Responding to the allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, South Yorkshire Mayor and Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis said:

“This announcement is nothing more than an outrage; a cynical Conservative con that utterly fails South Yorkshire and drives a coach and horses through the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.

“Instead of delivering the additional £900 million South Yorkshire is owed, and that I’ve consistently pushed the Government to deliver, we’ve been given little over £38 million over a 3-year period. This announcement has been sneaked out just a few hours before purdah and with Parliament in recess – it exemplifies this Government’s complete contempt for people in our region.

“Throughout my time as Mayor I have worked tirelessly to build a stronger, fairer and greener South Yorkshire – but I have done so with both hands tied behind my back, because central government has broken virtually every promise it’s made to our region.”

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Notes for Editors

• The full breakdown of UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocations by region can be found here.
• a replacement for EU funding that regions would have received had Britain not left the European Union.
• The Prime Minister promised repeatedly that areas like South Yorkshire would not lose out on funding as a result of Britain’s departure from the EU. Under EU rules, South Yorkshire would have received additional support of around £900m over seven years from 2021; instead we will receive £38,906,130 core UKSPF allocation (plus £7,256,309 for adult numeracy) over 3 years, funding that will still be subject to competitive bidding processes.
• Mayor Jarvis has consistently called for South Yorkshire to receive its fair share of the UKSPF in line with areas like Cornwall which received this funding in recognition of deprivation levels.