LONDON WINS AGAIN
Government U-turns on EU fund control
2015 Flagship infrastructure projects, employment and skills schemes and local growth could be put at risk following a devolution U-turn by the Government on local control of EU funding. The Government has agreed to locally allocate £5.3 billion in European Structural and Investment Funds and handed full control of its share to the Greater London Authority. However, it has ruled that England's communities outside the capital will be given little or no say over how, when and on what projects it is spent on over the next seven years.
They will have to enter long-winded Whitehall negotiations before any money is handed out. The LGA said denying local areas - including councils, Local Enterprise Partnerships, local businesses and voluntary organisations - the power to combine funding and select which projects receive cash is a backward step and will have major consequences across the country. It will also see England falling further behind the rest of the EU on devolution. Holland, for example, is one of 20 EU member states to hand its major cities, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, significant powers over EU cash. The LGA is calling on the Chancellor to use next month's Budget to reverse the decision. LGA Chair Cllr David Sparks said: "This decision could be harmful to growth and employment prospects and risks stifling vital local projects. English towns and cities should be given the same powers that are offered to London and other European cities and regions. "Local areas will rightly know how much EU funding they will receive but it is unacceptable to then be told how to spend it. Projects being decided upon by civil servants with little knowledge of local areas or needs will result in significant delays to vital projects affecting hard-pressed local businesses and residents most in need of support. "Councils have proved that when they have influence over EU funds they can use them effectively to help new businesses start up and create thousands of new jobs." - See more at: http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/first-news/-/journal_content/56/10180/7044254/NEWS#sthash.xJmUQ0bN.dpuf
