The situation is that the fall of the pound in recent months, the heaviest fall in 80 years, has increased the value of the euro-dominated European Union grants by a fifth. The European Commission has offered a six-month extension to its December 2008 deadline to all countries for unused funds as part of a €200bn (£178bn) economic stimulus package. The UK took up the option for Scotland, Wales and NI but dramatically has rejected it for England.
In the case of Scotland, Wales and NI the Treasury has taken a very different approach. ‘They have asked for the grants and they are the ones best placed to decide”; and the Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan has enthusiastically greeted the £40 million windfall Wales is getting and called it ‘a miracle’.
But just last week, I was posting:
The row later took a new twist when Labour claimed a Scottish Government bungle had resulted in Scotland missing out on a potential £20 million boost in European cash.
A spokesman for Mr Purnell said London and Cardiff had taken advantage of currency fluctuations to gain the extra cash but Holyrood had not.
"Both the Labour governments in Westminster and Wales have been able to increase their funding available to people losing their jobs but the Nationalists have mismanaged their skills budget so much they are unable to take the extra £20 million available in European cash," said the spokesman.
Is it Westminster or Holyrood who's actually responsible for claiming/distributing Scotland's funds?
3 comments:
The crucial point is really quite simple. When it is money destined for Scotland [*], then that money is Scotland's.
When it is destined for England then it belongs to the "UK", (courtesy of our Scottish Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer).
In other words, "What's mine is mine and what's yours is ours".
It's really very simple.
[*] Ditto Wales and Northern Ireland.
Sorry for the delay in replying, crazy few days at work:
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/region/index_en.htm
With the movement towards granting funds on a regional as opposed to direct national basis, I thought that a lot of the structural funding was applied for and directed towards the regions as opposed towards the national exchequer?
Basically, unclaimed money can be taken off the UK's contribution to the EU.
So by not claiming the money due to deprived areas of England this directly benefits Whitehall finances.
Which means that the Scottish Raj has more money to throw away propping up Scottish banks and other mad schemes - all using money that was rightly intended for poor areas of England.
So much for zaNuLabour's social conscience, eh?
Post a Comment