Welcome

Event Chair, Ewan Mearns, welcomed delegates to the event and thanked invited speakers for coming along to share their insight on Brexit and the future of regional funding and policy.

Ewan set out the aims for the day: to discuss the objectives of regional policy; to identify the lessons of EU structural funding over the last 40 years; and to look forward to identify what policy priorities and tools will be important as we design a new UK / Scottish regional policy to address regional inequalities. He noted that structural funds had been vitally important to Scotland’s economic development since the 1970s. While EU structural funding has largely substituted for domestic regional policy, clear regional policy objectives are now needed to help address regional inequalities.

The new UK Shared Prosperity Fund is designed to “reduce inequalities between communities across the UK”. While we do know that the UK Government has said that it will respect devolution and should therefore align with Scotland’s focus on promoting inclusive and sustainable growth, we currently don’t know its specific objectives, scale of funding or allocation and delivery mechanisms. The UK Government is about to consult on proposals by the end of the year.

The need for an effective UK and Scottish regional policy is now greater than ever. Recent research indicates that between 2007-17 35% of net new jobs were created in London and only 4% in Scotland. London continues to attract a disproportionate share of investment and jobs: its economy has grown by 5% since the EU referendum while NE England’s has only grown by 1.3%.

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