Contact: Claire Foreman Ext: 7127

1 Summary

The following decisions are sought.

The Executive Member or a nominated representative agrees to represent Hampshire on the Steering Committee of the programme.

2 Reason(s)

2.1 If the bid is successful then a member or senior officer is required to attend meetings of the Steering Committee.

3 Other options considered and rejected

3.1 None.

4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision-maker or a Member or Officer consulted

4.1 None

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 None

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not Applicable

Approved by: Date of decision:

Councillor Felicity Hindson

Contact: Claire Foreman Ext: 7127

1 Introduction

Hampshire County Council was invited to join a IIIC Regional Framework Operation (RFO) called ALIVE & Cross Border Exchange following a meeting with a number of European regions at an ALIVE conference in Helsinki. Members of the RFO were keen for Hampshire to become involved as the pilot project `Insight Active Support Environments' matched the work being undertaken by other partners involved in one of the components of the RFO.

The original bid was submitted in December 2003 and was rejected by the Secretariat, principally due to a lack of detail and clarity in the application form. The partners are now working on a revised bid which will be re-submitted in April. The programme has been renamed Active and Healthy Seniors in Europe. Hampshire will be bidding for £200,000, matching its own funding of £200,000 for participation in two out of the three components.

2 Interreg IIIC Application

The overall objective of the programme is to exchange and develop common regional strategies, policies and instruments to tackle the regional consequence of ageing in the fields of labour market, empowerment and public health. Through the programme regions will co-operate and develop projects.

There are three components to the operation:

· Employment Opportunities

· Active Ageing and Empowerment

· Creating Socially Healthy Communities

Hampshire will be participating in the second and third components.

The partner regions are Nord Brabant (Holland), Jamtlands (Sweden), Vasterbottens (Sweden), Etela-Suomi (Finland), Kilkis (Greece), Kralovehradecky (Czech Republic), Wielkopolska (Poland), Arad (Romania) and Hampshire (South East). Nord Brabant is the lead partner and is responsible for the management and co-ordination of the programme.

The Steering Committee is represented by 1 regional politician per partner region plus invited representatives of the Managing Authority Interreg IIIC West Programme.

Tasks and Responsibilities of the Steering Committee:

· Strategy of the Regional Framework Organisation (RFO)

· Selection of subprojects

· Monitoring and guiding implementation

· Approval of reports

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Executive Member or a nominated Member/Officer agrees to represent Hampshire on the Steering Committee.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act

None