Intervening in the Westminster Hall debate on the Shared Prosperity fund, I called for decisions to be devolved, empowering local authorities, local stakeholders and practitioners who know what works best in their communities.

Stephen Kinnock: My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Surely the best way to ensure the best possible outcomes for our programmes and projects is to decentralise and devolve, empowering local authorities, local stakeholders and the practitioners who will ultimately deliver the projects to design measures and outputs. The people on the ground know best what works and what does not.

Ian C. Lucas: That is my next paragraph, which I shall read. As someone who believes in devolved decision making, I believe that decisions relating to investment in Wrexham and north Wales should be made by people who are close to our local economy and community. Historically, the EU’s structural funds system did not work well for my constituency of Wrexham.