EPAG Minutes 24 February 2004

EPAG Minutes: 24 February 2004

In attendance
Geraldine Keyes (Focus), Liz Law (NIWEP), Michael Briggs (EBCDA), Una Gillespie (WBEF), Bernard Conlon (VDA), James Laverty (NICVA), Lisa McElherron (NICVA), Frances McCandless (NICVA) and Seamus Mc Aleavey (NICVA).

Apologies
Helen Ferguson (Carers NI), Jim Deery (Aston Centre), Niall Fitzduff (RCN) and Maureen Piggott (MENCAP).

1. Minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

2. Matters Arising

Round table Report. James updated the group on the SEUPB/NICVA round table report and distributed copies.

3.3 Funded Groups

A meeting was held between groups funded by 3.3 of BSP and DSD. The meeting was very productive and useful for information sharing. The group felt that there was a need to push for more mainstream funding and the outcome of the Taskforces recommendations was vital. There was a discussion about the read across from the 60 Day Action Team recommendation for Peace III to BSP. It had been envisaged that the read across should be quite substantial and that this was the understanding members of the 60 day Action Team had. However this was not the experience of the funded groups to date. It was agreed to monitor developments until the next meeting and if there was still little read across Seamus offered to contact the Minister at that stage. There was a discussion around the possibility of continued funding for 3.3 groups. It as not yet clear if any more money would be made available to DSD through slippage etc but there may be more information at the next meeting.

60 Day Action Team. There was a discussion about the outcomes of the 60 day action team and if groups had felt that they has made any difference. It was felt that some monitoring had been simplified with the process much easier to understand and access. It was well known that IFBs were unhappy with many of the changes as they required substantial work on their part to change existing systems. It was indicated that despite the changes groups were still not applying. This was due partly to the bad press and negative perception associated with Peace II and partly to the confusion around which measure are open and deadlines etc. It was agreed to keep this situation under review and update at the next meeting.

3. Peace III

Lisa circulated a summary paper of the text for the Designing Peace III document and the group discussed its content.

• No gap period is essential - a two year extension vital.
• Need to ensure that the push for economic focus that came from DFP does not happen again.
• The fact that last time round MLAs listened to the views of officials and not the sector and this time round we are much more organised and proactive.
• Agreement with the shift towards a more focused programme.
• Need to examine the value of P&R work to peace building in general - do we have a "don't mention the war" situation and how can we deal with this?
• The criterion for peace and reconciliation is currently too prescriptive and there needs to be more debate around the issues of equality, human rights and the P&R agenda.
• Single identity work needs to have a place and this cannot be lost in the debate.
• There is also a need to build strong communities around common issues. Communities need to become more outward looking and confident - able to engage on issues.
• There needs to be a space created to debate these social and political issues and this is not currently happening.
• It may be more useful for funding to focus on the piece of work being carried out and how this contributes to building peace rather than the label attached to the work.
• A risk taking element is needed.

Where would LSPs fit in to the new programme?

It was generally felt that the document was moving in the right direction.

4. Programme Updates

BSP - there had been one meeting of the BSP monitoring group since the last meeting. Most of the performance reserve money would now be going into Measure Five and not Measure Three as we had hoped. This is because Measure 3.1 is performing badly and case for additional monies could not be justified. Howeve Measure Five is concerned with environmental measures and so this is the next best thing. Guidance on the use of logos was still an issue and is to be discussed at the next meeting. There is to be review of the role of the monitoring committee as it is felt that it is too focused on spend.

Peace II - the committee meets tomorrow. The key issues will be the €60million worth of receipts submitted by government to meet N+2 - getting the money back is now the priority. Badly performing measures need to be reviewed and there may be some scope for money to be moved around. However there needs to be a strong case for measures to receive additional funding especially if they are already performing badly.

Urban - no movement.

Any other Business

Lisa distributed information on a conference NICVA was arranging to mark EU enlargement and encouraged groups to attend.