Supreme Court ruling bodes badly for Liverpool

THE Supreme Court has rejected South Yorkshire’s challenge against the Government into how EU structural funds were allocated – a decision which will probably also see Liverpool lose out to the tune of £100m.

Councils including Liverpool and Sheffield – which has lost £50m – took the Government to court after it decided to divert EU money from English cities to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lawyers acting for Sheffield and Liverpool city regions claimed the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ allocation of EU structural funds, intended to help poorer regions build their economies, for the 2014-20 funding round had been unfair.

The seven Supreme Court judges handed down their judgement, albeit by a narrow margin, which ruled that the Business Secretary’s decision to divert up to £50m originally destined for Yorkshire to other parts of the UK was legal.

Speaking on behalf of the councils, Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said: “This is a disappointing result, but it is clear that the legality of the judgement has split the highest judges in the land, which shows that we made the right decision in appealing it.”

He said the ruling was “disappointing” and accused ministers of acting like “Robin Hood in reverse – taking from the poor to give to the rich”.