Mayors want control over replacement scheme for EU cash

The mayors of four northern cities are lobbying for control over the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, a UK government scheme likely to fund science and innovation capacity building across the country.

Prime minister Theresa May promised to launch a prosperity fund as part of her election manifesto, to stimulate economic growth in underdeveloped regions once the UK stops being eligible for European Structural and Investment Funds.

In a joint statement sent to the Financial Times, Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham, Liverpool’s mayor Steve Rotheram, Sheffield’s mayor Dan Jarvis and Tees Valley’s mayor Ben Houchen, demanded control over the new fund.