Wales failed by EU aid replacement, minister Vaughan Gething claims

Plans to replace EU aid do not meet promises to not leave Wales a penny worse off outside of the EU, the Welsh economy minister has said.

Vaughan Gething has accused the UK government of giving Wales less say over less money.

Wales received £375m a year in EU economic aid. It is still not clear how the fund to replace it will work.

UK ministers said in future Wales will get "at least as much in local growth funding" as in EU structural funds.

Wales received EU structural funds when the UK was a member of the European union because of higher levels of economic deprivation in the country.

The cash is being tapered off, with most of the money ending next year.

The UK government has promised a shared prosperity fund (SPF) to replace EU aid, but has not yet said how it will operate.

It has launched a new pilot for the SPF, called the Community Renewal Fund worth £220m in 2020/21.

Welsh ministers have also criticised the £4.8bn Levelling-up fund, which it says is worth only £10m a year to Wales.

Neither scheme is administered by the Welsh government, with councils having the bid for the cash, while EU funding programmes were.

The UK government has also given itself powers to spend money on areas controlled by the Welsh government.

Mr Gething told a Welsh Parliament debate: "These UK proposals represent a new era of aggressive centralisation. One that deliver a very clear, message to Wales: 'you'll get what you're given.'

"It's an approach that provokes division based on an economic rationale that is difficult to identify, let alone endorse.

"Worse still, this top down, throwback to pre-devolution economic policy is a deliberate assault on Welsh devolution. As things stand, Wales is set to have less say, over less money."

The Welsh government also said that if there was no successor EU funding to support all Wales apprenticeships there could be 5,300 fewer placements supported every year.

Meanwhile nearly half of the Wales Business Fund, led by the Development Bank for Wales, is supported by EU funds, the Welsh government said.

A UK government spokesman said it "has a responsibility to people, businesses, and communities across the whole of the UK. It is therefore right we make decisions on strategic investment across the UK, with a strong role for local partners.

"The Welsh government alone does not hold the monopoly of wisdom over where money can be best spent and that is why we intend to work with councils, businesses and others - as well as devolved administrations - to ensure that funding best supports their priorities and people across the UK.

"Decisions will still be made in Wales alongside local communities right across the country," adding, "In the future Wales will receive at least as much in local growth funding as it received in EU structural funds."