Agenda item

The Chair invited Paul Green, Adviser, to introduce the item. 

Paul stated that the report provides an update of LGA work to ensure councils continue to receive EU funding during the current funding period (2014-2020) amid Brexit negotiation uncertainties, and that successor funding arrangements are in place and co-designed with local areas once the UK exits the EU.

Paul’s update also included:

·         Details on the Growth Programme Board on European Social Funds (ESF), and how there is concern over Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) capacity.  Currently, only 48 per cent of ESF has been committed, with the potential of any unspent funding being sent back to the European Commission at the end of 2020.

·         In response to this, DWP are currently looking at adopting bigger contracts, reducing the extent to which programmes will be locally driven.

·         Paul advised that press work is vital to ensure DWP spend the funding before we leave the programme in 2020 and that this centralisation is not repeated in the design and delivery of EU funding replacement, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

·         In a no deal scenario, the government has committed to fund contracts up until 2020 but there are still questions regarding the finite details of how this will operate.

·         Paul concluded that there is no further detail on UKSPF, and the consultation is likely to start at the very end of year, continuing into the new year. 

The Chair invited members to comment:

·         Members stated how the underspent is a disgrace; DWP has been aware of this issue for a long time and has done nothing.

·         Members stated that the additional funding, as a result of the exchange rate, will be a challenge to spend in such a short period of time.    

·         Members stated that the LGA represents local government at a national level, and discussed how the LGA should call for a framework, which would insist on national priorities administered at a local level.

·         Members discussed how Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and their relationship with councils, will be key to how this money is to be administered. 

The Chair thanked everyone for their comments and stated future updates via email on this work-stream may have to be considered, considering the fast-paced developments on Brexit. 

Action

·         Members noted the update.