Scottish Parliament – April 27, 2022 – 3

S6M-04159.1: As an amendment to motion S6M-04159 in the name of Richard Lochhead (UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Implications for Scotland), leave out from “agrees” to end and insert “warmly welcomes the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda, including the Shared Prosperity Fund, which will replace previous EU Structural Funds and which will provide £212 million of funding to Scotland by 2024-25, and further welcomes the UK Government’s focus on boosting productivity, skills, innovation, jobs and sustainable economic growth across Scotland, and on increasing the transparency of funding and the accountability for decision-making across Scotland’s local communities.”

Original motion(S6M-04159): That the Parliament agrees that the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund fails to meet the Conservative manifesto commitment to replace Scotland’s EU Structural Funds in full;

understands that Scotland will receive only £212 million, which is £337 million short of the £549 million estimated to be an appropriate replacement for EU Structural Funds, and calls on the UK Government to immediately increase the value of the fund to at least the level provided previously by Scotland’s EU Structural Funds;

believes that the failure to do this will leave communities and third sector organisations across Scotland without important resources needed to tackle poverty and inequality;

further believes that the lack of decision making for the Scottish Government in the governance of the Fund undermines devolution;

considers that this approach will fail Scotland’s communities, which have benefited substantially from decades of EU investment, and further calls on the UK Government to fully devolve control of the Fund to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government.