watts
Michael Fallon
What is true is that South Yorkshire is transitioning. It was a poorer region and is now becoming a wealthier region. Let me repeat: in each of the next seven years, South Yorkshire will get more than in the past three years. Really, we need to be very clear about this.
Michael Fallon
I think I have been very generous in giving way.
What is a transition region? It is a category of region introduced to support those that have a GDP level between 75% and 90% of the average. It means that those regions are no longer eligible for the highest levels of support—that for the so-called less developed regions—and nor are they considered more developed regions. “Transition region” means that they will get benefits providing greater flexibility in how to spend the funding. I want to highlight that during the current funding regime, for which the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne was responsible as one of the Ministers involved, 50% of the funding was retained by central Government to determine how it was spent. I am sure that that was expedient to the effective delivery of Government programmes and so on, but I am very pleased that in the seven years beginning next year, local areas will define and have at their disposal 95% of all the funding available. Of course it is true that some areas would have had higher levels of funding in the past, but they will certainly be able to direct more of the money they want in the same way.
Michael Fallon
I am sorry, but I only have a minute left.
I have focused my remarks on the structural funds, but that is not the only way in which we are helping South Yorkshire. We have granted enterprise zone status across the Sheffield city region, we have a city deal leading to £72 million in public and private investment and we have a transport fund that could be worth £500 million to the Sheffield city region. No other transition region has a deal like that. More than £80 million has been awarded through the regional growth fund, including a local enterprise partnership-led £25 million unlocking business investment programme.
The footprint of all that growth will be approximately 2,000 sustainable private sector jobs. In Rotherham, we are supporting the advanced manufacturing research—