Peace money impeded by bureaucracy and red tape

A report just published by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust has condemned Peace II funding as bureaucratic, slow to spend with so much government red tape that almost £56 million of much needed funds could be underspent.

Brian Harvey, a Dublin based independent consultant reviewed the Peace II Programme and found excessive administration requirements for voluntary and community organisations were so onerous and burdensome it has blocked millions of valuable EU money from reaching potential bidders.

Mr Harvey contended that “While over a thousand projects have been approved, much has been learned from Peace I, but many of the flaws and weaknesses remain. If the Peace II funds, totalling €700m over four years are to have maximum impact, there are reallocations and better administrative methods that should be urgently implemented .”

The Peace II programme is too complicated and complex. It has 48 main implementing bodies, 50 “measures” and “sub-measures” operating in two currencies drawing down funds from four structural funds in two jurisdictions with 260 “indicators” and 11 “horizontal principles”.

The report has established that the level of administration and bureaucracy from application form to reporting, monitoring, accounting and auditing procedures that the voluntary and community organisations are required to complete are excessively demanding. NICVA reported over-bureaucratisation early on and can certainly identify from its members how prevalent and unnecessarily time consuming this administration has been.

The report also criticised local and central government departments highlighting the fact that even though they have the bulk of the funding to distribute, quite a few measures have no spend at all and it is the Intermediary Funding Bodies (IFBs) who have been considerably quicker at delivering the funds. The Harvey Report commended the principles used to determine the organisations that were successful in gaining funding.

More information on the report and a copy of it can be obtained from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, The Garden House, Water End, York YO30 6WQ 01904 627810, info@jrct.org.uk or visit the website at www.jrct.org.uk/