Councillors have questioned the Government's commitment to replace Cornwall's EU funding after it was announced that Cornwall will get just over £1million from the pilot scheme to replace the cash.

Conservative MPs and councillors in Cornwall welcomed a line in the Chancellor's recent autumn statement which said that the Duchy will get funding which would "at a minimum match" the funds it would have got from the EU.

It has previously been stated by a number of organisations that Cornwall would need to get at least £100m a year to match what it would have received if the UK had remained in the EU.

The Government has said that Cornwall's replacement funding will come from the new Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and while this is not due to start until 2022 a pilot scheme, the Community Renewal Fund, was announced to provide funding for 2021/22.

However, under this scheme local authority areas could only bid for a maximum of £3m and it was revealed last week that Cornwall will get just over £1m.

Councillors from the Labour, Independent and Mebyon Kernow groups at County Hall have all highlighted that this is far from the £100m which Cornwall would have got if the country remained in the EU and also raised concerns that the Government did not provide the maximum funding.

Cornwall previously received hundreds of millions of pounds from the EU as it was recognised as one of the poorest regions in Europe.

The Community Renewal Fund will provide £465,680 to The Alchemy Project and £591,470 to Tresorys Kernow/Cornish Treasure.

In addition to the announcement of the pilot scheme funding councillors have also highlighted that the detailed budget statements published by the Government show that £400m has been allocated for the first year of the SPF.

This would mean that if Cornwall is going to get the £100m which has been identified as being required to match the lost EU funding a quarter of the entire budget would be needed.

Jayne Kirkham, leader of the Labour group at Cornwall Council, said:

"The list of successful bids to the Community Renewal Fund (the pilot UK replacement pot for the EU money) was out last week.

"Cornwall was due to get approximately £100m from EU funding this year, had we stayed in. Instead we got £1m from this UK replacement fund. The new Conservative Cornwall Council applied for £3m and the Government awarded us just £1m.

"The Conservative administration at County Hall didn't even apply for the 'Levelling Up Fund' so Cornwall got nothing from that. (The Scillies however did apply and got funding for ferries.)

"That means we're £99m down this year. £1m instead of £100m.

"The Shared Prosperity Fund that we were promised will be the magic bullet that replaces all our lost EU funding pound for pound isn't released until next year, but the budget told us how much will be in it. It's been slashed. The figure for 2022/23 is just £0.4billion for *the whole country*.

"To keep his promise of replacing Cornwall's EU money pound for pound, the Prime Minister would have to give a quarter of that entire fund just to Cornwall!

"So, for all the fluff and grandiose announcements, we've seen nothing like the amount Cornwall was promised. So far, we're actually getting £1m this year, a hundredth of what the Prime Minister promised.

"We've lost our EU funding and the money seems instead to be flowing north to the 'red wall'. Cornwall is being levelled down, rather than up."

Independent councillor Tim Dwelly added:

"Cornwall has today been awarded just £1m from the Government's pilot Shared Prosperity Fund (the fund meant to replace EU funds Cornwall used to get). This despite the prime minister promising Cornwall would get as much as before – £100m a year.

"The Tories now in charge at County Hall bid for the maximum £3m allowed this year – but today got a slap back from their own Government who declined to fund three of the five projects. Cornwall only got a third of a tiny handful of peanuts.

"Can anyone believe that a promise of £100m a year could end up as £1m? I barely can myself."

Cllr Dwelly said that the Government allocations for the SPF would mean that based on the same proportion of the former EU funding Cornwall will get just £15.2m in 2022/23 and rising to £57m in 2024/25.

He said:

"Clearly these amounts are nowhere near £100m a year. The idea that Rishi Sunak is going to divert huge amounts of funding away from marginal seats in the 'Red Wall' north to Cornwall is a fantasy. Folks, we have been sold a pup and Cornwall is being levelled down…"

Mebyon Kernow has challenged Cornwall's MPs to get some clarity on the replacement EU funding following the Community Renewal Fund announcement.

In a statement the party said:

"At last week's Autumn budget statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer guaranteed that Cornwall would receive investment from the upcoming Shared Prosperity Fund at least equivalent to "the size of EU funds" that would have been received if the UK had not left the EU.

"But the announcement of the latest UK Community Renewal Fund shows that Cornwall is getting so much less than other poorer parts of the UK.

"Figures show that Wales, for example, will get £46m, but Cornwall will only receive £1.06m. The people of Cornwall have a right to know what is going, and when and how the UK Government will meet its stated obligations to Cornwall."

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