• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Yorkshire Bylines
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Home Affairs
    • Transport
    • World
    Thwaite Hall, Cottingham,

    Plans to house asylum seekers at former student accommodation in Hull put on hold

    Whitehall bus, photo by Malcolm Laverty

    Who will the prime minister throw under the bus this time?

    Child playing

    Children first: a challenge for Wakefield parliamentary candidates

    Judy Ling Wong

    Judy Ling Wong CBE: a life in art and environmental activism

    Drax Power Station

    Drax Power Station: a burning issue

    Poster from Linton Action

    Linton-on-Ouse: Home Office set to repeat previous asylum accommodation failures

    Parliament House, Canberra

    Inside Australia’s unpredictable election

    Image of a baby deer

    Steer clear of baby deer!

    RAF Linton

    RAF Linton to house asylum seekers: what we know so far

    Trending Tags

    • Johnson
    • Coronavirus
    • Labour
    • Starmer
    • NI Protocol
    • Brexit
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Home Affairs
    • Transport
    • World
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Culture
    • Dance
    • Food
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Recipes
    • Sport
    Bradford photograph courtesy of Tim Green Bradford | Tim Green | Flickr

    Will Bradford become the UK City of Culture 2025?

    Judy Ling Wong

    Judy Ling Wong CBE: a life in art and environmental activism

    Image of Norky's Ramblings books

    Norky’s Ramblings by Peter Norcliffe: a review

    Image of heath hall

    Bowls, beer, and battles: a not too serious guide to the capture of Wakefield, the Merrie City, May 1643

    Image of Skipwith Common

    Weird Yorkshire: the Skipwith Bear

    Westenra, promo image provided

    Local band to play at Whitby Abbey Guinness World Record attempt

    Photo courtesy of the JORVIK Centre

    JORVIK Viking festival

    Image of Cragg Vale

    Norky’s Ramblings: a WARTS ramble in Cragg Vale

    Image of 'no racism' at cricket match

    Condoning racism in English cricket comes at a price: £50,000 to be exact

    • Food
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Sport
  • Business
    • All
    • Economy
    • Technology
    • Trade
    Jar with money cascading out of it

    Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

    Desk with laptop

    Johnson and Rees-Mogg want us back in the office, but for whose benefit?

    Cost-of-living crisis, Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash

    Poorest households continue to be the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis

    Food bank packing at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, by Staffs Live on Flikr

    Sooner rather than later – why the poorest households need help now

    Constructing houses

    Trouble in Happy Valley: Calderdale Council struggles to agree its local plan

    Cost of living crisis

    A government that’s out of touch and out of ideas

    Cost of living - a house, a piggy bank and a magnifying glass

    Cost-of-living crisis likely to escalate due to rising global consumption

    Driverless car

    How safe are driverless cars?

    Port of Dover, Eastern Docks, Customs Control

    Brexit border checks: better never than late?

    Trending Tags

      • Economy
      • Technology
      • Trade
    • Region
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • News
      • All
      • Brexit
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • Home Affairs
      • Transport
      • World
      Thwaite Hall, Cottingham,

      Plans to house asylum seekers at former student accommodation in Hull put on hold

      Whitehall bus, photo by Malcolm Laverty

      Who will the prime minister throw under the bus this time?

      Child playing

      Children first: a challenge for Wakefield parliamentary candidates

      Judy Ling Wong

      Judy Ling Wong CBE: a life in art and environmental activism

      Drax Power Station

      Drax Power Station: a burning issue

      Poster from Linton Action

      Linton-on-Ouse: Home Office set to repeat previous asylum accommodation failures

      Parliament House, Canberra

      Inside Australia’s unpredictable election

      Image of a baby deer

      Steer clear of baby deer!

      RAF Linton

      RAF Linton to house asylum seekers: what we know so far

      Trending Tags

      • Johnson
      • Coronavirus
      • Labour
      • Starmer
      • NI Protocol
      • Brexit
      • Culture
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Home Affairs
      • Transport
      • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
      • All
      • Culture
      • Dance
      • Food
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Recipes
      • Sport
      Bradford photograph courtesy of Tim Green Bradford | Tim Green | Flickr

      Will Bradford become the UK City of Culture 2025?

      Judy Ling Wong

      Judy Ling Wong CBE: a life in art and environmental activism

      Image of Norky's Ramblings books

      Norky’s Ramblings by Peter Norcliffe: a review

      Image of heath hall

      Bowls, beer, and battles: a not too serious guide to the capture of Wakefield, the Merrie City, May 1643

      Image of Skipwith Common

      Weird Yorkshire: the Skipwith Bear

      Westenra, promo image provided

      Local band to play at Whitby Abbey Guinness World Record attempt

      Photo courtesy of the JORVIK Centre

      JORVIK Viking festival

      Image of Cragg Vale

      Norky’s Ramblings: a WARTS ramble in Cragg Vale

      Image of 'no racism' at cricket match

      Condoning racism in English cricket comes at a price: £50,000 to be exact

      • Food
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Sport
    • Business
      • All
      • Economy
      • Technology
      • Trade
      Jar with money cascading out of it

      Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

      Desk with laptop

      Johnson and Rees-Mogg want us back in the office, but for whose benefit?

      Cost-of-living crisis, Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash

      Poorest households continue to be the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis

      Food bank packing at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, by Staffs Live on Flikr

      Sooner rather than later – why the poorest households need help now

      Constructing houses

      Trouble in Happy Valley: Calderdale Council struggles to agree its local plan

      Cost of living crisis

      A government that’s out of touch and out of ideas

      Cost of living - a house, a piggy bank and a magnifying glass

      Cost-of-living crisis likely to escalate due to rising global consumption

      Driverless car

      How safe are driverless cars?

      Port of Dover, Eastern Docks, Customs Control

      Brexit border checks: better never than late?

      Trending Tags

        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
      • Region
      No Result
      View All Result
      Yorkshire Bylines
      No Result
      View All Result
      Home News Brexit

      Our rights after Brexit and the UK shared prosperity fund

      Our rights after Brexit and the potential for the UK shared prosperity fund to close the inequality gap between our communities.

      Liz ShannonBelinda PrattenbyLiz ShannonandBelinda Pratten
      10-04-2021 06:49
      in Brexit
      prosperity fund

      "Chalking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2015" by University of Essex is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

      3
      VIEWS
      Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
      ADVERTISEMENT

      It’s a long time, seemingly interminable, since the UK referendum in 2016. But with the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, the UK finally left the European Union (EU). What does it mean for our rights?

      Current rights

      Even though we have left the EU, we are still signatories to conventions and treaties that protect rights, through membership of the Council of Europe and ratification of international agreements. 

      Many rights and protections are contained in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which still applies to the UK. Our own Human Rights Act allows individuals to use rights in the ECHR to bring cases to domestic courts.

      The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

      Our biggest loss of rights from Brexit is undoubtedly the loss of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter). It was the only piece of current EU legislation which was not ‘cut and pasted’ into retained EU law in the UK following Brexit.

      Unlike, say, the ECHR, the Charter reflects the indivisibility of civil, political, economic and social rights.

      Losing the Charter effectively means there will be significant gaps in substantive rights that do not have direct equivalents in other UK human rights law. As well as the free-standing right to non-discrimination, the right to protection of a child’s best interests and the right to human dignity will also be lost.

      EU case law

      Also lost from 1 January 2021 is adherence to case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 did include an amendment that UK courts and tribunals could “have regard to” its case law, but that will no longer be on a statutory footing.

      ECJ rulings/case law can now also be challenged in the UK courts and these can help unpick the existing laws on these rights and standards if the challenge is found favourable.

      Other rights at risk

      The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 could also mean changes to equality law. After significant lobbying, a government amendment was introduced which requires a minister to make explanatory statements, including in relation to equality issues. However, this only applies to secondary legislation and does not apply to all other Brexit-related primary legislation, and the Act could be used to reduce existing protections.

      The UK/EU trade deal, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) threatens the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, which underpins rights in Northern Ireland as well as the peace process. If the UK government reneges on the protocol in the agreement, the prospect of a return to violence is a real threat.

      The TCA also seems to have resulted in the likelihood of UK labour rights coming under threat. It leaves workers’ rights (and environmental protections) at serious risk of erosion because the new mechanisms agreed for safeguarding a ‘level playing field’ sets too high a bar for evidence. Any alleged breach would necessitate a protracted period of investigation and in reality, would rarely be enacted or enforced.

      So what now?

      Now more than ever, when we’ve seen structural inequality grotesquely highlighted by Covid-19, the current government reviews of judicial review and the Human Rights Act should solely focus on improving rights and ordinary people’s access to them, not seeking any new restrictions.

      Our rights and the UK shared prosperity fund

      In 2018, we were promised a consultation on the UK shared prosperity fund (UKSPF), which would replace EU structural and investment funds post-Brexit. Three years on we are still waiting – with the new fund due to start in April 2022, and the details not yet published, the chances of a consultation now are practically non-existent.

      What we know so far is that this ‘flagship policy’ of the levelling-up agenda will be:

      • a UK-wide fund, centrally administered with funding decisions made by the UK government, who will need to approve local programmes;
      • in two parts, (i) targeting places most in need, “ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities”, and
      • (ii) bespoke employment and skills programmes for people facing barriers to the labour market.

      In 2019 Equally Ours worked with civil society organisations across the UK to agree shared principles that should underpin the UKSPF. The points below reflect those principles.

      Equality

      The focus on people and places most in need is useful. But to deliver the promise of levelling up, explicit, strategic objectives for equality and social inclusion will need to be hardwired into the UKSPF at every level – national, regional and local. And they must be given at least the same priority and attention as economic objectives.

      Devolution

      Economic development (including EU funds), has been the responsibility of the Scottish and Welsh governments and the Northern Ireland assembly. Each government already has its own economic strategy, developed in partnership with civil society and business. The UKSPF should build on this strong foundation.

      Subsidiarity

      Inequality in the UK is deeply entrenched and reflects decades of deindustrialisation. But different localities and regions face different issues and opportunities. There is a limit to what a centrally driven fund can achieve.

      A more localised approach would enable local decision-makers to target interventions where need is greatest, building on local strengths and assets. It would also give local people and communities scope to lead change in their areas.

      Civil society

      Civil society organisations have a unique contribution to make to the process of levelling up.

      Equality organisations and others have a wealth of expertise in improving opportunities and outcomes for people with direct experience of discrimination and disadvantage. In some areas they are also significant employers. As such they are uniquely placed to understand people’s needs and ensure that the UKSPF reaches those who need it most.

      It is therefore essential that they, and those they work with, are involved in the design as well as the delivery of UKSPF-funded programmes. This would require some local ring-fencing to ensure that capacity-building support and infrastructure support is available to enable them to do this.

      The UKSPF is an opportunity to build a better fund and make a real difference to people’s lives and life chances. But the lack of engagement or consultation with civil society is a missed opportunity to get this right.


      Liz Shannon and Belinda Pratten work at Equally Ours, a UK charity that brings together people and organisations working across equality, human rights and social justice to make a reality of these in everyone’s lives.

       

      Tags: DemocracyEquality
      ADVERTISEMENT
      Previous Post

      Blogging, populism and power

      Next Post

      Brexit and devolution: the first 100 days post transition

      Liz Shannon

      Liz Shannon

      Liz is parliamentary and policy adviser at Equally Ours, a UK charity that brings together people and organisations working across equality, human rights and social justice to make a reality of these in everyone’s lives.

      Belinda Pratten

      Belinda Pratten

      Belinda is a freelance consultant working with charities and social enterprises to help them create social change and further their goals. She has been working with Equally Ours since 2018, taking forward their work on the UKSPF.

      Related Posts

      Prime Minister Johnson meets with Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Fein
      Brexit

      Johnson returns from his Belfast train crash empty handed

      byAnthony Robinson
      17 May 2022
      It began as a mistake
      Brexit

      Made a mistake? Simple: just deny it ever happened and make it again

      byAndy Brown
      17 May 2022
      a flyer on the floor with photos of Boris, Priti, Jacob and Michael that says 'they couldn't care less'
      Brexit

      The erosion of democracy as revealed in the European Scrutiny Committee meeting 20 April 2022

      byMartin Brooks
      10 May 2022
      Chess queen knocking over the king
      Brexit

      Local elections: a sea change in voter opinion and a comprehensive thrashing for the Conservatives  

      byAndy Brown
      8 May 2022
      Border plans chaos
      Brexit

      The government’s border policy descends into chaos

      byAnthony Robinson
      3 May 2022
      Next Post
      Brexit Breakup United Kingdom

      Brexit and devolution: the first 100 days post transition

      Want to support us?

      Can you help Yorkshire Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

      DONATE

      Sign up to our newsletter

      If you would like to receive the Yorkshire Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

      NEWSLETTER

      LATEST

      Thwaite Hall, Cottingham,

      Plans to house asylum seekers at former student accommodation in Hull put on hold

      24 May 2022
      Whitehall bus, photo by Malcolm Laverty

      Who will the prime minister throw under the bus this time?

      24 May 2022
      Bradford photograph courtesy of Tim Green Bradford | Tim Green | Flickr

      Will Bradford become the UK City of Culture 2025?

      24 May 2022
      Jar with money cascading out of it

      Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

      24 May 2022

      MOST READ

      Whitehall bus, photo by Malcolm Laverty

      Who will the prime minister throw under the bus this time?

      24 May 2022
      Jar with money cascading out of it

      Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

      24 May 2022
      Photo credit Robert Sharp / englishpenLicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

      The Davis Downside Dossier

      1 January 2021
      Desk with laptop

      Johnson and Rees-Mogg want us back in the office, but for whose benefit?

      23 May 2022

      BROWSE BY TAGS

      antivaxxers Charity climate change Coronavirus Cost of living Creative industries Crime Cummings Democracy Devolution Equality Farming Fishing hgv History Immigration Johnson Journalism Labour Local Democracy Mental Health mining money NHS NI Protocol omicron Pies pollution poverty PPE Public Health Review shortage social media Starmer tax travel Ukraine Yorkshire
      Yorkshire Bylines

      Yorkshire Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Yorkshire and beyond.

      Learn more about us

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Contact
      • About
      • Letters
      • Donate
      • Privacy
      • Bylines network
      • Shop

      © 2022 Yorkshire Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • News
        • Brexit
        • Education
        • Environment
        • Health
        • Home Affairs
        • Transport
        • World
      • Politics
      • Opinion
      • Lifestyle
        • Culture
        • Dance
        • Food
        • Music
        • Poetry
        • Recipes
        • Sport
      • Business
        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
      • Donate
      • The Compendium of Cabinet Codebreakers
      • The Davis Downside Dossier
      • The Digby Jones Index
      • Newsletter sign up
      • Cartoons by Stan
      • Authors

      © 2022 Yorkshire Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

      Welcome Back!

      Login to your account below

      Forgotten Password?

      Retrieve your password

      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

      Log In