Row breaks out over replacement EU funding in Cornwall
A Cornish MP has accused a Cornwall councillor of 'mispresenting the facts'
One of Cornwall’s MPs has accused a senior Cornwall councillor of “misrepresenting the facts” over Government funding for Cornwall to replace EU cash.
Steve Double, Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, hit back after Cornwall Council Cabinet member Tim Dwelly accused the Prime Minister of breaking his promises over the replacement funding.
Boris Johnson has previously made a commitment that Cornwall would not lose out on funding after Brexit.
But Cllr Dwelly said on Friday that the Shared Prosperity Fund, which could replace the funding, may only provide Cornwall with £1.8million in the first year. He said that Cornwall needs £100m “just to stand still”.
Mr Double has now responded and said that the council and its Cabinet need to stop “constant whining”.
The MP said: “Sadly, once again, the Cabinet Members at the Liberal Democrat/Independent-run Cornwall Council are choosing to misrepresent the facts around government funding for Cornwall.
“This time the Portfolio holder for Culture, Economy and Planning, has in his typically negative and pessimistic manner, misrepresented the figures announced by the Chancellor for the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) pilot scheme as being the overall figure of support for the whole SPF going forward. The Chancellor has made perfectly clear that this is an initial allocation for a pilot scheme and not the final figure.
The Chancellor announced in the Spending Review on 25 November that £220m will be allocated in 2021-22 as a pilot to help local areas prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. He said: ‘This is a pilot scheme to look at how the SPF scheme might operate’.
“The Chancellor went on to say: ‘The government will ramp up funding so that total domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts, on average reaching around £1.5billion a year’.
“Our Prime Minister has been absolutely clear whenever I and others have asked him in his commitment that the government will replace the money that Cornwall has been receiving that was administered by the EU through the new SPF when it is fully up and running.
“But this is not what this recent announcement is about. This is merely a pilot scheme and it is typical of Cornwall Council, to take the negative view and deliberately misrepresent what has been announced.
“It is time for Cornwall Council and its leadership to stop looking backwards and stop being in denial that we are leaving the EU. What we need to positive and optimistic leadership from the Cabinet Member for our economy and not this constant whining we currently have.
“It is only by working positively with the Government, and the six Cornish Conservative MPs elected by the people of Cornwall a year ago this weekend that Cornwall Council will be able to do its job effectively for the Cornish taxpayer, and this sort of deliberately misleading information does nothing but create negativity and distrust between the council and the people there are meant to serve.”