Contact: Katie McDonald, ext 6775

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 SOCIETIE 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 SOCIETIE 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 £1,555,284 of which £882,202 will be funded by North West Europe.

9. SOCIETE aims to:

Explore the social benefits of environmental areas and how investing in the environment to increase these benefits also generates interest in the environment. Through doing so social involvement in local decision making increases and a social element to the current planning system is introduced. A management planning framework will be established, able to consider the economic, environmental and social elements of future planning for environmental areas cohesively.

This will be achieved by:

(i) undertaking case studies focused on a variety of topic areas to test various measures and their effectiveness in increasing social benefit and facilitating society's involvement in decision making processes; and

(ii) generating capacity among stakeholders to influence the integration of these methods into management planning.

10. The SOCIETIE partnership includes the Isle of Wight Council, West Sussex County Council, Cork County Council (Ireland) and the South Western Regional Fisheries Board (Ireland).

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

(i) bringing external funding to its work. Of the total project budget of £1,552,84, the County Council's budget is £651,793 of which £288,264 is for management costs which is fully funded, 50% by Europe and 50% by the SOCIETIE partnership. The budget for the County Council's actions as part of this project is £363,530, 50% of which will be funded by Europe. In addition to staff costs, the cash contribution from the Council is £137,549 of which £75,000 is from the Biodiversity Budget, a contribution of £25,000 per year. If the bid is successful one full-time post will be created within the Council, which will be funded 50% by Europe and 50% by the partnership;

(ii) informing the County Council's work

(iii) expanding the scope of existing work; and

(iv) leading the development of new management techniques.

7153/KM