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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has (1) retained ring fenced funding for rural areas, and (2) matched previous EU funding before 2024–25; and, in each case, if not, why not.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), worth over £2.6 billion, will help people access opportunity in places in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people in disadvantaged groups across the UK. The funding announced at Spending Review 2021 meets the government's previous commitment to at least match receipts from EU structural funds. Further details about the UKSPF will be set out in due course.

Funding equivalent to European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), including Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale (LEADER) and Growth, has been provided as part of the domestic farm settlement that replaces UK participation in the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The farm settlement is being delivered by Defra in England, and the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.