To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail what assurances he has been given that the Shared Prosperity Fund will comprehensively meet the gap in Northern Ireland’s business funding left by the cessation of EU funding sources, such as the European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund.

No such assurances have been given in recent times. The Department of Finance (DoF) leads a cross-departmental Future Policy & Finance Workstream that provides input to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on funding streams associated with the Levelling Up agenda, including the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF). With our support, DoF continues to press for a substantive role for the NI Executive in design and delivery of these funds.

We have continually repeated the message that activity currently funded by the European Social and Regional Development Funds should be prioritised under the SPF. NI Executive Ministers have also articulated that the SPF would be best delivered through local Departments, ensuring continuation of the success of these programmes.