Cllr Richard Watts, Leader of Islington Council, has written to the Tory government demanding that funding to help local people back to work is protected following the vote to leave the European Union. 

In advance of the EU Referendum, Cllr Watts wrote in the local papers about the funding Islington receives from the EU to support employment projects that are working to help more local people into work. 

The council currently receives just under £1m per year from the Skills Funding Agency to provide adult skills training and community learning projects. The Skills Funding Agency is backed by the European Social Fund. 

Cllr Watts has now written to Tory Employment Minister, Priti Patel MP, seeking assurances that this funding will continue to be awarded after Britain leaves the EU. Ms Patel confirmed on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme on 14th June that, “We have been abundantly clear that there would be more than enough money to ensure that those who now get funding from the EU -; including universities, scientists, farmers, regional funds -; would continue to get money, while ensuring that could be spent on our priorities.”

Cllr Richard Watts said: “The EU currently supports vital work the council does to help local people find jobs, and to gain new skills. Following the referendum and Britain’s decision to leave the EU, I’m worried about where the £1million of funding we receive is going to come from in future. 

“During the campaign, Vote Leave spokespeople repeatedly said that EU funding would be replaced if we left. However, the Leave campaign has already backtracked on its pledge to give £350million a week to the NHS, so we need to know whether their pledge to replace EU funding is going to go the same way. 

“I’ve written to the Employment Minister who went on the radio making the pledge to ask her to back it up with concrete answers.”

In the last year Islington Council supported 1,150 unemployed residents into paid work, half of whom were long-term unemployed. The council also delivered 2,300 adult learning courses to help people develop new skills for work. The adult learning service was rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in an inspection earlier this year. 

Pictured – Cllr Richard Watts