MP for Newcastle North, Catherine McKinnell, is calling on Government Ministers to provide urgent answers on the status of much-needed EU funding for the North East, which helps to support a wide range of economic development and job creation projects across the region, such as Science Central and The Beacon in Newcastle.

However, the next round of funding – worth some £724million to the North East between now and 2020 – is being put at risk by the Coalition’s continued failure to manage the transition between the Regional Development Agencies they abolished, and the 39 different Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) set up across England to replace them.

Whilst the European Commission is satisfied with the programmes put forward by the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – they are yet to be convinced by the UK Government’s attempts to adequately explain the role, governance, transparency and public accountability of LEPs in England, with some Local Enterprise Partnerships failing to demonstrate that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure the effective use of public funds.

This situation has been raised with the European Commission by Labour’s North East MEPs, Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen, and Catherine McKinnell is now demanding urgent answers from Conservative and Lib Dem Coalition Ministers about what’s going on.

Catherine has repeatedly raised the issue of European funding for the region in Parliament, including in her ‘maiden speech’ in the House of Commons back in 2010.

Catherine said:

‘At a time when the North East continues to have the highest level of unemployment of anywhere in the country, it’s frankly unbelievable that Ministers are jeopardising hundreds of millions of pounds of much-need investment for our region because of their total mismanagement of this issue.

‘For the first time since Britain joined the EU, we actually risk having a gap in European funding for the North East because of this unacceptable hold-up.

‘That’s why I’ve put down a series of urgent questions to Ministers across Government to get them to explain what on earth’s going on. They need to get a grip of this situation and fast.’