EU investment in UK projects: What happens next?

The EU has funded many projects to create jobs and growth across England, but following Brexit, what happens next?

Billions of pounds of EU funding has been earmarked for projects across England in the coming years.

According to the UK government, over the past nine years, investment from the EU has helped almost 25,000 businesses to start and create 115,000 jobs.

Between 2014 and 2020, the EU allocated €6.2bn (currently worth about £5.2bn) under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF). This was money from the EU’s budget, which the UK contributed to.

The former Coalition government divided the latest tranche of money to boards known as Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), which bring together local authorities and business leaders.

Places such as Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly received a larger share per head of population than others due to an economic performance below 75% of the EU average. The funding for these places was worth £1,070 per person over seven years which was by far the biggest share.

Sandra Rothwell, Chief Executive of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP, said: “The UK is still part of Europe and [we] still have an EU programme worth some £500m to 2020.

“We will be working to ensure that this doesn’t change for at least two years while the terms of the UK’s exit are negotiated and existing treaties remain in place.

“Whatever the detailed outcome of those negotiations, it is critical that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly continues to receive the same level of investment and is not short changed as a result of the referendum result.”

For the next two years, it will be business as usual.

Mark Hughes, Chief Executive of Manchester Growth Company, said: “The majority of our EU funding is committed for the next two to three years and this therefore means there will be little to no immediate change and we will continue in our work of delivering growth, jobs and prosperity.

“The public have made the decision to leave the EU and we will now work with government to find solutions to continue to serve the people of Greater Manchester.”

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