The Oldham Liberal Democrats want to see the Conservative Government honour the promise it made after the British people voted to Brexit to replace the funding received from the European Union with a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
In the last round of European funding (2014-2020), the ten authorities of Greater Manchester received £322.75m, from the European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) (£176.78m) and the European Social Funding (ESF) (£145.97m). Over each of the six years this represented £53.8m per year.
In the Conservative Party Manifesto for the 2017 General Election campaign, the party pledged to create this new fund to ‘reduce inequalities between communities across our four nations’. To help shape the fund the incoming Conservative government committed to ‘consult widely on the design of the fund, including with the devolved administrations, local authorities, businesses and public bodies.’
Four years on, Liberal Democrats now want to see the promised consultation carried out as a priority and the fund introduced later this year in the immediate post-Lockdown period to help boroughs, like Oldham, which will continue to struggle economically. They are bringing a motion to the next meeting of Oldham Council on Wednesday (24 March).
Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani is proposing the motion, backed by the Deputy Group Leader, Councillor Chris Gloster. Councillor Al-Hamdani explained: “The Prime Minister may boast about ‘getting Brexit done’, but we say that this remains unfinished business. The Conservatives promised that no region of the UK would be worse off financially as a result of Brexit. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund would potentially represent a significant sum of money to our city-region and to Oldham. The Liberal Democrats now want to see this consultation ‘done’, as a deprived borough like Oldham really needs this cash.”
Motion – Consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Council notes that:
- The Conservative Party Manifesto for the 2017 General Election contained the following commitment:
‘We will use the structural fund money that comes back to the UK following Brexit to create a United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund, specifically designed to reduce inequalities between communities across our four nations. The money that is spent will help deliver sustainable, inclusive growth based on our modern industrial strategy. We will consult widely on the design of the fund, including with the devolved administrations, local authorities, businesses and public bodies.’
- The Conservative Government promised to publish a UK Shared Prosperity Fund Consultation Paper in 2018.
- Successive Secretaries of State in the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government when responding to several questions in Parliament in both 2018 and 2019 confirmed that a consultation would take place.
- The promised consultation is now three years late.
- In the last round of European funding (2014-2020), Greater Manchester received £322.75m, split across European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) (£176.78m) and European Social Funding (ESF) (£145.97m), equivalent to an annual allocation of £53.8m.
- The Conservative Party website claims that ‘We will introduce the UK Shared Prosperity Fund when EU Structural Funds start to taper off from 2020-21…from April 2021’.
Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to:
- Write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government requesting the promised public consultation commence as soon as possible.
- Copy in our local Members of Parliament and the Mayor of Greater Manchester on this correspondence and ask for their assistance by making similar representations to the Government.
Proposed by: Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani
Seconded by: Councillor Chris Gloster