ANNUAL EXPENDITURE TARGETS AND N+2 ACTION PLAN
2000-06 WESTERN SCOTLAND OBJECTIVE 2 AND CLYDE WATERFRONT URBAN II PROGRAMMES
Annual Expenditure Targets
The European Commission introduced new financial rules for the management of European Structural Funds Programmes for the period for 2000-2006. The rules, known as N+2, mean that annual expenditure targets are set for each Programme. Any shortfall from the N+2 targets in a year results in an automatic equivalent reduction of European Structural Funds available for the following year.
The annual targets are met through declarations of expenditure included in claims logged by the Scottish Executive with the European Commission in December of each year. This means that for the majority of projects the deadline for submission of claims to Strathclyde European Partnership (SEP) Ltd is 31 October to cover expenditure defrayed during the quarter to 30 September. Projects that can spend and claim significant additional amounts after September may submit additional claims following agreement with SEP Ltd. Further information on how to submit a claim can be found here.
The N+2 targets for the Western Scotland Objective 2 and URBAN II Programmes have been met for the last four years. This has been due to the support and co-operation of staff in partner organisations. The majority of claims have been submitted after the October deadline. This has had a significant impact on the workloads of staff within the Scottish Executive, SEP Ltd and partner organisations during November and December resulting in the targets only being met in late December.
The N+2 targets for 2007 will be every bit as challenging as previous years. To monitor progress during 2007, interim targets have been set in agreement with the Scottish Executive.
If you have any queries, please contact Alan.Bain@wsep.co.uk, tel 0141 572 4463.
|
