Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Finance to detail any discussions he has had with the UK Government on the operation of Local Growth funding when it replaces the Shared Prosperity Fund, which is due to end in March 2026.
Minister of Finance: I have regularly pressed and written to British Government Ministers on this matter. I have written to both the previous Minister for Local Growth in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Alex Norris, and the then Deputy Prime Minister regarding this issue. I have also raised the lack of detail and progress on Local Growth in meetings with Darren Jones, previous Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State. This issue was also raised when the Deputy First Minister and I met with the Chancellor in August.
Following the recent Westminster re-shuffle, I wrote to the new MHCLG Minister with responsibility for Local Growth, Miatta Fahnbulleh, seeking an urgent meeting to press for progress on this issue, alongside Hilary Benn, Secretary of State (16 September). Having had no response to that letter, I wrote again to the NIO Secretary of State on 30 September, emphasising the importance of progressing this matter and the impact of continued delay on our communities. I asked him to meet me as a matter of urgency.
I met again with Hilary Benn on 1 October to discuss the implications of Whitehall decisions to end the Shared Prosperity Fund without a proper successor and to skew the new Local Growth Fund towards Capital. He has committed to arranging a trilateral meeting involving the MHCLG Secretary of State to explore any potential flexibility on the Capital/Resource funding split. I anticipate this meeting will take place in the near future.
ENDS
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