A bitter row over regional aid for Wales has intensified after the UK Government released its long-awaited blueprint on replacing funds from the European Union. Ministers at Westminster claim their hared Prosperity Fund (SPF) will match the money Wales would have received from the EU.
But the Welsh Government accused its UK counterpart of misrepresenting the true position, claiming the UK Government was including in its figures money that would have come to Wales anyway if we had remained in the EU. A statement issued by the UK’s Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing said communities in Wales would benefit from £585m of funding “to help spread opportunity and level up the country”.
It claimed that the SPF would see places in Wales that need it most draw up plans this year to deliver on their local priorities, based on a conditional allocation of funding over the next three years. This could, said the statement, include regenerating rundown high streets, fighting anti-social behaviour and crime, or helping more people into decent jobs – helping to revive communities, tackle economic decline and reverse geographical disparities in Wales and across the UK.
