Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MSP Alasdair Allan has called on the UK Government to explain what is to happen to the £3 million of EU LEADER funding which comes to communities in the islands, given the lack of any clear position on its plans around Brexit.
While the UK Government has guaranteed some EU subsidy schemes until 2020, CAP Pillar 2 (through which LEADER is delivered via the Scottish Rural Development Programme) or European Maritime Fisheries projects beginning after the Autumn Statement will receive no such guarantees.
Alasdair Allan, who is also the Scottish Government’s Minister for Europe, commented:
“In the Western Isles we benefit greatly from EU funding. Development programmes such as LEADER, which focuses on supporting rural development locally, were awarded over three million pounds for their 2014-2020 programme. However, the threat of Brexit has put that funding at risk.
“These types of programmes are vital in supporting communities like ours. Because funding from these programmes is matched against other sources, the cumulative impact from the loss of these programmes would be many times greater than the actual funding lost. Their absence would also leave a much greater strain on other agencies, and these are concerns which I discussed with the Leader of the Comhairle when I met with him this week in Stornoway.
“The worrying lack of clarity about the future of these programmes risks millions of pounds of investment which we could potentially miss out on. The UK Government needs to start giving people some clues about what it wants out of Brexit. That includes giving us some idea of what the long term impact of their plans is going to be on projects the length of the Western Isles.”
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