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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to manage the period between the European Social Fund-funded projects in Northern Ireland and the commencement of Shared Prosperity Fund-supported projects to help ensure that there are no gaps in funding and to reduce potential risk of redundancies for jobs dependent on that funding.

At Spending Review 2021, the Government announced over £2.6 billion for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

We are ensuring that domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts, reaching around £1.5 billion a year in 2024-25 when EU funding ceases, while also providing for a smooth transition onto the new, domestic regime.

The Government will publish further details on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in due course.