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<p>In 2013, £4.1 million was withdrawn from European Regional Development Fund allocations,
which represents a tiny proportion of the total £2.74 billion budget. All spending
of taxpayers’ money must ensure value for money and money should not be spent on poor
quality projects. In addition, all spending must comply with complex EU rules, or
else risk “financial corrections” down the line.</p><p> </p><p>The European Regional
Development Fund is a circular programme. UK taxpayers’ money is given to the European
Union budget. Under the Fund, a local project receives a contract, spends money and
then claims from DCLG. DCLG then claims funds back from the European Commission. The
whole process goes through a complex auditing process involving DCLG auditors and
then European Union auditors. After a period of time, the majority of unspent funding
is returned to the UK Government by the European Commission. We continue to have concerns
over the bureaucratic and time consuming nature of the related processes involved
in the programme.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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