Beorn
04-15-2009, 12:11 AM
Who Controls Cornwall's Cash?
Cornwall, due to its poor economic standing, will receive nearly £800 million of European cash to improve its position.
Rachel Foster investigates SWRDA – the English agency holding the purse-strings for Cornwall’s future.
It’s hard to believe that, a decade ago, your average Cornishman on the street may never have heard of Objective One.
A term that once epitomised Euro-jargon is now sewn into the economic landscape and consciousness of Cornwall, thanks to a £300 million cash injection from Europe.
On the horizon is a whole new realm of money from Brussels – up to £440 million of Convergence funding to further boost Cornwall’s role in Europe’s economy.
http://www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk/images/A30-6-web.jpg
At least 70 per cent of this money will be managed by the South West Regional Development Agency, or SWRDA as it is commonly known – an unelected body appointed by Government. Cornish World investigates just what this body is, whom it answers to and how it plans to spend the Convergence euro millions.
The South West Regional Development Agency was set up in 1999 as one of nine regional development agencies across the UK.
Its board is made up of economic experts appointed by Government, not elected by the public.
The board governs decisions on various economic issues for the South West, from funding new business premises to infrastructure such as roads, transport and IT communications.
Covering a similar area, from the Isles of Scilly in the West to Gloucester and Dorset in the East, is the South West Regional Assembly.
The regional assembly is made up of a mixture of South West councillors from county, district and unitary authorities. Additionally, there are the Social, Economic and Environmental Partners (SEEPS), who represent other areas of the community, such as the voluntary sector, education, youth, health and agriculture. Members are nominated either by regional groups or local authorities, and therefore not strictly elected, although councillor members’ positions are reviewed on an annual basis.
Part of SWRA’s role is to scrutinise the decisions and work of the regional development agency. But earlier this year, plans were announced by the Government to hand more power to SWRDA and do away with the regional assemblies as they currently exist. According to an economic review of the regions published by the Treasury in July this year, the RDAs will be responsible for a “single regional strategy”, while local authorities are set to play a stronger role in scrutinising the performance and effectiveness of the RDAs.
So what does Cornwall think about this?
Dick Cole, party leader for Mebyon Kernow, has been campaigning long and hard for Cornwall to become self-governing. He is positive that further European money will be injected into Cornwall, but concerned about how this will be managed and how SWRDA will truly represent Cornwall.
He said: “Institutions operating on behalf of Cornwall should be based in Cornwall, employing local people and making decisions democratically.
“There are so many unaccountable, unelected QUANGOS which are even more powerful than the councils. We need a better democracy for Cornwall in the 21st Century.”
Cornwall councillor Bert Biscoe is positive about the impact of European money in Cornwall:
“The most important thing that Objective One brought to Cornwall is confidence. My own personal perception is that it doesn’t serve the interests of those working to promote the South West region to have Cornwall being confident. If Cornwall is confident, it looks different and stands out from the rest of the South West.”
But he added: “Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly should be calling the shots about who spends what money and where. The Government has now said it’s going to do away with the South West Regional Assembly by 2010. I say good riddance to unelected, bad rubbish. I’m afraid that the same fate doesn’t await the RDA.”
And what about outside of Cornwall? Mark Prisk is a Conservative MP and shadow minister for small business and enterprise.
Born and brought up in the Camborne-Redruth area of Cornwall, he spoke about the future of the region’s economy at a Truro College Business Centre event in October.
He admits that if his party came to power, the role of regional development agencies and regional assemblies would be called into question.
He said: “The Conservative government would scrap the regional assemblies and conduct a review of how the RDAs operate.
“We want to see how every pound is spent, whether it provides business with what it actually needs and whether there is real accountability.
“I believe that Cornwall has a great future ahead of it and a unique history. Convergence will enable people to reach their true potential.
“But for Convergence to be successful there needs to be some clear principles which I haven’t always seen in the running of Objective One. It must start to fulfil Cornish needs rather than being guidelines driven by Brussels.”
However, SWRDA will argue that its role in managing European funding is heavily scrutinised, both by Cornwall and by Europe.
There are strong guidelines set out by the European Commission on how the money can be spent. Cash from the Convergence funding pot is to be match funded, and must fit stringent criteria such as promoting a knowledge-based economy and providing sustainable jobs.
Based in Truro, Phil McVey is SWRDA’s newly appointed director of European Programmes.
He said: “It’s important to say that ERDF funding is about support for businesses and growth of the economy in certain areas. It’s never been about providing grants to individuals.
“European money comes with a set of rules, and our job is to take those rules and work with them in Cornwall.”
What sets Convergence apart from the previous Objective One funding is that a greater number of projects will be commissioned by SWRDA and its Cornish partners.
Previously, organisations could apply for funding through Objective One, but in cases where these projects failed, hundreds of thousands of pounds were effectively thrown away.
With examples such as the South West Film Studios at St Agnes and the Gaia Energy Centre, Delabole, which jointly represent £2.3 million of failed Objective One investment, perhaps it makes sense to be more stringent when spending Convergence cash.
It also allows the money to be spent more strategically and to achieve the aims as set out by Europe in its catchily-titled Lisbon Agenda.
At the same time, however, this means organisations from outside of Cornwall could compete to deliver Convergence projects, similar to French company Sita’s contract win to handle Cornwall’s waste management.
But SWRDA’s Phil McVey argues that the same could be said of previous Objective One projects, and that one of the aims of Convergence is to enable Cornwall to compete on a level playing field with the rest of Europe.
“That has always been the case with Objective One and always will be the case. But part of the criteria in the selection process is that the project must be of economic benefit to Cornwall so there may be an advantage for Cornish organisations tendering.”
Mike Jordan runs Cornish Stairways, a successful business that already operates on an international level. He is worried that the team behind Convergence is heavily weighted towards the public, not private, sector.
He said: “My ongoing concern is that they are still not looking closely enough at the strengths and weaknesses of Cornwall’s business sector. The public sector is pronouncing how in their view this money should be spent. They should be engaging with senior industries in the county that are out there in the real world selling goods and services.
“Cornwall has got to strive to stand on its own two feet, and we’ve become grant dependable for too long.”
As director of Objective One, Carleen Kelemen led the partners of the programme. She is confident that a strong consultation process, involving 200 people and thousands of businesses has taken place, and that SWRDA and its Cornish partners are well positioned to manage the money.
She said: "This is the most ambitious economic regeneration that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have the opportunity deliver.
“By its very nature the public has a key role as both investor and deliverer. This does not take away from the fact that the success of this significant investment lies with the performance of Cornish business in the decades to come. “
Whatever lies ahead with SWRDA at the helm of Convergence funding, it’s clear there is strong feeling about how this money should be managed and spent to best benefit Cornwall. And if Convergence is to achieve its aims of projecting Cornwall into a great economic future, then those agencies that have been appointed to hold the European cheque-book would do good to watch, listen and take notice of how people in Cornwall believe their cash should be spent.Source (http://www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk/content/view/117/102/)
Cornwall, due to its poor economic standing, will receive nearly £800 million of European cash to improve its position.
Rachel Foster investigates SWRDA – the English agency holding the purse-strings for Cornwall’s future.
It’s hard to believe that, a decade ago, your average Cornishman on the street may never have heard of Objective One.
A term that once epitomised Euro-jargon is now sewn into the economic landscape and consciousness of Cornwall, thanks to a £300 million cash injection from Europe.
On the horizon is a whole new realm of money from Brussels – up to £440 million of Convergence funding to further boost Cornwall’s role in Europe’s economy.
http://www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk/images/A30-6-web.jpg
At least 70 per cent of this money will be managed by the South West Regional Development Agency, or SWRDA as it is commonly known – an unelected body appointed by Government. Cornish World investigates just what this body is, whom it answers to and how it plans to spend the Convergence euro millions.
The South West Regional Development Agency was set up in 1999 as one of nine regional development agencies across the UK.
Its board is made up of economic experts appointed by Government, not elected by the public.
The board governs decisions on various economic issues for the South West, from funding new business premises to infrastructure such as roads, transport and IT communications.
Covering a similar area, from the Isles of Scilly in the West to Gloucester and Dorset in the East, is the South West Regional Assembly.
The regional assembly is made up of a mixture of South West councillors from county, district and unitary authorities. Additionally, there are the Social, Economic and Environmental Partners (SEEPS), who represent other areas of the community, such as the voluntary sector, education, youth, health and agriculture. Members are nominated either by regional groups or local authorities, and therefore not strictly elected, although councillor members’ positions are reviewed on an annual basis.
Part of SWRA’s role is to scrutinise the decisions and work of the regional development agency. But earlier this year, plans were announced by the Government to hand more power to SWRDA and do away with the regional assemblies as they currently exist. According to an economic review of the regions published by the Treasury in July this year, the RDAs will be responsible for a “single regional strategy”, while local authorities are set to play a stronger role in scrutinising the performance and effectiveness of the RDAs.
So what does Cornwall think about this?
Dick Cole, party leader for Mebyon Kernow, has been campaigning long and hard for Cornwall to become self-governing. He is positive that further European money will be injected into Cornwall, but concerned about how this will be managed and how SWRDA will truly represent Cornwall.
He said: “Institutions operating on behalf of Cornwall should be based in Cornwall, employing local people and making decisions democratically.
“There are so many unaccountable, unelected QUANGOS which are even more powerful than the councils. We need a better democracy for Cornwall in the 21st Century.”
Cornwall councillor Bert Biscoe is positive about the impact of European money in Cornwall:
“The most important thing that Objective One brought to Cornwall is confidence. My own personal perception is that it doesn’t serve the interests of those working to promote the South West region to have Cornwall being confident. If Cornwall is confident, it looks different and stands out from the rest of the South West.”
But he added: “Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly should be calling the shots about who spends what money and where. The Government has now said it’s going to do away with the South West Regional Assembly by 2010. I say good riddance to unelected, bad rubbish. I’m afraid that the same fate doesn’t await the RDA.”
And what about outside of Cornwall? Mark Prisk is a Conservative MP and shadow minister for small business and enterprise.
Born and brought up in the Camborne-Redruth area of Cornwall, he spoke about the future of the region’s economy at a Truro College Business Centre event in October.
He admits that if his party came to power, the role of regional development agencies and regional assemblies would be called into question.
He said: “The Conservative government would scrap the regional assemblies and conduct a review of how the RDAs operate.
“We want to see how every pound is spent, whether it provides business with what it actually needs and whether there is real accountability.
“I believe that Cornwall has a great future ahead of it and a unique history. Convergence will enable people to reach their true potential.
“But for Convergence to be successful there needs to be some clear principles which I haven’t always seen in the running of Objective One. It must start to fulfil Cornish needs rather than being guidelines driven by Brussels.”
However, SWRDA will argue that its role in managing European funding is heavily scrutinised, both by Cornwall and by Europe.
There are strong guidelines set out by the European Commission on how the money can be spent. Cash from the Convergence funding pot is to be match funded, and must fit stringent criteria such as promoting a knowledge-based economy and providing sustainable jobs.
Based in Truro, Phil McVey is SWRDA’s newly appointed director of European Programmes.
He said: “It’s important to say that ERDF funding is about support for businesses and growth of the economy in certain areas. It’s never been about providing grants to individuals.
“European money comes with a set of rules, and our job is to take those rules and work with them in Cornwall.”
What sets Convergence apart from the previous Objective One funding is that a greater number of projects will be commissioned by SWRDA and its Cornish partners.
Previously, organisations could apply for funding through Objective One, but in cases where these projects failed, hundreds of thousands of pounds were effectively thrown away.
With examples such as the South West Film Studios at St Agnes and the Gaia Energy Centre, Delabole, which jointly represent £2.3 million of failed Objective One investment, perhaps it makes sense to be more stringent when spending Convergence cash.
It also allows the money to be spent more strategically and to achieve the aims as set out by Europe in its catchily-titled Lisbon Agenda.
At the same time, however, this means organisations from outside of Cornwall could compete to deliver Convergence projects, similar to French company Sita’s contract win to handle Cornwall’s waste management.
But SWRDA’s Phil McVey argues that the same could be said of previous Objective One projects, and that one of the aims of Convergence is to enable Cornwall to compete on a level playing field with the rest of Europe.
“That has always been the case with Objective One and always will be the case. But part of the criteria in the selection process is that the project must be of economic benefit to Cornwall so there may be an advantage for Cornish organisations tendering.”
Mike Jordan runs Cornish Stairways, a successful business that already operates on an international level. He is worried that the team behind Convergence is heavily weighted towards the public, not private, sector.
He said: “My ongoing concern is that they are still not looking closely enough at the strengths and weaknesses of Cornwall’s business sector. The public sector is pronouncing how in their view this money should be spent. They should be engaging with senior industries in the county that are out there in the real world selling goods and services.
“Cornwall has got to strive to stand on its own two feet, and we’ve become grant dependable for too long.”
As director of Objective One, Carleen Kelemen led the partners of the programme. She is confident that a strong consultation process, involving 200 people and thousands of businesses has taken place, and that SWRDA and its Cornish partners are well positioned to manage the money.
She said: "This is the most ambitious economic regeneration that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have the opportunity deliver.
“By its very nature the public has a key role as both investor and deliverer. This does not take away from the fact that the success of this significant investment lies with the performance of Cornish business in the decades to come. “
Whatever lies ahead with SWRDA at the helm of Convergence funding, it’s clear there is strong feeling about how this money should be managed and spent to best benefit Cornwall. And if Convergence is to achieve its aims of projecting Cornwall into a great economic future, then those agencies that have been appointed to hold the European cheque-book would do good to watch, listen and take notice of how people in Cornwall believe their cash should be spent.Source (http://www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk/content/view/117/102/)