Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2019 to Question 211668, for what reasons no political representatives were present at Shared Prosperity Fund engagement events in Wales.

Since June 2018 we have held external stakeholder engagement events with representatives from a breadth of sectors. We have spoken to businesses, public bodies, higher education institutions, the voluntary and charity sector and rural partnership groups. These were official level meetings that included organisations who benefit from structural funds. These events invited views on the design and priorities of the fund to aid policy development. We will consult widely on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which will give all interested parties the chance to contribute their views to Government.

To date we have held 25 engagement events in the UK which are listed below:

England:

West Midlands – Coventry – 20 June 2018

South and East Midlands – Loughborough – 2 July 2018

North East England – Gateshead – 25 July 2018

South East England – London – 5 September 2018

North West England – Preston – 11 September 2018

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly – Truro – 12 September 2018

South West England – Bristol – 25 September 2018

East of England – Norwich – 4 October 2018

Yorkshire and Humber – Huddersfield – 22 October 2018

Northern Ireland:

Belfast – 15 November 2018 (2 Events)

Derry Londonderry – 16 November 2018

Belfast – 11 January 2019 (2 Events)

Scotland:

Edinburgh – 10 October 2018

Glasgow – 1 November 2018

Dundee – 1 November 2018

Edinburgh – 2 November 2018

Edinburgh – 7 February 2019

Inverness – 8 February 2019

Wales:

Cardiff- 8 November 2018 (2 Events)

Cardiff- 9 November 2018 (2 Events)

Saint Asaph – 30 January 2019