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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Heather Stewart

Back-to-work schemes in England previously funded by EU forced to close

People take part in a bricklaying workshop
Government rules for England had previously specified that grants from the fund could not be spent on ‘people and skills’ until April 2024. Photograph: Cultura Creative (RF)/Alamy

Back-to-work schemes across England previously paid for by the EU are being forced to close and lay off staff, despite a last-minute rule change by the government aimed at allowing councils to fund them.

Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) wrote to local authorities last week giving them the green light to spend their shared prosperity fund (SPF) allocations on job schemes, from April.

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