ARE the Tories planning an £780 million post-Brexit cash grab from some of Scotland’s most vulnerable communities?
That’s the question being asked by pro-EU campaigners alarmed by Theresa May’s proposals for a UK Shared Prosperity Fund to replace European funding.
The European Movement in Scotland (EMiS) says the plan could see Scotland lose £110m a year in EU structural funding.
According to research by the Scottish Parliament’s information centre, Scotland contributed £6.5 billion to the EU and got back £5bn between 2007–2013. Over the current European funding period, from 2014–20, Scotland has been allocated £787m in EU funding – the equivalent of £110m a year in “structural” funds to offset economic deficiencies.
These are paid out under the European Social and European Regional Development Funds.
Hundreds of organisations, local authorities and individuals have received help from these funds over the last seven years.
The Scottish Government said these had created more than 40,000 jobs, helped nearly 100,000 people find work, and assisted a similar number of new businesses.
Though the Tories have said they will use the money they normally send to the EU to plug the gap, their Scottish manifesto launched last Thursday seems to suggest all decisions around the funding will now be made in Westminster.
Currently the Scottish Government manage the funding, dealing directly with Europe.
With the UK set to crash out of the EU in 2019, that responsibility will seemingly now go to the new UK shared prosperity fund.
Alex Orr, Policy Adviser for EMiS said: “With Brexit there are massive implications for Scotland and there is no guarantee, further reinforced by the Conservative Manifesto, that the lost funds will be replaced.
“This funding, which has benefited key areas such as the Highlands and Islands and south-west Scotland, may not continue at the sort of levels currently enjoyed, with obvious implications for those in these communities.
“Following Brexit Scotland will be at the whim of Westminster as to how any such future funding is allocated.
"What we require are guarantees that this vital funding will be replaced and that it is additional to, not replacing the current Scottish Government budget."
SNP Member of European Parliament (MEP) said this was just “the tip of the iceberg on EU funding”.
“All the EU money that allows the local authorities to deliver the ESF apprenticeships that empower regional development in our most fragile communities, is under the Tory proposals, under Brexit Britain, going to be quite clearly doled out by a UK treasury that has proven it's more interested in Trident and HS2 than in any sort of bottom up, local regional development.
“And they’re not even pretending otherwise. It’s there for all to see."
Addressing similar concerns in Wales, a Tory spokesman said: “On the shared prosperity fund, this will be a UK-wide fund. We will consult extensively with the devolved administrations in how it is set up and how money is spent."
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