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£0.83m of EU funding helps SMEs in Ipswich and St Albans lead a low carbon economy
£0.83m of EU funding helps SMEs in Ipswich and St Albans lead a low carbon economy
80 small and medium sized enterprises in Ipswich will receive free green travel plan consultancy from April 2010, thanks to a regional partnership project led by Suffolk County Council. The consultancy aims to help businesses review and reduce use of motorised transport, providing each of them an annual saving of around £10,000 and a 10% reduction in CO2 emissions from transport. The aim is to stimulate low carbon economic growth in this important sector of our economy. To date very few small businesses have taken advantage of tax incentives and other benefits that large organisations achieve through green travel plans.
Transport is responsible for around 40% of Suffolk's CO2 emissions and needs to take its fair share of proposed reductions to meet the Suffolk community strategy's target of 60% reduction by 2028, as part of our ambition to become the greenest county in England. Councillor Guy McGregor, portfolio holder for roads, transport and planning at Suffolk County Council said, "This project is another example of Suffolk County Council leading the way on CO2 reduction in the region. It should be welcome news to businesses struggling in the recession. We look forward to working with Exemplas, who will spearhead the consultancy, and other partners including Ipswich Buses, First, the Highways Agency, Hertfordshire County Council, St Albans City and District Council and Network St Albans, the Quality Network Partnership for St Albans."
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) confirmed £830,000 of European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) as a contribution towards this £2 million partnership project led by Suffolk County Council. EEDA's own studies indicate that the annual cost of congestion in Ipswich is valued around £20 million through lost productivity. In addition to the 80 Ipswich businesses being offered free consultancy, a further 80 will receive similar support in St Albans.
"The East of England is unique in having an ERDF Competitiveness programme that is focused exclusively on low carbon economic development," said David Morrall, Director International at EEDA. "Often the region's small and medium sized enterprises fail to take advantage of the opportunities available, simply because they don't have the resources, expertise or time to look into them. This project will however give SMEs the chance to both cut their CO2 emissions and reduce business costs - so everyone is a winner."
Cllr McGregor went on to say, "We aim to introduce a number of innovations, including the opportunity to buy bus tickets and get real time information about public transport services on mobile phones. There is much interest in our project within the region, as well as central government including the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Other transport projects in Ipswich include:
• £3.45m community infrastructure fund to improve the Duke St roundabout.
• £25m ‘Ipswich – transport for the 21st Century’ investment with the DfT to enhance the provision of public transport, cycling and walking.
• £500,000 TravelSmart project with Sustrans to 17,000 Ipswich households, similar to the exercise just completed in Lowestoft to 25,000 households."
Hilary Oakley, Director of training and consultancy at Exemplas said, "We are delighted to be working with our partners and look forward to engaging with local businesses to help them save money, jobs and climate change threatening CO2 emissions. It is exciting to offer practical solutions backed up by our leading behaviour change research team at the University of Hertfordshire. If this pilot project achieves the success we believe it can, it has the potential to offer extraordinary levels of savings if rolled out regionally, nationally and internationally."
Stephen Joseph, Chair of Network St Albans and Executive Director of the Campaign for Better Transport said, "This money will help upgrade public transport in St Albans and will also help people get to work in the city more easily and with less pollution. It builds on the unique partnership between the County and District Councils, the local bus and train operators and the University which is starting to make a difference to public transport in the area."
Preparation work starts in the New Year and will be launched to local businesses in collaboration with Chambers of Commerce in April 2010. Consultancy and related services will last for two years, with a final report summarising the benefits achieved in the two pilots delivered in the summer of 2012.
About the European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is a seven-year investment programme part financed by the European Union. Its objective is ‘towards low carbon economic growth’ in the East of England and €110.9 million has been allocated to our region.
The fund aims to help small and medium size enterprises respond to the challenges of climate change and the huge commercial potential behind a low carbon economy.
With more funding available until 2013, the ERDF programme is set to play a big role in helping our businesses and communities seize the opportunities of a low carbon economy.
For more information visit www.eeda.org.uk/erdf
About the East of England Development Agency
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. EEDA’s vision is for the East of England to be an ideas driven region that is internationally competitive, harnesses the talent of all and is at the forefront of the low carbon economy. For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk
EEDA’s impact
An independent report from PA Consulting and SQW published on 31 March 2009 showed that EEDA has had a positive impact on the region’s economy. The report drew on evaluations of over 60 per cent of EEDA investment between 2002-07. It found that for an investment of £142 million, between £525 million and £820 million of wealth has already been created for the region. This represents a return on investment of £3.70 to £5.80 for every £1 invested - with a mid point of £4.75.
With future benefits of projects and programmes taken into account, EEDA’s contribution to the regional economy would be worth between £874 million and £1.3 billion. This would represent a return on investment of between £6.10 and £9.10 for every £1 invested – with a mid point of £7.60.
About Network St Albans
Network St Albans is the first partnership of its kind and has been formed as a result of the Transport Act 2008 which offers new opportunities for local authorities to work with transport operators through the creation of 'Quality Network Partnerships'.
Network St Albans aims to improve quality of life in St Albans by improving transport around the city and reducing congestion. It includes representatives from the district and county councils (including the Passenger Transport Unit and Hertfordshire Highways), bus and rail operators and the University of Hertfordshire.
Stephen Joseph is the official spokesperson for the partnership.
Contact details for ERDF:
Allison Thomas or Peter Joyner at Shorthose Russell Limited
Tel: 01603 309085
Email: allisont@shorthose-russell.co.uk or peterj@shorthose-russell.co.uk
Other contact details:
Peter Lee at Suffolk County Council peter.lee@suffolk.gov.uk 01473 265043
Hilary Oakley at Exemplas hilaryo@exemplas.com 01707 398160
Stephen Joseph at Network St Albans stephen.joseph@bettertransport.org.uk 0207 566 6481
