Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the devolved administrations will be (1) given control of how the proposed Shared Prosperity Fund will be spent, and (2) able to make decisions on which projects will benefit from the funding in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In July the government published (attached) an update on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

We have also committed our intention to consult publicly on the design and priorities of the UKSPF in 2018.

The government has been clear that we will engage the devolved administrations in advance of the public consultation, to ensure the UKSPF works for places across the UK. Officials in the UK government and all devolved administrations have begun discussions, and stakeholder events across the UK are planned throughout the rest of this year.

We are continuing to work on the design of the UKSPF and final decisions on the operation and allocation of the Fund will be made as part of the 2019 Spending Review.