§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Who set the budgets for the administration side of the Special European Union Programmes Body for 2000,2001,2002 and 2003; when and by whom was each approved; what were those budgets; and how much was the contribution of each government. [HL3252]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe SEUPB operates on a calendar year basis and the 2000 budget was provided for in the North in the Appropriation (NI) Order 1999 for 1999–2000 and the Appropriation Act (NI) 2000 for 2000–01 and in the South in the Appropriation Act 2000. The budgets for 2001 and 2002 were approved by NSMC. The budget for 2003 was approved by the British and Irish Governments under the agreement made by the exchange of notes between the two governments dated 19 November 2002.
The detailed information requested is provided in the table below.
Approved Amount Total Year North South Budget Date Approved 2000 £400k £1.6m £2.0m As above 2001 (initial) £600k £600k £1.2m 17 November 2000 2001 (additional)1 £663k £445k £1.108m 30 October 2001 2002 £875k £875k £ 1.75m 17 December 2001 2003 £1.11m £910k £2.02m 6 March 2003 1 In 2001 the body's budget was set initially at £1.2 million. During 2001, additional funds were approved, raising the total budget for 2001 to £2.308 million. These additional costs related mainly to office costs, the regional partnership board and recruitment.