Highland Council Leader responds to UK Shared Prosperity Fund uncertainty

Commenting on the news that the Scottish Government have sought urgent clarification from the UK Government about the replacement of EU Structural funds, Cllr Margaret Davidson, Leader of the Highland Council said:

“The Highlands have benefited considerably from access to EU structural funds which recognised the particular challenges facing the Highlands & islands and saw us given the highest level “Objective 1” status during previous EU funding programmes. Even then the constraints that we faced were deemed significant enough to still justify a higher level of support provided through Transition status.

“We need a replacement programme, not a lesser programme, but a programme that recognises the specific challenges that the Highlands face. We need a programme that provides the support and funding that allows us to not only recover from this pandemic, but to grow our economy and sustain our communities.

“I would echo the Scottish Government’s call for clarity over what will replace these EU funds. Time is running out and they need to get on with it.”