Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that EU structural funding for Northern Ireland is replaced by other Government funding after the end of the transition period.

The UK Government is committed to strengthening the Union, levelling up every part of the UK and has committed to replacing EU Structural Funds with the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The Government recognises the importance of reassuring local areas on the future of local growth funding and of providing clarity on the UKSPF. We remain committed to creating the UKSPF to succeed European structural funds and provide vital investment across the UK as we support the recovery, renewal and levelling up of local economies following Covid-19.

Now we have left the European Union, we have an opportunity to replace European structural funds with a UKSPF which binds together the whole of the United Kingdom, tackling inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations. The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to, at minimum, matching current levels of funding for each nation from EU structural funds.

Over the coming weeks, the Government will be assessing the impact of Covid-19 and how best to support economic recovery. We will need to work closely as one United Kingdom to understand the changing needs of local and regional economies and tailor our response to the impact of Covid-19. We have a real opportunity through the UKSPF to design a fund that is driven by domestic priorities. The Government will set out further plans for the fund at the Comprehensive Spending Review.