ERDF showcase event next week

Greater Manchester's policy think-tank, New Economy, has organised an event for next week to publicise opportunities under the European Regional Development Fund.

The free event will be held at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday 22 March and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

The current ERDF programme runs from 2007 to the end of 2013. There are concerns among public sector regeneration chiefs that the disappearance of match funding from the abolished North West Development Agency – ERDF cannot pay for more than 50% of a project – will leave ERDF unspent as the deadline for allocation approaches. Claimants have until 31 December 2015 to spend the grant funding and put their receipts in to be remunerated.

Speakers at the event have yet to be confirmed but New Economy is hoping they will include Simon Nokes, director of European strategy and policy at New Economy; Baroness Hanham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government; David Read, head of North West ERDF programme at DCLG; Sir Howard Bernstein, vice chairman, local monitoring committee and chairman, European economic strategy group and performance monitoring sub-committee.

There will be presentations about case studies and a panel discussion with questions from the floor.

For further details and to register for the event visit the New Economy website