Dear Sir,

Last Friday, in my role as Durham County Council Climate Champion, I attended the concluding (virtual) conference of LOCARBO, a high-level EU cooperation initiative for improving low-carbon economy policies, in which DCC has been involved. Three weeks ago, I attended a similar event for an EU buildings efficiency project called REBUS, and these two conferences signal the end of our EU climate collaborations. This is a setback.

UNCERTAIN FUNDING

Even more worryingly also, of course, EU funding will come to an end at the end of this month, and – although we have been promised that its UK successor, the ‘Shared Prosperity Fund’ (UKSPF), will at least match EU funding – we still have not been told when or how this money will be made available, what exactly it will replace or how it will be distributed.

We DO know that there will be a one-year gap, in 2021, before UKSPF funding becomes operational. So, although the EU has promised that EU money for existing projects will continue until they come to an end, we will therefore have a year when no NEW projects can be bid for.

FUTURE CONCERNS

As a ‘transition’ area within the EU, County Durham got preferential funding. We were due, in 2021, to be declared a ‘less developed’ area and get even more. That EU funding has paid, not only for much of the County Council’s nationally-applauded Climate Change/Energy Efficiency work, but also for a number of other social and economic projects (for examples, our nationally-recognised DurhamWorks scheme to help young people into employment).

EU rules allowed us to cite deprivation as an argument for funding. By contrast, current UK government funding tends to be competitive, and measured by economic benefit … and there is a concern that the UKSPF may gravitate to economically-stronger parts of the country.

INTO THE VOID

So we go into the new year financially in the dark. We know that the government has promised £200million for ‘pilot’ projects during 2021, which might give us some idea of how the UKSPF will be allocated, but currently – again typically – we do not have any idea when or how this pilot money will be made available, what exactly it will address, or how it will be distributed!

All this not only threatens Durham County Council’s financial ability to maintain our climate budget, but makes it impossible to plan for whatever future climate budget we may be going to get.

Cllr. John D. Clare