A change has been agreed to the requirement for the audit of final claims. This decision was taken primarily to provide comfort to DG Employment that there is sufficient control over the European Social Fund, and also to promote consistency across the funds.

It has been agreed that with effect from 1 April 2004, the level at which projects will require independent audit of final claims will apply to European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Third Party EAGGF and Urban Community Initiative projects approved on or after 1 April 2004 where the grant award is £50,000 or over.

This is a significant change for European Social Fund projects which currently only require audit for projects when the grant is £150,000 or over and will affect a small number of ERDF/EAGGF/Urban projects where those approved with grant award of less than £50,000 will no longer be required at final claim stage.

For projects split between eligible and transitional, each approval should be treated separately. If applicants wish to have both the eligible and transitional elements of a project treated as one project for audit purposes, then prior agreement is required from the Managing Authority at the PME technical check stage and before the project goes to advisory groups.