Mr. Karl Murphy:

It is the county council's job to organise, in this case, the URBACT local group but the contact point would be there to ensure that it is participatory as much as is possible. The information sessions and the information days are a way of getting out there. It was noted earlier how funding can have something of a snowball effect. Sometimes the local authority can see its impact and then applies again. We have tried to integrate testimonies, so we bring past participants to our information sessions and days to spell out the benefit of participating. That programme is not a source of huge money but there is a lot of soft investment in the exchange of learning and best practice.

On help, the upfront cost of writing an application can put off some of the lesser-funded local authorities and it might be possible to help them that way. There is a sense of there being a sunk cost of doing an application if it is not successful. As the contact point, we are there to support them and instil the confidence that it is worthwhile. This fund can be a gateway to another, INTERREG and in sustainable and urban development, there is the European Urban Initiative for which the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly was recently appointed contact point alongside URBACT. I just wanted to note the role we can have in supporting local authorities and through that the citizens.