To ask the Minister of Finance for an update on discussions with UK Treasury on EU replacement funding beyond 2025.

Mr O'Dowd

I have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury directly and jointly with my counterparts in Scotland and Wales about EU replacement funding beyond 2025. The issue has been a central point of discussion in my meetings with the Treasury. I have also written to other British Government Ministers about the matter and discussed it with them and have sent the agreed Executive position paper on successor funding to the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner. The Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the successor to the European social fund and European regional development fund, will be delivered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2025-26. That is intended to be a transition year to provide time for a successor programme to be developed. It is unlikely that we will have clarity on funding post 2026 before the spending review in June. Clearly, the longer that we are left without clarity, the more difficult that it will be to deliver an effective spending programme. That is an unacceptable position. My officials are working closely and collaboratively with other Departments and the community and voluntary sector to gather evidence in order to inform the development of any potential successor funding. That will help us to move as quickly and effectively as possible, once we have the required clarity from Whitehall.

Mr O'Dowd

I met representatives of the community and voluntary sector a number of weeks ago on that very matter and discussed the challenges that the sector faces. The situation is far from ideal. We require clarity. It seems as though that is a standard answer to every question, but I do not expect any clarity from any Department in Whitehall ahead of the spending review. The Treasury has almost gone into lockdown in terms of its deliberations and what it is doing. Departments in Whitehall are waiting on decisions from the Treasury. None of those decisions will be announced ahead of 11 June. I hope that clarity will be brought to that matter and a whole lot of others on 11 June, and that we will then be able to give certainty to the local community and voluntary sector on the way forward. I hope that the funding envelope will be satisfactory and will enable the community and voluntary sector to carry out the important work that it does here.

Mr Kearney

Minister, the loss of European funding is probably one of the most extreme demonstrations of the legacy of the Brexit arrangements that were imposed on us.

What are the requirements on the British Government to meaningfully engage with the issue with a view to ensuring that the funding pressures that have been created are alleviated?

Mr O'Dowd

It is imperative that the British Government properly engage on the matter. The Executive have given them a paper on what, we believe, the way forward should be. That is an agreed position around the Executive table. As I said, I have raised the matter with Treasury, directly with the Minister for Housing and Planning and with the Deputy Prime Minister, reflecting the importance that I place on the matter. I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of engagement that I have had back on the matter and hope that the Government will live up to the commitment in their manifesto to devolve the powers back to devolved institutions such as ours. I also hope that they properly fund the schemes, moving forward. We saw the previous Government put in place a scheme that was significantly underfunded compared with what the European Union had provided.

Mr McNulty

What work has been done to identify charities from which the Executive commission services that may suffer an impact from the loss of EU funding? How might that jeopardise commissioned services? What steps are being taken to mitigate that impact?

Mr O'Dowd

It is up to each Department to do an audit of the services that it brings in from the community and voluntary sector and of how they might be impacted on by the loss of the funding. However, I emphasise that I am not suggesting that we will lose the funding; we do not have clarity at the moment, ahead of the spending review. The quicker that clarity and the funding come forward, the sooner Departments and the community and voluntary sector will be able to sit down together to work out a programme for the remaining period.