Roundup: Funding for farmers, universities guaranteed beyond Brexit, British official says

Scientists and farmers in Britain were Saturday given post-Brexit funding guarantees in a new move by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.

Treasury officials in London said it would end uncertainty over the future of key projects following the referendum decision by Britain to leave the European Union (EU).

It will also mean British universities bidding for EU funding before the departure from Europe would have that money underwritten by the government.

Funding would also continue for farmers who currently receive subsidies and other payments under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) worth nearly 4 billion U.S.dollars a year.

Hammond's Treasury Department said the move will give the farming sector, British businesses and universities certainty over future funding. He said they should continue to bid for competitive EU funds while Britain remains a member of the EU.

The measure, they say, will support economic development, with assurances set out by the Treasury including agri-environment schemes signed before the chancellor's upcoming Autumn Statement. These will be fully funded, even when the projects continue beyond Britain's departure from the EU.

Hammond said Saturday: "We recognize that many organisations across the UK which are in receipt of EU funding, or expect to start receiving funding, want reassurance about the flow of funding they will receive.

"We are guaranteeing that projects that have already been signed or that are going to be signed over the coming months, even if the payment of those funds runs on beyond the time we leave the EU, will be guaranteed by the British government."

The official added,"The government will also match the current level of agricultural funding until 2020, providing certainty to our agricultural community, which play a vital role in our country."

"We are determined to ensure that people have stability and certainty in the period leading up to our departure from the EU."

The government guarantee will extend to British institutions bidding for a share of the EU's 90 billion U.S.dollar Horizon 2020 program which funds research and innovation.

The Treasury is also looking at whether it will guarantee funding for specific structural and investment fund projects signed after the Autumn Statement.

Andrea Leadsom, secretary of state for environment,food and rural affairs, said: "This is excellent news for our farmers. It means farmers are assured of current levels of funding until 2020. Any agri-environment schemes agreed before the Autumn Statement will be fully funded -- even when these projects continue beyond the UK's departure from the EU."

"Food and farming are central to our national identity and together they are a bedrock of our economy, generating over 100 billion pounds a year (130 billion U.S.dollars) and employing one in eight people."

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said: "The government's commitment to our world-leading science and research base remains steadfast."

"By underwriting the significant Horizon 2020 grants we are showing the extent of our commitment, standing squarely behind our researchers and scientists as they continue working with their European partners to develop new technologies, discover life-saving medicines and pioneer every day innovations that will benefit all hard-working Britons," he said.

The National Farmers' Union welcomed the Treasury's announcement describing it as positive for farming. Endit