Chi reveals details of £25 million of EU investment in Newcastle
Chi Onwurah MP for Newcastle Central says:
“ Analysis published by the Stronger In campaign today shows that my constituency of Newcastle Central benefits from £25 million of EU investment each year.
“ A vote to leave the European Union would mean that we would lose access to the funds that support our local communities. I doubt this Tory government that has cut hundreds of millions of pounds of funding to the region in recent years would be in a hurry to replace that support.”
Chi believes that this data highlights the significant benefits of Britain’s membership of the EU
in her constituency and in almost every area of the country. Many local firms are very keen to stay in the EU, not just large ones. Chi recently visited a small but very successful IT Company, Gospelware, in central Newcastle who are strongly in favour of staying in the EU.
Newcastle upon Tyne Central benefits through receiving EU funding, which supports regional development, provides investment in businesses, creates job opportunities, improves prospects for young people through apprenticeships and higher education, and supports agriculture.
The analysis shows that during the period of the 2007-2013 European Structural Funds programme the North East received £494m. The Region will receive a further £596m from the 2014-2020 EU programme which has been allocated to the Local Enterprise Partnership, who will help decide how the money is spent locally.
Ends
NOTES TO EDITORS
The European Structural Fund is made up of the European Regional Development Fund, and the European Social Fund.
These EU funds support projects to increase employment, innovation, research,support businesses and improve the prospects for young people.
1) Photo attached of Chi at Gospelware
2)The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) :
- The objective of the ERDF is to help reinforce economic and social cohesion by redressing regional imbalances and supporting the development of regional economies. The ERDF contributes towards the financing of:
- investment which contributes to creating sustainable jobs;
- investment in infrastructure;
- measures which support regional and local development, including support and services for businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
- technical assistance
3)European Social Fund:
- The European Social Fund was set up to improve employment opportunities; help raise standards of living; and help equip the workforce with the skills needed by business in a competitive global economy to improve job prospects.
- The 2007 to 2013 England ESF programme invested a total £2.5 billion of European funding in jobs and skills. Priority groups for support included:
- young people not in education, employment or training
- families with multiple problems
- offenders
- people with low skill level
4)Below is a table of some of the projects in Newcastle upon Tyne Central that received EU funding
| Beneficiary Organisation | Project Name | Commitment |
| Institute for Public Policy Research | Northern Economic Futures | £20,000 |
| Newcastle University | Postgraduates for Business Support | £50,000 |
| Newcastle Science Company Ltd | NSC Business to Enterprise Hub (E2B) | £460,000 |
| University of Newcastle Upon Tyne | Improving SME Performance through Graduate Apprentices | £840,000 |
| Newcastle University | Sustainable Lifecycle Design | £60,000 |
| Centre West Partnership | The Beacon | £2,410,000 |
| North East Finance (Holdco) | Jeremie Product Fund Management | £11,000,000 |
| Newcastle University | Translational Research Building | £1,870,000 |
| North East Finance (Holdco) | JEREMIE – Holding Fund | £3,780,000 |
| Codeworks | Agile Software Innovation Programme | £650,000 |
| Newcastle University | CHP Trigeneration and Energy Storage | £800,000 |
| Newcastle Science City Company Ltd | Newcastle Innovation Machine (NIM) | £2,290,000 |
| Codeworks | Codeworks Connect / Codeworks GameHorizon | £970,000 |
| Codeworks | Digital Placement & Knowledge Transfer | £580,000 |
5)Example of previous project funded in Newcastle Central:
The Core at Science Central in Newcastle city centre built with the support of £5.6m in ERDF funding