PEMBROKESHIRE County Council has announced that it has signed a joint statement calling for a Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to be made available to the less developed regions in the UK.
The statement, signed by five regions, calls for an ambitious new regional policy to recognise the need to address growing regional inequality in the UK, which should include a UK shared prosperity fund.
It goes on to say that regions will lose out on €13 billion of investment from European funding once the UK leaves the EU, and that the SPF ‘must replace this important investment into UK regions’.
The statement has been signed by the leaders of authorities in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley & Durham, West Wales and the Valleys, and East London.
Cllr David Simpson, Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council said the development of the UK SPF was a matter of urgency.
“We have long experience of contributing to the development of regional policy programmes. We know these things are not done overnight,” said Councillor Simpson, “but to see current EU programmes ended without any detail of their replacement is unacceptable.”
“It is vital that the Government brings forward proposals for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as soon as possible, otherwise there is a real risk that it will not be ready to be launched once the existing EU programmes end in 2020.
“We must ensure that the SPF will address the very real need in Pembrokeshire for continued investment in our economic infrastructure, and in skills.”
