Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the value for money to the public purse of the EU's INTERREG programme; and if he will make a statement.

The INTERREG programmes (also known as European Territorial Co-operation) have been a waste of UK taxpayers’ money.

Under the last Administration, funds were wasted on vanity projects for artificial pan-national Euro regions, such as the “Transmanche”. Pointless expenditure included a series of Cross-Channel Cycle Lanes, films on European fairy tales, a Cross-Channel Circus, a human treadmill, transnational dance troupes and an Atlas which renamed the English Channel as “Le Pond”.

It is worth noting that, as with all Structural Funds, such European funding is merely recycled from the UK taxpayer, given the UK is a net contributor to the EU budget. There is no ‘free’ money from the European Union. Indeed, the UK is a net loser given the massive amount spent on bureaucracy, complex auditing and stupid projects that would never have been funded by the UK Government directly. There is a strong case for repatriating Structural Funds, cutting out the middle man of the European Commission, and freeing up money to directly support regeneration and economic development across the United Kingdom.

In as far as we are stuck with the current programme, we have sought to ensure that the 2014-20 schemes focus on jobs and growth, as well as tackling genuine maritime-related issues such as coastal flooding. Looking ahead, there is a strong case to consider for the United Kingdom giving notice in the next Parliament and withdraw from the programme completely.