William Eichler 07 February 2018

Council chiefs call for ‘locally-driven’ successor to EU aid

Council chiefs have urged the Government to create a ‘locally-driven’ successor scheme to EU regional aid as MPs warn Whitehall is too slow in allocating resources for Brexit.

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warns Government departments that they have to face up to ‘hard choices’ in order to deliver Brexit.

Published today, the committee’s report identifies 313 areas of essential Brexit work and says department’s will have to prioritise these over non-Brexit tasks.

However, the PAC also found that the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) and the Cabinet Office do not have a robust enough plan to identify and recruit the people and skills needed to carry out this work load.

‘It is one thing to identify the amount of work required to deliver Brexit. It is quite another to do it,’ said the committee’s deputy chair.

‘The Government has identified over 300 work streams to complete as a consequence of the UK’s departure from the EU—a byzantinely complicated task with the potential to become a damaging and unmanageable muddle.’

‘It is concerning that Government departments still have so far to go to put their plans into practice,’ they added.

Responding to the report, Cllr Kevin Bentley, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Brexit Task and Finish Group, said: ‘Negotiating our exit from the European Union is clearly a huge task and offers the opportunity to devolve powers to local communities beyond Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff Bay and Stormont.’

‘We want to urgently work with the Government to help develop a fully-funded and locally-driven successor scheme to EU regional aid which will provide £5.3 billion for local regeneration schemes by 2020.

‘With national funding for regeneration increasingly being depleted, a UK replacement for EU money will be vital to help create jobs, build infrastructure and boost growth.’

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Lead Compliance Officer - WMF2147e

Westmorland and Furness Council
£55,119 - £57,362
Cumbria is a great place to live and work with excellent schools, transport links and outdoor pursuits. Kendal, Cumbria
Recuriter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Solicitor - Penrith Town Council

Westmorland and Furness Council
£50,788 (FTE)
Solicitor - Penrith Town Council Penrith, Cumbria
Recuriter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Technology Lead, Selby

North Yorkshire Council
£45,718 to £49,764 pa
Are you a senior developer with knowledge of cloud? Selby, North Yorkshire
Recuriter: North Yorkshire Council

Technology Lead, Scarborough

North Yorkshire Council
£45,718 to £49,764 pa
Are you passionate about being at the forefront of Emerging Technology including AI? Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Recuriter: North Yorkshire Council

Community - Healthcare Support Worker

NHS Orkney
Band 3 (£28,011 - £30,230)
If you share our vision and are ready to be part of Team Orkney, we’d love to hear from you. Balfour, Orkney
Recuriter: NHS Orkney
Linkedin Banner