Southern Local Partners Response to the European Commission Consultation on the Fifth Cohesion Report

January 2011

Southern England Local Partners (SELP) is a consortium of 25 organisations from southern England. The cross-sectoral partnership includes local authorities, universities, business and third sector organisations located in the county geographical areas of , , East , , , and . Led by Hampshire County Council, the partnership is administered from an office in Brussels.

SELP Brussels Office 4th Floor 45 Rue du Commerce B-1000 Brussels

tel: +32 2 504 0735/ 6

[email protected]

www.selp.org.uk

1. Introduction

Southern England Local Partners (SELP) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the European Commission consultation on the Fifth Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, published in November 2010. SELP welcomes the fact that the Fifth Cohesion Report confirms the continuation of Structural Funds in all Member States in some form, allowing both ‘less’ and ‘more’ developed areas of the EU to derive maximum benefit from EU funding for local communities. We strongly endorse the use of cohesion funding to support innovative projects, experimentation and networking between less developed and more developed areas of the EU. Furthermore, it is important to recognise that there are pockets of deprivation in otherwise more prosperous areas of the EU, which may require more funding and support.

Southern England is described as the engine of the UK’s economy. Our population is 8 million. The SELP partnership takes in the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex, , Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. Major towns and cities include & Hove, , , Oxford, Reading, Guildford, High Wycombe and Winchester. The region affords its citizens a high quality place to live, proximity to a world-class city – , high-class universities and low unemployment.

The South is the second largest regional economy in the UK, accounting for almost 16% of the UK’s GDP with a low unemployment rate of 4%. The region is within good proximity of London with good transport links to continental Europe and the rest of the world through the channel ports and Gatwick and Southampton airports. Major industries in the area include new technologies and high tech businesses in the fields of ICT, bio-technology, marine technologies, aerospace and engineering. Service sectors in the area range in size from SMEs to major multinational companies including leading edge research and consultancy firms, tourism, and the creative and cultural industries.

South East England has derived real value from the Structural Funds. Currently, there are successful projects in our region, funded through the ESF, ERDF Competitiveness, Interreg IVA (Channel & 2 Seas programmes), Interreg IVB (North West Europe), Interreg IVC, URBACT and the Rural Development Programme.

Project examples include:

Interreg IVA (France (Channel) – England) Led by the University of Brighton, Innovation For REnewal (IFORE) brings together two Universities and two social housing providers in a joint strategy for social housing eco-refurbishment. Through the development of state-of-the-art technologies, and an innovative, intergenerational and participative community pilot approach, IFORE aims to perpetuate reduced use of energy while raising tenants’ aspirations. Interreg IVA (2 Seas) The Building Futures (BUFU) project aims to create a robust framework of support for workless residents to access employment, training, work experience and traineeship opportunities linked to development sites and publicly owned housing stock across the cities of Brighton & Hove and Dunkerque.

Interreg IVB Southampton City Council is a partner in Cities in Balance (CIB), a project which focuses on services that improve the quality of life of older people, and help to enable them to live independently. CIB aims to reduce reliance on health and care services by encouraging greater emphasis on broader well-being issues.

Interreg IVC Hampshire County Council is a partner in ENSPIRE EU, an entrepreneurship project which aims to inspire more Europeans (particularly those from disadvantaged, disconnected and discouraged groups) to become self employed, thereby contributing to the economic development and increased competitiveness of the EU.

ERDF Competitiveness Reading Borough Council is leading a project called LOCUS (LOw Carbon Understanding for SMEs) which brings together tenant SMEs and their landlords and offers them advice, information and hands-on help to improve their resource efficiency. The project aims to work with 20 landlords and 600 SMEs.

ESF Surrey County Council has partnered with Surrey Supported Employment to deliver the local part of the ESF Stepping Stones project. A mix of public and third sector agencies are working with over 300 people with learning disabilities and/or mental health issues and supporting them towards work and self-employment.

ESF Innovation, Transnational and Mainstreaming Reading Borough Council is a partner in the Eco-Advantage project, which is dedicated to raising climate change awareness and skills amongst the low-skilled unemployed and help them to gain a real advantage on the labour market.

RDPE West Sussex County Council hosts two RDPE funded LEADER programmes led by Local Action Groups representing the private, public and community sectors. So far the two programmes have awarded approx. £1.4 million to 71 projects run by awarded to farmers, businesses and community groups.

URBACT Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is the lead partner in the ESIMeC (Economic Strategies and Innovation on Medium sized Cities) project, which aims to define workforce development strategies focused on employer-led skills provision as a driver for local economic recovery, growth and resilience.

2. Key points from Southern England Local Partners

Future Cohesion Policy should:

· Ensure that Structural Fund programmes continue in ALL Member States, in some form, allowing both ‘less’ and ‘more’ developed areas of the EU to derive maximum benefit from EU funding for local communities. · Recognise the value of the Structural Funds to relatively prosperous areas containing pockets of deprivation. · Involve regions and cities to a greater degree, ensuring a bottom-up approach to joint problem solving. · Provide greater clarity on financial engineering instruments.

3. Response to Consultation Questionnaire

How could the Europe 2020 Strategy and cohesion policy be brought closer together at EU, national and sub-national levels?

SELP is supportive of the development of a clearer vision to guide future EU funding interventions. However, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to ensure the harmonious development of the EU and it is important that future EU funded projects can address the particular and often very complex needs, of the local area. The engagement of local authorities as equal partners in determining priorities of Operational Programmes is vital. Furthermore, it is important to involve other local stakeholders such as the private sector, the Third Sector and Higher Education/ Further Education. In many areas of England, the recently launched Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will play an important role in ensuring the future success of EU interventions.

We support the proposed Common Strategic Framework approach to cover the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Fisheries Fund. This should enable greater joint management/ complementarity of EU-funded projects on the ground.

In terms of thematic concentration, proposals to focus on two or three (possibly proscribed) priorities in the more developed areas of the EU, risk limiting the potential relevance of EU interventions to the local area. Local input in shaping the priorities of future programmes is key to ensuring the actual and perceived values of these interventions.

· How can cohesion policy take better account of the key role of urban areas and of territories with particular geographical features in development processes and of the emergence of macro-regional strategies?

SELP welcomes the recognition of the importance of considering the complex needs of urban areas in the development of future Cohesion Policy. We would welcome greater flexibility in developing Operational Programmes to better reflect functional economies. This would align with the recently adopted Local Enterprise Partnership approach in many areas of England.

We also support proposals to fund integrated local development approaches which would enable the engagement of local communities and the Third Sector in the development and delivery of projects. Calls to define and deliver programmes at a sub-regional level are considered instrumental to enable urban areas to be drivers of the achievement of EU2020 objectives and contribute to the success of future Cohesion Policy through the setting of appropriate objectives, targets and measures.

SELP feels that cohesion policy should embrace the development of new macro-regional strategies, which encourage multi-level governance on a wider scale and encourage territories to focus on specific issues which cross borders.

· How can the partnership principle and involvement of local and regional stakeholders, social partners and civil society be improved?

SELP welcomes the proposal to reinforce the use of local development approaches. The partnership principle has allowed for the better participation of regional and local authorities in past programmes and should continue to be implemented. Both regional and local authorities should be encouraged to participate in the design of future Cohesion Policy and the development of related funding programmes to ensure the creation of synergies with territorial opportunities and challenges. Regional and local authorities have detailed knowledge of the local economic landscape and can help ensure the effectiveness and value for money of Cohesion Policy and related funding. The involvement of the newly formed LEPs (which represent a cross-section of local stakeholders) in decision making processes will enable a full understanding of nature, needs and potential of local economies.

· How can the audit process be simplified and how can audits by Member States and the Commission be better integrated, whilst maintaining a high level of assurance on expenditure co-financed?

Whilst SELP recognises the need to ensure that European money is spent efficiently and in accordance with guidelines agreed by the EC, a move from a culture of control to a culture of trust would be welcomed. We would welcome further simplification of EU funding and audit guidelines. In light of recent and future public sector cuts, it is even more important that any overly bureaucratic systems are simplified, in order to reduce the administrative burden on public authorities and beneficiaries. Furthermore, we support the suggestion to remove the ‘n+2’ requirement for the first year of programming.

· How can the right balance be struck between common rules for all the Funds and acknowledgement of Funds' specificities when defining eligibility rules?

Whilst SELP recognises the complexity of ensuring common rules whilst allowing for a bottom-up approach to programme development, the disparity between the eligibility criteria of different funding programmes leads to increased opportunity for misunderstanding and misinterpretation. For example, some areas in our region are eligible under four different Interreg IV programmes, with differing eligibility rules and application procedures, which can confuse bidding organizations. Whilst we would not advocate a single set of rules and procedures, there are some elements (e.g. rules on staff time, audit procedures) that could potentially be improved through sharing a common approach across programmes.

Where possible there should be a common understanding of basic principles and interpretation of guidelines between managing bodies of similar programmes in order to ensure that these programmes are as accessible as possible to potential beneficiaries.

· How can financial discipline be ensured, while providing enough flexibility to design and implement complex programmes and projects?

SELP would welcome flexibility in setting intervention rates to allow for innovative projects to go-ahead in areas where accessing public match funding is more challenging. Furthermore variable co-financing, not only by geography but also by beneficiary type, may play a role in fostering new cross sectoral partnerships enabling better public-private investment.

· Use of financial engineering instruments

The creation of new financial instruments, such as JEREMIE and JESSICA is a positive step, and it is important that they can be used in all Member States. Given the pressures on public sector expenditure it is likely that these types of financial instruments will be given a higher profile. However, it is important that loans should be seen as an addition to, not in the place of, a robust structural funds allocation to the UK.