Extended Guarantee for the EU Programme
Cornwall Council and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership are delighted to receive news that the current European Structural & Investment ESI 2014-2020 programme period and allocation will now be covered until 2020.
Back in 2016, the UK Government announced that funding would be guaranteed for ESI Funds projects contracted up to March 2019. The Government announced yesterday (24.07.18) an extension to this guarantee, which will now cover the full 2014-20 programme period and allocation in the event of a no-deal. The extension means that departments will continue to sign new projects after EU exit during 2019 and 2020, up to the value of programme allocations.
Mark Duddridge, Chair of the CIoS LEP and Chair of the EU programme Board said: “This reassurance is exactly what the business community in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly needed to hear, the Growth programme is working and projects are delivering outputs. We would encourage all businesses to engage with the projects and future calls to ensure we all maximise the potential of the EU funds to 2020.”
Highlight Growth programme projects include the Growth & Skills Hub, complemented with the business support projects, the work to heat Jubilee Pool in Penzance by using geothermal heat, inclusion and skills support to enable individuals to return to and progress in employment, and the recently launched CIoS Investment Fund, a game changer for our business community.
Cornwall Council Leader Adam Paynter said: “I am pleased that this funding has been confirmed so that the vital work which will benefit our residents can continue in the knowledge that funding is guaranteed until 2020.”
Cornwall Council projects include the Green Infrastructure for Growth project which sees investment in urban green spaces such as public recreational areas and roadside verges to make them better places for people and for wildlife; the St Erth Multi Modal Hub which has seen significant development around St Erth railway station to create a transport hub for west Cornwall; coastal defence improvements at Long Rock, and the Cornish mainline railway signalling upgrade in partnership with CIoS LEP, the Department for Transport, GWR and Network Rail.
Read the full statement on the gov.uk website here