Concern grows for multi-million pound jobs fund

Nov 3 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

A MULTI-MILLION pound jobs fund could be hit if a Conservative Government scraps the region’s European voice.

Spending bosses at the European Commission have guaranteed a £300m jobs fund for the region to allocate by 2013. But strict spending rules mean any delay in handing out the cash could see millions of pounds clawed back.

The warning comes as the Conservatives firm up plans to scrap development agency One North East and replace it with a series of smaller local enterprise partnerships. Staff at One North East are currently tasked with spending the cash, but officers there are increasingly worried for their jobs as the Conservatives continue to state they will scrap quangos and regional development agencies.

Now European Commission staff have warned they expect there would be “some degree of chaos” if the Tories go ahead with their plan to axe One North East next year, just as the agency looks to use EU cash to spend its way out of the recession.

And they claim “disruption” could mean the jobs fund is paused while new arrangements are put in place.

Privately European sources say they are preparing for months of confusion in the weeks up to and after a General Election likely to be held in the spring.

Last night one MEP warned Tory plans would see the region “disintegrate in a sense”.

European MP Stephen Hughes said any attempts by the Conservatives to scrap the development agency, and with it the North East England Brussels office, would rob the region of its “strong, united voice” which he said was “of critical importance” in securing long-term jobs.

He added: “We have built up an expertise at the agency not just on how to create jobs from the European Regional Development Fund but also how to attract millions of pounds more in other EU funds.

“It would be a disaster for the region if we lost that expertise. Because to try and spend this cash at a local authority level would be a nightmare.

“We will see funding fragmented, so big regional projects compete with each other instead of working together.”