Examination of Witnesses (Questions 220-221)
Mr Pat McFadden, Mr Andrew Steele and Mr Neil Bond
26 FEBRUARY 2008
Q220 Lord Kerr of Kinlochard: How
much does this added value—if it exists—cost, how
much do we pay for it, what is the added cost? We had remarkable
estimates from Europe and have had a lot of very interesting evidence.
I was looking last night at evidence from the East Midlands Development
Agency, which says that the RDA administration costs for England
as a whole amount to about £11 million, of which the largest
component is £3 million from the South West Regional Development
Agency; the South West being the only English region with both
full "convergence" and "competitive" allocations,
and therefore some £400 million; administering that costs
them just under £3 million. Is that order of magnitude about
right; about 1 per cent of the amounts of money we are talking
about; the Structural Fund money that comes to a region? That
is the Regional Development Agency cost; is that out of line with
the average, or is that about it?
Mr McFadden: This might be one to add to the
list of two or three things on which we will have to come back
to you on paper; it is perhaps best done in that way. One point
I would make is that there is recognition in the Funds that there
will be administrative costs in using the money and it is built
into the Funds and recognised in the way that they are structured.
Q221 Lord Renton of Mount Harry:
Minister, I declare an interest because, as the Chairman of a
conservation board in Sussex and Hampshire, we have received quite,
for us, substantial sums of money from the European Regional Development
Fund, particularly under what is known as the Interreg Programme,
in which a number of countries go forward with the same idea about
covering the environment, having more volunteers, etc., and I
cannot avoid stressing that, at a moment when money is very short
from DEFRA and others for environmental agricultural purposes,
we are looking—some of us in the conservation boards and
national parks—very much to help from Europe. This is the
European Regional Development Fund, in our case we use SEEDA quite
frequently, but much of the work we have to do ourselves. It has
proven a very important element in helping the agri-environment
issues that are not subsidies to farmers, at a time, and it is
going to be even more so, because money is going to be short.
DEFRA, of course, is the ministry with which we deal.
Mr McFadden: Is that new? Have not people, quite
understandably, always tried to get help from funding sources
that are available. I appreciate what you are saying, but I am
not sure it is entirely new and I quite understand why you are
doing it.
Lord Renton of Mount Harry: I am saying
this in praise of what happens. It has been very helpful and we
hope it will go on being helpful.
Chairman: On that positive note, Minister,
could I thank you and your two officials for your direct and helpful
answers to our questions. We are most grateful to you all. Thank
you.
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