Billions of pounds of EU funding has been earmarked for projects to create jobs

and growth across England over the coming years. Now the UK is heading for the
exit, what happens next?

BBC News looks at the numbers.

How much is involved?

The UK government says over the past nine years, EU investment has helped
almost 25,000 businesses to start and created 115,000 jobs.

The EU allocated 6.2bn (currently worth about 5.2bn) to England between 2014 and
2020 under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social
Fund (ESF). This was money from the EU's budget to which the UK had contributed.

The latest tranche of money was divided up by the former Coalition government to
boards known as Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), which bring together local
authorities and business leaders.
Some areas with greater need received a larger share per head of population than
others.

For example, in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly the funding was worth 1,070 per
person over seven years, by far the biggest share. In Buckinghamshire and Thames
Valley, it was just 26 per person.
The former received more because they are the only part of England whose economic
performance was below 75% of the EU average. Previous funding rounds included 26m
towards the costs of building The Eden Project.

How did areas with most funding vote?

Cornwall voted out. And now its council leader has called for that money to
beguaranteed by the government.

And when the vote is broken down by LEP area, rather than by region, the five that
received the most funding per head of population all voted Leave. However, four of the
five areas that received the least funding per person voted to stay in.

What happens now?

Assurances are being sought that the money from the EU will be replaced by the UK
government. Sandra Rothwell, chief executive of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP,
said: "The UK is still part of Europe and [we] still have an EU programme worth some
500m to 2020.
"We will be working to ensure that this doesn't change for at least two years while the
terms of the UK's exit are negotiated and existing treaties remain in place.

"Whatever the detailed outcome of those negotiations, it is critical that Cornwall and the
Isles of Scilly continues to receive the same level of investment and is not short
changed as a result of the referendum result."

Isn't it UK taxpayers' money anyway?

Leave campaigners would say yes, although those who campaigned for Remain say the
overall economic benefits of access to the single market far exceed what the UK pays
in.

Nine days before the referendum, 13 Government ministers and senior Conservatives
said recipients of funding would continue to get it after a Leave vote. However, they
were speaking as Leave campaigners rather than as the government.
What the UK
put in and got
out
EU budget
breakdown
14.4
bn
Total contributed
by UK to EU in
2014, after the
rebate

4.6b
n
 Total received
back from EU in
grants and other
funding
2.6bn Euro
pean Agricultural
Guarantee Fund
 1bn Europea
n Regional
Development
Fund
567m Euro
pean Agricultural
 Fund for Rural
Development
263m Euro
pean Social Fund,
plus 98m "other
receipts"
Source: HM
Treasury
Getty Images
In the letter they say: "There is more than enough money to ensure that those who now
get funding from the EU - including universities, scientists, family farmers, regional
funds, cultural organisations and others - will continue to do so while also ensuring that
we save money that can be spent on our priorities."

The Local Government Association, which represents councils, still wants confirmation
from the government. It warned that local economies would be "stifled" if the funding
was withdrawn.

The latest finalised figures for the EU budget were for 2014. They showed the UK
contributed 14.4bn that year, after its 4.4bn rebate was taken into account (the rebate
money is never actually sent to the EU).

It then received back a further 4.6bn in grants and other funding.

This includes grants paid to farmers to make the farming and forestry industries more
competitive.

What are the funds used for?

A lot of funding is earmarked for projects that support jobs and growth. Projects aim to
boost broadband coverage, support businesses, reduce climate change, and improve
employment opportunities.

For example, in Greater Manchester, a grant from the ERDF offers support through a
Business Growth Hub, which gives advice and training to access finance, improve skills
and productivity.

There are 32 separate funds across England currently open for applications for support
from the European Structural Investment Fund, which includes ESF and ERDF. Of
those, 13 do not close to bidders until some time in 2017. Many of them are aimed at
small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Projects
funded by EU
32 schemes in
England seeking
bids

10m
to help SMEs in
Cornwall and Isle
 of Scilly be more
competitive
5m for SMEs
in Hertfordshire
3m to help
people into jobs
in Greater
 Birmingham and
Solihull
2m for SMEs
in Somerset and
Devon, with help
to get into
international
markets
 1.5m to help
cut carbon in
Suffolk and
Norfolk
Source: European
Structural and
Investment Funds
(ESIF) on gov.uk
Thinkstock
For the next two years, it will be business as usual. Manchester Growth Company, a
group of businesses working to improve the local economy, expect to see little change
for the time being.

Mark Hughes, its chief executive, said: "The majority of our EU funding is committed for
the next two to three years and this therefore means there will be little to no immediate
change and we will continue in our work of delivering growth, jobs and prosperity.

"The public have made the decision to leave the EU and we will now work with
government to find solutions to continue to serve the people of Greater Manchester."