- Q: ‘How did the Brexit chicken cross the road?’
- A: ‘I never said there was a road. Or a chicken.‘
There have been several ‘Brexit chickens’ over the last few years and one that is occupying the minds of many small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as universities is the unfulfilled 2019 Conservative manifesto pledge to ‘at a minimum match the size’ of former EU funding in each nation of the UK.
Earlier this month, 300+ SMEs joined University Alliance members in writing to the Chancellor, asking him to take urgent action in the Spring Budget tomorrow to address the impact of the loss of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
‘Innovation and research’ and ‘support for SMEs’ were two of just a handful of ERDF priority areas. The domestic replacement for EU structural funds, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) has a much wider focus, with 41 interventions listed across three broad investment priorities: community and place; supporting local businesses; and people and skills.
