Millions of EU funding for Hackney’s jobseekers will go following Brexit vote

A pot of millions of pounds of European Union money, which funds initiatives helping unemployed people in Hackney and East London find work, will no longer be available following the vote for ‘Brexit’.

The first tranche of a £30m European social fund to be divided between Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest is about to be received by the councils, and will be spent on workplace based initiatives, directly targeting those who are out of work and getting them into work.

But Cllr Guy Nicholson, Hackney’s cabinet member for regeneration, said: “That will go. As things currently stand with the current government, we aren’t going to get it from them and that money will be lost, and there will be nothing to replace it with.

“It’s these kind of initiatives and investments that will go, whether it’s to do with regional development support into infrastructure, or investments into people, jobs and skills.”

He believes the impact will be further compounded by the government’s decision to devolve responsibility for the national back to work programme to the boroughs, and cut the budget from £800m to £180m.

He added: The other aspect which is completely unforeseen, we have one of the fastest growing economies in the country in Hackney in Tech City, and we have seen 40 per cent growth.

“We have people all over Europe trading an investing into our local economy and I would like to know what will happen if that free movement of trade gets shut down - it will affect our local economy’s prosperity.”