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31.03.04
Commision Rewards Programme Success
The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of
Scilly has performed so well in its first three years that
the European Commission has invested a further £17.15
million performance bonus in the Programme.
The discretionary payment is a huge vote of confidence in
what the Programme has achieved in its first three years.
It also demonstrates the Commission's confidence that Objective
One will continue to invest wisely for the long term economic
benefit of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Objective One Partnership,
said: "This announcement is fantastic news. Europe has
judged our performance based on our finances, the quality
of our projects and our results.
"For the first time, the Objective One Programme for
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has been independently assessed
against stringent performance criteria. We've not only met
those criteria but exceeded them.
"This performance bonus is a credit to the strength
of the partnership delivering Objective One in Cornwall and
the Isles of Scilly, and is a huge vote of confidence as we
enter the second half of the Programme.
"I want to thank all the organisations and individuals,
within and without Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly whose
commitment has brought about this achievement."
The £17.15 million bonus payment amounts to 5.15% of
the total value of the Objective One Programme for Cornwall
and the Isles of Scilly, which runs from 2000 to 2006.
The European Commission made it clear at the start of Objective
One that it would reward regions that performed well with
extra investment but today's announcement is far in excess
of what was anticipated, and reflects the high regard that
Europe and the UK Government has for the Programme.
Ms Kelemen added: "We cannot afford to be complacent,
because there is still a huge amount to be done. This additional
funding will be invested in regenerating Cornwall's key towns,
supporting infrastructure projects and helping to fund the
next phase of the Combined Universities in Cornwall, all of
which will contribute to the long term economic development
of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly."
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Editor's notes:
As part of the current round of Objective
One Programmes the EC made provision for a payment at the
mid term point to successful Programmes. The payments would
be made from funds held back by the EC from all Programmes
(4% of the total) and 'success' would be measured on the basis
of 3 criteria:
1. Financial
– for the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Programme a total
of £96m had to be spent by the end of 2003 – this
figure was exceeded by around £20m.
€60m (around £40m) of private sector
funding was to be committed to projects by the end of 2003
– nearly £100m was actually committed.
2. Management
Criteria – the criteria was set out in the EC regulations
and included the Managing Authority having systems in place
to ensure quality in terms of appraisal and monitoring of
projects.
3. Effectiveness
– Targets for outputs and results were agreed with the
EC at the start of the programme, and 75% of these targets
would need to be met or exceeded. The Programme achieved 98%
of its targets.
The EC made clear that it would consider awarding
the best performing programmes higher than the 4% retained.
The success of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly programme
has resulted in an award of 5.15%, totalling €25.653m
(around £17.15m at current exchange rates).
This performance bonus, against the norm of
4%, reflects the high regard in which the Programme is held
by the European Commission and Central Government and is a
tribute to the effective working of the Partnership in Cornwall
and the Isles of Scilly. It reflects also the quality of the
projects that have been coming forward in the first half of
the Programme which will provide a strong foundation for sustainable
economic growth in the region.
It is expected that the additional funding
will be available to the Programme from 1 April 2004.
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Jason Clark
Communications Adviser
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Tel:01872 241379
Fax:01872 241388
objectiveone@cornwall.gov.uk
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