23.03.05
Innovative University Collaboration Project in Cornwall to Receive a Further £23 Million in Government Investment

The innovative Combined Universities project in Cornwall will be receiving an additional £21 million from the Government and £2.4 million from the South West RDA, to enable it to move ahead to its next phase, Higher Education Minister, Kim Howells and Regeneration Minister, Jeff Rooker announced today.

The Combined Universities of Cornwall (CUC), which had its first intake of students in 2000, has applied for £24.5 million in investment from the Cornwall European Regional Development Fund Objective One Programme. An award of £3.775 million has already been granted by the Higher Education Funding Council.

In recognition of the benefits that the CUC provides not only to its students but also to the regional economy the Government is committing a further £21 million in match funding, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at Prime Minister's Question Time earlier today. This brings the total investment in the next phase of the CUC from both the EU and the UK Government to £52.5 million.

Government investment is being provided by the Department for Education and Skills via the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the South West Regional Development Agency.

The CUC will use this investment to create over 4,000 new student places in Cornwall by 2010 and provide new opportunities for local students to progress from further education at 'rim' colleges to higher education at the new 'hub' campus at Tremough, near Falmouth.
The money will help support the teaching of courses relevant to supporting the local economy such as Animals & Land Use, ICT, Tourism, Environmental Science, Environmental Law and Geography.

It will also help provide state of the art technology to aid teaching, the

development of research activity and creating and supporting new businesses.
Welcoming the announcement, Jeff Rooker Minister for Regeneration, said: "The Combined Universities project is a flagship project for the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly's Objective One Programme and will bring major benefits to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly not just in terms of providing higher education opportunities but also the catalyst effect for regeneration. Phase One of the project has been a great success and something for Cornwall to be proud of.

"The project has been supported by investment from the European Regional Development Fund Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We helped Phase One of the project with the resources needed to meet the match funding requirement for ERDF projects and we will do the same for Phase 2."

Higher Education Minister Kim Howells said: "When I recently visited Cornwall I was impressed by how the local universities and colleges are working together to create more choices and opportunities for people to access higher education courses. The new courses are designed to link in with the needs of regional businesses and include foundation degrees which have been developed with employers. This project supports this and also boosts research and innovation in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly further contributing to the regional and national economy.

"This is an excellent example of how central government can support local initiatives aimed at helping individuals gain higher level skills and provide local businesses with the support they need to compete."

Professor Alan Livingston, Chair of the Combined Universities in Cornwall Steering Group and Principal of University College Falmouth, said: "This is a tremendous endorsement for Cornwall and the CUC partnership. We have shown that we can deliver world class facilities and education and that we can attract outstanding staff and students. With this fresh support from the Government, the Objective One Partnership and our other investors we will provide even more opportunities for students and businesses to build brilliant futures in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly."

PRESS ENQUIRIES:

Zoe Abrams
DfES Press Office
0207 9255361

David Kirk
PR and Communications Manager, Combined Universities Cornwall
01326 370471

Marcus Chrysostomou
ODPM Press Office
0207 9444299

PUBLIC ENQUIRIES:

0870 000 2288
info@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

Newsdesk:
020 7925 6789
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Out of hours media calls:
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Website: www.dfes.gov.uk

Editor's notes:

1. CUC is a partnership of higher education and further education colleges formed in 1999 to develop higher education provision in Cornwall. The core partners are Plymouth University, Exeter University, Falmouth College of Arts and the further education colleges who have signed a constitution as an unincorporated association. The Open University, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HCFCE), Government Office for the South West, Cornwall County Council, and the South West Regional Development Agency are all represented on the Steering Group. CUC is built around an innovative 'hub and rim' model of distributed delivery, with a flagship hub campus at Tremough (Falmouth), and significant investment in higher education facilities at several further education colleges across Cornwall, notably Camborne Pool Redruth and St Austell. CUC is the key regeneration project under Objective One. This is because of its potential to stem the outward migration of young people from Cornwall seeking higher education, the opportunity for business development and the direct and indirect job creation.

2. The Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) project is a flagship for the Cornwall Objective One Programme. Objective One is a programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) over 2000-2006 to support economic development and regeneration in Cornwall. The total value of the Objective One programme over 2000-2006 is over £300m.

3. The £85m phase 1 of the project included over £29m match funding from Government with a further £44m from the Objective One Programme. It involved the construction of a new campus at Tremough and the upgrading of 6 existing further education colleges throughout the Cornwall, enabling higher education to be available to a wider range of people and spreading the economic benefits across Cornwall. The Tremough campus is now open, having received its first intake of students in October 2004 having been completed on time and within budget.

4. The CUC is launching a Phase 2 project, which will further promote widening participation in higher education, extending provision to the most rural parts of Cornwall, and continuing to support greater innovation and spin offs from research and development. The economic impact assessment of Phase 2, when coupled with Phase 1, indicate significantly higher benefits over the long term in terms of generating additional employment and GVA.

5. The cost of the Phase 2 project is £52.5m. The ERDF will support the project with £24.5m. ERDF projects have to secure match funding from domestic budgets. Match funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and from the colleges themselves amounts to £4.6m DfES will be providing £12m via the Higher Education Funding Council; ODPM £9m; and the South West RDA will be contributing £2.4m towards the match funding requirement.

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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