ESEP Download Resources : UP-date June 2010
Welcome to the June 2010 issue of UP-date, the e-Newsletter for the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland Programmes
PROGRAMME NEWS
Match Funding
Article 60b visits are uncovering some issues regarding match funding committed to approved projects. The main issues are related to funding provided to the project sponsor from a third party. In some cases, where the project sponsor is not committing all of the funding provided by the third party to the ERDF/ESF project, there does not appear to be a rationale in place to justify the level of funding being committed. It is therefore essential to highlight to all project sponsors that this information must be available for future Article 60b visits and audits. In addition, for future application rounds this information will be requested as part of the IAB technical and eligibility checks.
It is also worth re-emphasising the match funding rules i.e. once match funding has been confirmed and approved it cannot be changed. In the event of an under-spend it is the ERDF/ESF grant which will reduce as the match funding already confirmed cannot be reduced. The only exception to this rule is where the project sponsor has been awarded funding, from a third party, on the basis of a percentage of declared expenditure. However, it is the responsibility of the project sponsor to highlight these issues to the IAB prior to project approval. In addition, where the project sponsor receives additional match funding it is not acceptable to substitute this new match funding for the match funding which has already been confirmed and approved. In these cases, the project sponsor must notify the IAB immediately and a Notification Of Change would be required to reduce the ERDF/ESF grant accordingly.
Implementation of the ERDF Programme
The current grant commitment levels in the ERDF Programme prior to any funding decisions being made by Scottish Ministers on Third Round Applications are detailed below:
Table 1: Cumulative Summary of Financial Commitments in ERDF Programme to date:
|
|
Total ERDF Grant Allocation (£)* |
Number of projects approved |
Total ERDF Grant Committed (£)* |
ERDF Grant yet to be allocated (£)* |
|
Priority 1: Research and Innovation |
82,898,704 |
54 |
67,638,955 |
15,259, 749 |
|
Priority 2: Enterprise Growth |
109,967,669 |
35 |
97,557,458
|
12,410,211 |
|
Priority 3: Urban Regeneration** |
56,357,756 |
27 |
27,647,182
|
28,710,574 |
|
Priority 4: Rural Development*** |
46,017,241 |
27 |
20,744,945 |
25,272,296 |
*An average exchange rate of 1 EURO = £0.90 has been used
** The figure for Priority 3 takes account of the £25 million that would be used to capitalise a JESSICA fund and also the £10 million grant allocation to fund activity complementary to JESSICA
** * The figure for Priority 4 includes all awards made by the South of Scotland Global Grants Body
Implementation of the ESF Programme
The current grant commitment levels in the ESF Programme prior to any funding decisions being made by Scottish Ministers on Third Round Applications are detailed below:
Table 2: Cumulative Summary of Financial Commitments in ESF Programme to date:
|
|
Total ESF Grant Allocation (£)* |
Number of projects approved |
Total ESF Grant Committed (£)* |
ESF Grant yet to be allocated (£)* |
|
Priority 1: Progressing into Employment |
128,875,053 |
207 |
115,316,493
|
13,558,560 |
|
Priority 2: Progressing through Employment |
89,640,744 |
66 |
54,897,965
|
34,742,779 |
|
Priority 3: Improving Access to Lifelong Learning |
18,582,758 |
27 |
12,070,808
|
6,511,950 |
*An average exchange rate of 1 EURO = £0.90 has been used and the total grant allocations for Priorities 1 and 3 take account of a recent Commission decision on resource virement.
OTHER NEWS
Equality Act 2010
In April 2010, the Equality Bill received Royal Assent. It contains a series of measures for tackling inequalities to help Britain to become a fairer society. The Act aims to make the law easier to understand and implement by simplifying 116 pieces of equality legislation into a single Act for individuals, public authorities and private organisations. Some of the specific measures in the Act include:
- A new public sector duty to consider reducing socio-economic inequalities
- Putting a new integrated Equality Duty on public bodies
- Tackling the gender pay gap by requiring public bodies with 150 or more staff, and private and voluntary sector employers with 250 or more staff, to publish details of their gender pay gap
- Extending anti-age discrimination rules to include goods, facilities and services
- Using public procurement to improve equality
- Protecting people from dual discrimination - direct discrimination because of a combination of two protected characteristics
Further details of the Act can be found on the UK Government's Equalities Office website
