European Structural Funds: 2014-2020 analysis of consultation responses

PART 2 - INTRODUCTION

1. European Structural Funds have played a pivotal role in supporting the Scottish economy and they have underpinned many of the actions the Scottish Government have taken forward in the Economic Recovery Plan. It is therefore important that Scotland plans well to use the next round of funding sensibly and with the greatest possible impact.

2. In 2011 the European Commission announced their proposals for the 2014 - 2020 European Structural and Investment ( ESI) funds. Furthermore, they published a Simplification Agenda underpinning the ESI fund regulations. The key elements for 2014-20 are that all ESI Funds should aim to contribute to the Europe 2020 agenda of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; and all ESI funds must complement each other and work in conjunction with other EU funding streams, including Horizon 2020, ERASMUS and COSME.

3. In response to the Commission's proposals the Scottish Government have been developing plans for the future Structural Fund Operational Programmes and Partnership Agreement for all ESI Funds; as well as the governance and delivery structure which will ensure that these Funds continue to work together through implementation and programme lifecycles.

4. Through integration of the ESI funds in Scotland into three themed funds, we will not only address regulatory requirements to consider all ESI Funds in the round, but also address issues which have emerged during the current (2007 - 2013) programmes. Integration between the ESI funds will allow for closer alignment with domestic policies, creating more central match funding by the Scottish Government and major agencies, and will simplify audit and compliance arrangements.

5. The consultation also contained a number of proposals for ensuring that each EU fund programme has a significant impact on jobs and growth and focussed on:

• The Partnership Agreement;
• Thematic Objectives;
• Scottish Themed Funds;
• Governance and Delivery;
• Youth Employment; and
• Audit and control.

6. The written consultation closed on 30 June 2013. This report presents the analysis of the views contained in the written responses to the consultation.

Written Consultation Responses

7. In total, 84 responses to the consultation were received and have been made publicly available on the Scottish Government website unless the respondent has specifically requested otherwise. Table 1 shows the number of standard responses by category of respondent.

Table 1: Number of Standard Responses by Category of Respondent

8. Local Authorities comprised the largest organisation respondent group, submitting 36% of all standard responses received. The full list of the organisations responding to the consultation is in Annex A.

9. An electronic database was used to collate the standard responses to assist analysis. Both quantative and qualitative approaches to analysis were adopted to reflect the nature of the consultation questions, many of which combined both closed and open elements. In reporting the results of the closed questions, the percentage figures given indicate the proportion agreeing/partially agreeing/disagreeing of all those who provided comments on the question. In some cases it was not clear from the comments whether the respondent was in agreement or otherwise; these were reported in the tables as commentary only.

Report of Findings

10. The following chapters set out a very brief summary of the proposals we consulted on and then documents the substance of the analysis. Chapter 3 examines the views of the Scottish Government's proposals for the strategy for the future programmes. Chapter 4 presents respondents views on the proposed governance and delivery arrangements.