Contact: Chitra Nadarajah, ext 6771

1. Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

That, following the submission in October 2002 of an Interreg IIIB bid, approval be given for the County Council to enter into a contract with North West Europe, should one be offered in the next few weeks.

2. Reason

2.1 Following submission of a bid for Interreg IIIB funding in October 2002, authority is now sought to enter into a contract with the North West Europe Secretariat to implement the ESPACE project, should this bid be successful. Formal notice of approval and offer of a contract is expected in the next few weeks, if this bid is selected by the North West Europe Secretariat. As the project start date is 1 December 2002 and the next decision day is 10 December 2002, approval to enter into a contract needs to be sought prior to receipt of the official decision as to the bid's acceptability.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Given the uncertainties for the budget outlook next year, the opportunity for savings to be generated from a decision not to proceed with this project was assessed. No saving is likely to be realised in a cash form and withdrawal would have a serious adverse impact on the other partners in the project.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. During the process of developing the ESPACE bid, all legal issues surrounding the project, partnership and contract have been agreed by the Chief Executive with the aims of quantifying and minimising the County Council's risk. Approval is sought to sign a contract, if offered.

8. The total cost of this project is £2,100,712 of which 50% will be funded by North West Europe.

9. ESPACE aims to:

Develop sustainable spatial planning policies and guidance which take into account the need to adapt to climate change within the North West Europe region.

This will be achieved by:

(i) undertaking case studies focused on a variety of topic areas to test various measures and their effectiveness in adapting to climate events: and

(ii) generating capacity among stakeholders to influence the integration of these adaptation strategies into spatial planning.

10. The ESPACE bid includes partners in the South East Climate Change Partnership and other organisations within the North West Europe region.

11. Hampshire County Council will benefit from being part of this work by:

(i) bringing in external funding for existing work on climate change. Of the total project budget, the County Council's budget is £687,105, of which £410,242 is for management costs which will be fully funded, 50% by Europe and 50% by the ESPACE partners. The budget for the County Council's actions as part of this project is £276,773, 50% of which will be funded by Europe. In addition to staff costs, the cash cost to the Council is £77,230, a contribution of approximately £25,000 per year for three years, which will be funded from the Biodiversity budget. If the bid is successful, one-and-a-half full-time posts will be created within the Council, which will be funded 50% funded by Europe and 50% by the partnership;

(ii) informing the County Council's response to climate change;

(iii) expanding the scope of existing climate change work through partnerships within the North West Europe region and lessons learnt as a result of this project; and

(iv) taking a leading role in the response to climate change in South East England.

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