To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the action plan produced by her Department and the Government offices in response to the decision of the European Commission to suspend European Regional Development Fund funding. (141869)

I have placed a copy of the Roadmap to Assurance in the Library of the House, which sets out the Department’s response to the EC decision to delay payment to five English ERDF programmes and one urban programme. The roadmap supplements and strengthens guidance already issued by the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of which programmes within the European Regional Development Fund the European Commission has (a) called for more site checks and (b) held back payments. (141870)

The following English ERDF programmes have had payments held back by the European Commission:

Objective 1 Merseyside

Objective 1 South Yorkshire

Objective 2 West Midlands

Objective 2 Yorkshire and The Humber

Objective 2 North East of England

Objective 2 London

Stockwell

Burnley, Blackburn and Darwen

Halifax in Calderdale

Hetton and Murton

Peterborough

These programmes have increased the number of on site checks as part of a robust action plan to address the Commission requirements. We are confident that payments can resume quickly after we have submitted our reports to the Commission at the beginning of July.