Issue - meetings

(i)       to approve the withdrawal the application to the European Social Fund for grant funding made in May 2018 relating to phase 2 of the Employability Pipeline Project;

(ii)      to instruct the Chief Executive to inform the Managing Authority of the European Social Fund of this decision in writing;

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth, to seek to identify alternative sources of funding to support employability activity in Aberdeen; and

(iv)     regrets the Scottish Government’s non-compliance with EU Commission audit requirements and consequential loss of funding to Aberdeen City Council and associated projects and instructs the Chief Officer – City Growth to write to the Scottish Government to urgently provide an alternative funding mechanism to support the associated projects.

With reference to article 14 of the minute of meeting of 27 November 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – City Growth which sought approval to reject the offer of a grant for phase 2 of the employability pipeline project from the European Social Fund, due to the Fund currently being suspended by the European Commission.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)       approve the withdrawal of the application to the European Social Fund for grant funding made in May 2018 relating to phase 2 of the Employability Pipeline Project;

(b)       instruct the Chief Executive to inform the Managing Authority of the European Social Fund of this decision in writing; and

(c)       instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth, to seek to identify alternative sources of funding to support employability activity in Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)       to regret the Scottish Government’s non-compliance with EU Commission audit requirements and consequential loss of funding to Aberdeen City Council and associated projects and instructs the Chief Officer – City Growth to write to the Scottish Government to urgently provide an alternative funding mechanism to support the associated projects.