Shared Prosperity Fund ‘undermines devolution’

Scottish Business Minister Ivan McKee has said the UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund fails to deliver promised funding for Scotland following the UK’s exit from the EU.

The new arrangements will see £32 million allocated to Scotland for 2022-2023 - £151 million short of the £183 million estimated to be an appropriate replacement for EU Structural Funds.

With Scottish ministers having been given no role in deciding how funding is allocated and which projects deliver the maximum benefits, McKee said that this undermines the devolution settlement and does not recognise the authority of the Scottish Government in devolved areas.

McKee said: “The UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund fails to deliver replacement funding which was promised to Scotland, meaning communities across the country will miss out on around £150 million of investment in 2022-23. This demonstrates exactly why Levelling Up means losing out as Scotland will receive considerably less funding than before Brexit.

“EU funding has supported infrastructure projects and community initiatives across the country since the 1970s, with Scotland receiving and delivering over £6 billion of EU Structural Funds. Transformational projects, such as the University of the Highlands and Islands and the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, have brought significant benefits to businesses and communities. It is hugely disappointing that future projects with as much potential may lose out.

“Since 2016 the Scottish Government has tried to engage constructively with the UK government to ensure this Fund was delivered in a meaningful way, consistent with the devolution settlement and aligned with our national economic aims and ambitions. However, the UK government has undermined devolution by failing to give the Scottish Government a decision-making role - which ultimately fails to meet the needs of Scotland’s communities.”