The UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Part of 4. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition Minister responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 12:53 pm on 15 July 2020.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 12:53, 15 July 2020

Look, there's a serious role that the Welsh Conservatives could choose to play in this discussion if they wanted to. It goes beyond reading out the quotes of the Secretary of State for Wales and listing what they perceive as the shortcomings over the years, which are absolutely contested. In each of our constituencies, there'll be thousands of individuals and thousands of businesses who have benefited from the well-deployed funding that has come to Wales from European sources over the last decade. What I will say to her is that I think the tone of her question is actually out of kilter with the tone of discussions with the Secretary of State for Wales, which have been constructive. So, I think she may not have read the most recent memo. But what I would say is I absolutely accept, because it's at the heart of the proposals that we've been developing, that there's scope for looking differently at the geographic distribution of these funds, from being outside the European Union—that's one of the flexibilities that our thinking has been taking advantage of—and to look at decisions being taken at a more regional level as well. So, there's a very exciting programme of changes and reforms that we could bring in in terms of how regional funding is spent in Wales, if we have the level of commitment that we're entitled to from the UK Government.