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Effort has
been made in the Objective 3 European Social Fund programme which had fully
committed the original £357 million
available to Lowlands and Uplands Scotland.
Objective 3 projects which are due to finish by March
2007 will also be able to apply to prolong their projects, and Allan Wilson
hopes that those who can do so will take up the opportunity.
 The
Scottish Executive is committed to making as smooth as possible the
transition from the current European Structural Funds Programmes 2000 to
2006 to the next ones for 2007 to 2013. There continues to be substantial
challenges to achieving this, largely due to the substantial reduction in
the level of Structural Funds coming to Scotland.
As the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Allan Wilson,
made clear in the Scottish Parliamentary debate on future Structural Funds
programming on 1 November, the Executive has approached this challenge on
the basis of a multi-pronged approach, working closely with our many
partners who benefit from Structural Funds.
Prolonging
Current ESF Assisted Projects.
Firstly, working with the existing Programme Management and Monitoring
Committees and the Programme Management Executives, the Executive has
recycled underspends and decommittments back into the current Programme
Priorities.
A particular effort has been made in the Objective 3 European Social Fund
programme which had fully committed the original £357 million available to
Lowlands and Uplands Scotland. A specific prolongation round was held for
all O3 projects which are due to finish in December 2006. Applications were
received for 161 projects, among which were a number from 51 Voluntary
Sector organisations seeking an additional total of £1.85 million. Mr Wilson
is very pleased to announce today that all 161 projects will be approved to
continue for a further six months at a total cost of £5.46 million.
Allan Wilson also acknowledged the substantial work on a tight timescale
which had gone into agreeing new targets for these projects which will now
be able to continue delivering important outcomes for vulnerable groups,
social enterprises, and small businesses across lowland Scotland.
Objective 3 projects which are due to finish by March 2007 will also be able
to apply to prolong their projects, and Allan Wilson hopes that those who
can do so will take up the opportunity.
2007 to 2013
Shadow Round
Secondly, the Deputy Minister announced during the Parliamentary Debate on 1
November that the Scottish Executive will make £12 million available to
cover the financial risk of running the first round of Priority 1 of the new
ESF Programmes for both Highlands and Islands and Lowlands and Uplands
Scotland early in 2007. This ‘shadow round’ will cover the part of the
programmes that concentrates on social inclusion and employability
activities, concentrating this funding on those projects targeting the most
vulnerable groups in society. Applications will be invited in January with a
view to decisions being made by April 2007.
This will offer an opportunity for voluntary sector and other organisations
to bid for a single year's funding for new projects under the new
eligibility criteria for the 2007-2013 programmes.
NOTES:
1. European Structural Funds help work to reinforce and add value to a
number of the Scottish Executive’s key policies such as the Framework for
Economic Development in Scotland, Workforce Plus – An Employability
Framework for Scotland, Closing the Opportunity Gap, Regeneration Policy
Statement, the NEET Strategy, More Choices More Chances, Smart Successful
Scotland, and the Lifelong Learning Strategy.
2. Over £1.1 billion of European funding has been available across all the
European Structural Fund Programmes over the 2000-06 period. The Scottish
Executive acts as the Managing Authority for all of the Programmes and a
number of Community Initiatives. The Objective 3 Programme is worth £357
million.
3. Scotland will have four new Structural Funds programmes operating from
2007-2013 – a European Regional Development Fund and a European Social Fund
programme in the Highlands & Islands, and a European Regional Development
Fund and a European Social Fund programme in Lowlands and Uplands Scotland.
The programmes are currently out to public consultation,
which will finish on 8 January 2007. The consultation is described on the
Executive’s Structural Funds website at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/structuralfunds.
4. In line with the rest of the UK, Scotland’s level of Structural Funds is
declining from £1.1 billion between 2000 and 2006 to £490 million between
2007 and 2013.
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