CAMPAIGNERS have raised concerns the UK Government’s plans for replacing European funding will fail to deliver for Scotland’s rural and island communities. The Shared Prosperity Fund is being directly administered by Westminster in a move described as a “power grab” by the SNP. It will be launched next year to replace European Commission development and social fund grants following Brexit. However, the £220 million Community Renewal Fund introduced as a pilot to the scheme has failed to include the Highlands or Orkney and Shetland on a list of 100 “priority places” across the UK. The Scottish Islands Federation (SIF), which promotes the interests of Scotland’s 93 inhabited islands, says that EU structural funds have been a significant driver of transforming the economic and social wellbeing of the Highlands and Islands.