3 European aid to the most deprived
| Committee's assessment
| Legally and politically important |
| Committee's decision | (a) Cleared from scrutiny (b) Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
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| Document details | (a) Draft Regulation on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived; (b) Commission delegated Regulation laying down the content of the annual and final implementation reports, including the list of common indicators
|
| Legal base | (a) Article 175(3) TFEU; co-decision; QMV;
(b) Article 13(6) of Regulation (EU) No. 223/2014 on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
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| Department
Document numbers
| Work and Pensions
(a) (34394), 15865/12 + ADDs 1-2, COM(12) 617
(b) (36240), 11741/14 + ADD 1, C(14) 4988
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
3.1 A Regulation establishing a Fund for European Aid to the Most
Deprived ("the Fund") was adopted in March 2014. The
Fund forms an integral part of EU Structural and Investment Funds
for the period 2014-20 and is intended to contribute to the Europe
2020 poverty reduction target which seeks to lift at least 20
million people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion
by 2020. The objectives of the Fund are to alleviate poverty through
the provision of food, clothing and other essential consumer goods
and to support activities promoting the social integration of
the most deprived. It is intended to complement action taken at
national level to eradicate poverty and promote social inclusion.
3.2 The UK voted against the draft Regulation —
document (a) — on the grounds that the proposed Fund was
inconsistent with the principle of subsidiarity. In a subsequent
Written Ministerial Statement to the House, the Government noted
that both Houses had issued Reasoned Opinions and that the distribution
of food and consumer goods to deprived people was "better
and more efficiently delivered by individual Member States and
their local authorities, rather than through EU programmes".[20]
3.3 Participation in the Fund is mandatory for all
Member States, but the Government made clear that it would seek
the minimum allocation possible — €3.5 million[21]
for the period 2014-20 — in order to mitigate the impact
of the Fund on the remainder of the UK's allocation of EU Structural
and Investment Funds. By taking less, the Government will have
more to spend on the broader objectives set out in these Funds,
as well as greater flexibility to adjust expenditure to local
needs and priorities.
3.4 We have repeatedly asked the Government to explain
how it intends to use the UK's allocation of funding and, in particular,
whether it proposes to provide direct material assistance to those
in need (for example, through food banks) or to support broader
social inclusion measures (and, if the latter, what type of measures
are envisaged).[22] When
we last considered the draft Regulation, at our meeting on 3 September
2014, we noted that the deadline for the UK to submit its operational
programme specifying how it proposed to implement the Fund was
imminent and again asked the Government how it intended to utilise
the UK's allocation.
3.5 Document (b) is a Commission delegated Regulation
establishing the information to be included by Member States in
their annual reports on the implementation of the Fund, based
on a list of common indicators. Although we do not routinely examine
delegated legislation, we asked the Government to deposit the
draft Commission Regulation for scrutiny as it provides a useful
indication of the type of assistance that may be made available
under the Fund and the categories of beneficiaries.
3.6 The EU Treaties specify that the delegation of
powers to the Commission may only extend to measures supplementing
or amending non-essential elements of the parent legislation,
in this case the Regulation establishing the Fund.[23]
We asked the Minister for Employment (Esther McVey) whether she
was satisfied that the draft Commission delegated Regulation only
concerned non-essential elements of the parent Regulation and
whether she considered there were any grounds on which the Council
or European Parliament might wish to raise an objection to prevent
its entry into force.
3.7 The Minister refers us to a Written Ministerial
Statement published last December which explains that the UK share
of the Fund will be used to provide additional support for school
breakfast clubs in England. We remind the Minister that the publication
of a Written Ministerial Statement on an EU document which remains
under scrutiny does not discharge her obligation to provide this
Committee with a timely and informative response to questions
raised during the course of our scrutiny. As she has now told
us what the Fund will be used for in the UK, we agree to clear
the draft Regulation — document (a) — from scrutiny.
3.8 Turning to the Commission delegated Regulation,
which took effect on 26 November 2014, the Minister informs us
that it "covers both essential and non-essential elements"
of the parent Regulation (document (a)) and that the Government
had raised "strong objections about the level of detail required
and the administrative burden this would place on providers".
As the Minister will be aware, delegated Commission acts may only
"supplement or amend certain non-essential elements"
of the parent legislation. We ask her to identify the "essential
elements" to which her letter refers. We note that the Government
is out of time to challenge the validity of the Commission delegated
Regulation. We ask the Minister to explain the Government's reasons
for not doing so. Meanwhile, document (b) remains under scrutiny.
3.9 We welcome the priority the Minister attaches
to the effectiveness of her Department's internal scrutiny processes.
We look forward to working with her officials to ensure that EU
scrutiny procedures are well-understood across her Department
and trust that the "additional checking mechanisms"
put in place will ensure that there are no further scrutiny lapses.
Full details of
the documents: (a) Draft Regulation of
the European Parliament and of the Council on the Fund for European
Aid to the Most Deprived: (34394), 15865/12 + ADDs 1-2, COM(12)
617; (b) Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing Regulation
(EU) No. 223/2014 on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
by laying down the content of the annual and final implementation
reports, including the list of common indicators: (36240), 11741/14
+ ADD 1, C(14) 4988.
Background
3.10 Our earlier Reports, listed at the end of this
chapter, provide a detailed overview of document (a), the Government's
position, and the content of the Reasoned Opinion agreed by the
House on 18 December 2012. Under the Regulation agreed in March
2014, Member States may use their allocation of funding to support
national schemes for the distribution of food and other basic
consumer goods (such as clothing, footwear, hygiene products,
school equipment and sleeping bags) and/or to support broader
social inclusion activities.
3.11 Document (b) sets out the content of the annual
implementation reports to be submitted by each Member State based
on a list of common indicators. These require Member States to
identify the amount of funding dedicated to the provision of food
and to the provision of other basic material assistance, as well
as the types and quantities of food or other assistance provided.
National implementation reports must also identify the number
of people receiving assistance from the Fund and, amongst these,
the number falling into the following categories: children under
the age of 16; adults over 65; women; migrants and ethnic minorities;
disabled people; and the homeless. In addition to this information,
the final implementation report in 2024, and the annual reports
submitted in 2017 and 2022, must include an assessment of the
contribution the Fund has made towards promoting social cohesion,
enhancing social inclusion, and alleviating poverty.
3.12 The draft Commission Regulation is dated 17
July 2014. It entered into force on 26 November 2014, following
the expiry of a two-month period in which either the European
Parliament or the Council (by a qualified majority) were able
to raise an objection.
The Minister's letter of 9 February 2015
3.13 The Minister first apologises for the delay
in providing the information requested in our earlier Reports
and describes the steps being taken within her Department to improve
internal scrutiny processes. She says that a new team took over
responsibility for Departmental scrutiny of EU business last November
and has "overhauled and streamlined our internal scrutiny
database and introduced additional checking mechanisms for Scrutiny
Coordinators". She adds:
"Please note, the DWP takes scrutiny seriously
and the issues raised […] are being treated as a key priority
and have been escalated to the highest levels within the Department,
including discussion with the Secretary of State."
3.14 Turning to the questions we raised in our Ninth
Report, agreed on 3 September 2014, the Minister notes that the
Minister for Schools (Mr David Laws) published a Written Ministerial
Statement on 18 December 2014 (reproduced as an Annex to this
chapter) explaining that the UK planned to use the UK's allocation
of the Fund to provide additional support for school breakfast
clubs in England.[24]
With regard to the Commission delegated Regulation, she says that
it:
"covers both essential and non-essential elements
of the Regulation establishing the Fund for European Aid to the
Most Deprived. It was negotiated in the EU Working Group and the
UK, along with several other Member States, raised strong objections
about the level of detail required and the administrative burden
this would place on providers. While the Commission conceded that
in some Member States the collection of some personal data was
unlawful, the bulk of the requirements remain in the Regulation
that was agreed."
Previous Committee Reports
Twenty-second Report HC 86-xxii (2012-13), chapter
3 (5 December 2012); Fourteenth Report HC 83-xiv (2013-14), chapter
10 (11 September 2013); Twentieth Report HC 83-xix (2013-14),
chapter 3 (30 October 2013); Twenty-ninth Report HC 83-xxvi (2013-14),
chapter 8 (8 January 2014); and Ninth Report HC 219-ix (2014-15),
chapter 12 (3 September 2014).
Annex
"The Minister for Schools
(Mr David Laws): The Government plan to use the UK share
of the fund for European aid to the most deprived to provide additional
support for school breakfast clubs in England. Under the plans,
which will be led by the Department for Education, this money
would be allocated to schools with particularly high rates of
disadvantage, as measured by free school meal eligibility.
"We believe that breakfast
clubs effectively target help to many of the most deprived children—providing
nutritious meals in some of the poorest areas, supporting academic
attainment, promoting healthy eating habits at a young age and
saving families money. This funding would be in addition to existing
support provided by the Government—we have already committed
just over £1 million over two years to support an expansion
of breakfast clubs in poor areas.
"The UK's allocation is worth
€3.96 million (or £3.1 million) over seven years from
2014 to 2020, and can be used to deliver one or more of the following:
food aid for the most deprived people; consumer goods for homeless
people; consumer goods for children; and non-labour market social
inclusion activities for the most deprived. Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland decided not to participate, due to the small
sums involved and the administrative effort required. The allocation
has been deducted from the UK's structural fund allocation—European
social fund and European regional development fund.
"This use of the fund for
European aid to the most deprived is subject to final agreement
with the European Commission, and will be managed in accordance
with the fund's stringent eligibility, accounting and evidence
requirements.
"A copy of the draft operational programme can
be found online at
http://www.parliament.uk/writtenstatements."
20 HC Deb, 18 March 2014, 58WS. Back
21
The figure given is in 2011 prices. Back
22
Letter of 30 April 2014 from the Chair of the European Scrutiny
Committee to the Minister for Employment (Esther McVey). Back
23
See Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU). Back
24
HC Deb, 18 December 2014, 122WS. Back
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