Recommendation 3

We acknowledge the difficulties in assessing the impact of ESI funds in Wales, particularly in the absence of the counterfactual question of what would have happened without them. However, it is clear that while certain sectors, particularly higher education, the arts and charities have benefitted substantially, these fund have not been able, and were not expected on their own, to deliver a transformative change for the Welsh economy, as the policies of both the UK and the Welsh Government would also have played a pivotal role in determining the benefits to Wales, particularly those of the Welsh Government. Wales continues to qualify for EU Structural Funding and lags significantly behind other regions of the UK and EU. (Paragraph 36) Priorities for the Shared Prosperity Fund