Final push to meet ERDF deadline
There remains £27m of European funding to allocate before the end of the year from the current ERDF programme.
The North West European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme was worth €755m, or £639.7m, from 2007 to 2013. To date projects totalling £612m, or 96% of the programme value, have been contracted or approved. The European Commission has the power to demand repayment of money not allocated by 31 December 2013.
A spokesman for ERDF, managed by the Department for Communities & Local Government, said: "DCLG are working closely with the regional Local Enterprise Partnerships to support their priorities and a final call for projects has just closed; which in addition to allocating the remaining funding will provide a strong reserve list of projects."
Recipients will have until June 2015 to spend the money on the chosen project.
The North West allocation for the 2014-2020 programme is €1.13bn, to be handled by Local Enterprise Partnerships.
LEPS have been sent detailed guidance and are in the process of pulling together proposals and funding priorities for their areas. This guidance explains to LEPs and their wider partners what information they are asked to include in their European Structural & Investment Fund Strategies, the first drafts of which are due on 7 October, and how these will be evaluated by Government.
