UK Government Mishandling of Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived

That the Parliament notes the publication of the House of Lords European Union Committee’s report on the UK Government’s administration of the UK’s allocation of the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD); understands that the fund provides food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived and that the UK has applied for €3.96 million for the 2014-2020 period, which is the minimum amount; further understands that an initial plan to use the money to expand breakfast clubs failed to meet FEAD eligibility criteria, and that, nearly six years since the Fund was launched, the UK Government has yet to establish an alternative use for the funds; believes, regrettably, that the UK has had to repay €600,000 because an eligible programme has not been developed and will need to repay a further €600,000 by the end of 2019 if a programme is not in place; calls on the UK Government to make public how much of the reported lost allocation was earmarked for Scotland, and further calls for the UK Government to urgently accelerate its plans to use the fund to support young refugees and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.