Lombardy: Provinces hold discussions with Councillor Tironi on school buildings and job centres
School building projects and the future of job centres were at the heart of the intense institutional debate involving the Lombardy Provinces and Regional Councillor Simona Tironi. Meeting at Palazzo Muzio in Sondrio, the Executive Council of the UPL (Union of Lombardy Provinces) took stock with the regional councillor responsible for the portfolio of the critical issues and strategic priorities facing the regions, starting with the key issue of funding for
the safety measures for secondary schools and the management of the PNRR deadlines relating to the labour market.
The councillor pointed out that, once again this year, the Ministry has not allocated any funds to the Region for this sector. The Regional Executive has therefore allocated a total of 50 million euros by 2029 for schools of all levels and types across all local authorities, broken down as follows: 4 million in 2026, 10 million in 2027 and the remaining funds between 2028 and 2029. Given an estimated requirement of around 3 billion euros, these funds will mainly be able to support small- and medium-scale projects, and will prove insufficient for major structural works in the absence of further central government funding. The Provinces have, however, highlighted the existence of projects ready to commence construction worth approximately 50 million euros, which they are confident can be funded as part of the forthcoming budget adjustment.
The discussion then focused on meeting the 30 June deadline for the completion of work on the employment centres funded by the NRRP. In this context, Upl proposed drafting a letter signed by all the Presidents of the Lombardy provinces, aimed at formally requesting an extension of the deadline to 31 August, as has already been done for school building projects.
As the proceedings continued, the president of UPL (and of the Province of Monza and Brianza), Luca Santambrogio, noted that today marks the end of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Lombard Provinces, established in Milan on 17 June 1945, emphasising that, both yesterday and today, local administrators feel a strong sense of responsibility to ensure adequate services for citizens and businesses.
