Michael Gove accused of shortchanging the North with post-Brexit fund

Greater Manchester is set to receive more than £80million from the government's post-Brexit 'shared prosperity fund', it has been announced.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has said the cash, which nationally amounts to £2.5bn over the next three years, will “help spread opportunity and level up the country”.

But there are accusations that the North has been shortchanged by the fund, which replaces money previously awarded by the European Union.

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During its EU membership, the UK received an average of £1.5bn a year in structural funds between 2014-2020 from Brussels.

But the replacement SPF will only be worth around £400million this year, £700m next year and will only hit the previous level of £1.5bn in 2025.

The Government has argued that it only needs to “match” EU funding levels by 2024-25 because the UK will continue to receive its final allocation of EU money until then.

In all, the fund will see Bolton receive £9,115,364, Bury £5,526,207, Oldham £7,578,496, Rochdale £7,148,507, Salford £7,393,130, Stockport £8,117,036, Tameside £6,569,667, Trafford £5,850,460 and Wigan £9,938,101.

Previously Greater Manchester was handed around £350million between 2014 and 2020 by the EU.

Think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the SPF was a "missed opportunity" and blasted the Department for Levelling Up for following an "arbitrary" formula that favoured regions like Cornwall and the Welsh Valleys, at the expense of the North.

IFS associate director David Phillips said: "Brexit provided an opportunity to rationalise the funding framework, ensuring it used up-to-date estimates of population and socio-economic conditions.

"It is