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Overview of the role and activity of
the Northamptonshire European Office
25 March 2015
Richard Woods
European Investment Office
• 2 Full Time Staff
• Brussels team acts as direct link between
partners, the European institutions, Brusselsbased interest groups, European regions and
networks
Role of the Office
• Partnership Development - maximising European
partnerships and project opportunities in the County
• Inward Investment and Trade Promotion – linked to County’s
priority sectors
• Influencing and supporting future European Structural
funding crucial to the County worth around £48 million
Office Governance
• NCC European Project Board - budgetary and supervisory oversight
on the Brussels Office including approval of all European project
submissions.
• Chaired by Director of Environment, Development and Transport
• Main nominated contact to the Commission for all European
projects being submitted by the Council.
• Cllr Parker, Cllr Gonzalez de Savage and COO at NEP are members
of the European Projects Board.
• European Steering Group is the operational arm on European
projects.
• Details of projects and activities provided in regular NEP board,
NCC, cabinet and economic development reports.
Why Brussels?

Heart of the EU, ‘representations’
by regions, companies, networks and NGOs

Profile the County’s key sectors of excellence in Brussels
to the key EU institutions

Over £4 million worth of European funding secured to date
for the County, and over £5 million of projects in the pipeline
for submission during 2015.
Importance of EU Funding
• Structural Funds worth some £48m
to Northamptonshire until 2020
• Horizon 2020 is the world’s single largest public
research fund worth €80bn until 2020
• EU funds often allow larger scale projects to occur
than through national funds.
• European funding often applies to areas
where internationalisation is likely to occur.
EU funding programmes 2014-2020
• Structural Funds - providing support for geographical
areas within EU in terms of economic development
and social inclusion.
• Trans-National Funds - encouraging organisations
and individuals to work together from across Europe.
• Latter funds directly managed by the European
Commission and are competitive.
UK government approach
• Preference for place based programmes with flexible
geographies
• Any approach must be responsive to local need and
national priorities
• Simplification of fund management
• Integrated programming, in particular in relation to the
Structural Funds
• Better co-ordination of match-funding & co-financing
across the public sector
UK government priorities
• Research, technological development and innovation – esp.
commercialisation
• Raising SME competitiveness – esp re exports
• Shift to low-carbon economy – esp energy efficiency &
renewable technologies
• Employment & skills (inc. social inclusion)
Our key messages
• Centrality of Location
• Pro-Growth Economy
• Highly Entrepreneurial
• World-Class Businesses
• New and Emerging Growth Sectors
• Serious Investment Propositions
• Delivery Capacity and Capability
ESIF for Northamptonshire
• ESIF Priority 1: Strengthening Innovation
• ESIF Priority 2: Driving SME Competitiveness
& Entrepreneurship
• ESIF Priority 3: Creating the Conditions for Sustainable &
Equitable Growth
• ESIF Priority 4: Providing a Responsive & Adaptable
Workforce for the Future
Next generation of EU Programmes
2014-2020
Research and Innovation
€80bn
SME Competitiveness
€2.4bn
Infrastructure
€21bn
Lifelong Learning
€14.6bn
Environment
€3.2bn
Excellent Science/ Competitive
Industries/Better Society
Entrepreneurship, cluster development
and internationalisation
Energy/ Transport/ Broadband/ Digital
Networks
Education, training, youth and sport
Supporting environmental and nature
conservation projects in the EU
Project Development
ZECOS
Changing Tracks
Smart County
Youth Sports Project to
Combat Violence
Districts of the Future
Extended Schools
Children as Witnesses to
Domestic Violence
STEM project evaluations
Social Enterprise
Civil Protection
Tourism, Cultural and
Industrial Heritage
Zero Cost Local Authority
Energy Service
Wider county cluster
engagement
What is ZECOS?
ZECOS is a European Union funded project under the INTERREG IVB
North West Europe programme with the aim to develop a communityfocused zero carbon certification scheme for use across Europe. The
Council is one of 11 partners on the project and four countries are
represented – UK, Germany, Belgium and Ireland.
The full project title is “Development and Introduction of the Communal
Zero CO2e Emission Certification System as a Tool for Sustainable
Communities and Regions”.
The Council’s budget under the project is €1.2 million, 50% of which is
funded through INTERREG.
Northamptonshire and 3 Pilot Communities
Area
Electors Houses
(Km2)
Oundle
193.5
9280
4267
Long Buckby
118.2
8562
3892
Braunston and
98.09
8958
4361
Crick
Investment: Biomass Boilers
1. Biomass boilers for schools:
• Sites: 6 schools selected for feasibility studies after visiting all oil fired schools
in the County
• Procurement: Contract awarded to Ashwell Biomass in November
• Installation: started Summer 2014.
• 2. Biomass Supply Chain development
• Assess different fuel options in Northamptonshire to develop a Sustainable
and Local Supply Chain (considering local Miscanthus)
• Mapping existing fuel suppliers and exploring opportunities
• Fuel options
Investment: Biomass boilers in schools
Completed schemes at Yelvertoft Primary, Braunston,
Crick and Gateway schools
Investment: Example
Biomass Boiler, Yelvertoft Primary School, Sept 2014
Investment: Positives
• Engagement process produced results, all schools very
supportive
• Opened a commercial relationship with biomass installer, now
exploring further opportunities / savings for Council
• Increasing knowledge and potential further opportunities on
biomass across the county but also pilot communities through
the events
• New EU Projects being prepared
• Smart cities (ZECOS 2)
• Exporting business model
CO2 reductions and regional added value.
EU Mass Shelter Capability (MASC) project
Proposal Value: €780 000 – Total Project
Focus: bring together European expertise through a series of
structured workshops to design and agree consistent standards
for the development of a scalable, modular and phased mass
shelter capability.
CP MODEL – Civil Protection Massive Open Developed ELearning
Proposal Value: €0.5 milllion
Focus : Support research on the existing main courses on the
resilience topic (level of resistance of the communities to natural
disasters) and develop and contribute to the involvement of
municipalities in the testing and use of the e-learning, MOOC
courses (innovative IT courses)
Anticipated Benefits
• Improve contingency plans to cope with mass evacuations that
might follow severe flooding.
• East coast tidal surge is considered a tier 1 national risk and is
rated as a very high risk on the Northamptonshire Community
Risk Register
• Northamptonshire is one of the counties immediately inland
that would be expected to receive and provide shelter for a
proportion of these displaced communities
• By leading the project NCC will be able to address the local
requirement in a vastly more effective way
• Enhancing reputation with central government.
• It will also improve our ability to access further EU funding at
future opportunities.
Project Team
Coordinating beneficiary
• Northamptonshire County
Council (UK)
Co-Financer
• Cabinet Office (UK)
Partner Beneficiaries
Additional Support
• National Directorate for
• Department for
Fire and Emergency
Communities and Local
Management (Ireland)
Government (UK)
• Federal Agency for
• Emergency Planning
Technical Relief (Germany)
College (UK)
Assisted Area Status
 Areas designated in European State Aid rules as being
eligible for additional support for development.
 Areas with Assisted Area status are permitted to receive
additional Governmental support.
 It does not provide any right to financial assistance, but
simply allows the public sector to provide certain types of
assistance, if it wishes.
 The current Regional Aid map runs from 2014 until 2020, and
is actually operational from 1 July 2014.
Assisted Areas in Northamptonshire
22 wards in Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and
East Northants included in Government’s RAGs
map 2014-2020
Permits the granting of additional financial support
to organisations within the map area.
Encourages business growth, and offers eligibility
for regional aid, but does not in itself confer any
funding.
Examples of support include grants for bringing
unused business space back into usage.
Working with Business
Based on a sector specific approach: e.g. Transport,
HPT, Energy and Food and Drink
Cooperation across clusters/LEPs and networks
Cross-border projects involving European regions
Complementing existing European funding allocations
across the region
Examples of Forthcoming Activities:
Supporting the County based project development
group for the Northamptonshire Logistics sector
Development of European investment readiness
strategies for County companies.
Strategy and project development meetings with British
Gas and Schneider to explore opportunities for
collaborative Industry and county bid activity.
European funding workshops with NCC directorates and
schools within the UoN on future funding opportunities