Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Government has to ensure funds of equivalent value to the UK's allocation from the European Social Fund are made available for the same purposes after the UK leaves the EU.

The Government has confirmed that it will guarantee funding for European Social Fund and other EU Structural and Investment Fund projects, even where they continue after we have left the EU. Funding for these projects will be honoured, if they provide good value for money and are in line with domestic spending priorities. As a result, stakeholder organisations will have certainty over future funding and should continue to bid for competitive EU funds while the UK remains a member of the EU. Each Government Department will take responsibility for the allocation of money to projects in line with these conditions and the wider rules on public spending.

In the longer term we will want to consider the future of all programmes that are currently EU funded. Leaving means we have the opportunity to make our own decisions about how best to deliver on the policy objectives, previously targeted by EU funding.

The full detail of the Government announcement can be found at the following website link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/further-certainty-on-eu-funding-for-hundreds-of-british-projects