The Government has announced that all Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), including SEEDA, will close by 31 March 2012.
Responsibility for economic development and regeneration in England is being passed onto successor bodies, including Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and central Government departments
Our objective is to ensure a professional and cost effective closure by this date. We have pledged to work closely with our partners, contractors and stakeholders to ensure that the past and future economic benefits of key programmes and assets continue to deliver the greatest economic value for the South East and value for money for the taxpayer.
Please click here for more details about our closure plan, transition arrangements and successor organisations.
Trans-national and Cross-border HSTintegration, HSTconnect, IMPACTE and CC Projects
SEEDA attracted over £46million funding from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) to help tackle transport blockages in the region and ensure the continued competitiveness of the regional economy. Projects include maximising the impact of the emerging High Speed Rail network and increasing the ports and freight industrity productivity through targeted infrastructure investment, the upgrading of stations to improve their environment and accessibility, the creation of transport hubs.
Through the HST projects, in Ashford ERDF has helped enable a substantial investment of over £15million in public realm improvements that link the town centre to the station, incorporating a shared space scheme that is the first of its kind within the UK. A further investment of around £4m will now be carried out to improve and extend the International Station and to integrate both international and new high-speed domestic services at Ashford.
ERDF supported the Fastrack priority bus scheme linking the new Ebbsfleet International station with surrounding communities in the heart of the Thames Gateway – Europe’s largest regeneration programme. Projects have also been undertaken in Dover and Reading.
Through the SEEDA-led FINESSE (Freight Intermodality and Exchange on Sea and Straits in Europe) and IMPACTE (Intermodal Port Access & Commodities Transport in Europe), which were awarded nearly £370,000 and £5million, access to some of the South East of England regional gateways was improved and the major UK freight transport corridor - connecting the Solent to the Midlands - was enhanced.
Together with C2C (Connect to Compete), over £4.4million of ERDF has been granted to fund small scale investments and transport advancement schemes in the ports of Southampton, Portsmouth, Dover, Ramsgate and Shoreham aiming to ensure sustainable distribution of commodities, the shift of freight transport from road to rail (such as through the creation of an inter-modal railhead at Fratton Goods Yard) and the development of a network of reliably performing and resilient logistics links between harbours and their hinterlands.
For more information, please click here.
POWER Inter-regional Programme
POWER is an interregional programme involving six other European regions and explores ways to move towards a low carbon economy at regional level. POWER has led to the additional leveraging of £1.4million of European and regional funds in the South East region, supporting local authorities, NGOs and other organisations.
For more information, please click here.
PEOPLE Programme
PEOPLE explores opportunities for new forms of employment and for improving well-being and cohesion in the framework of the demographic and societal changes in seven European regions. In The South East ERDF funding is nearly £500,000 and UK funding is £165,000.
The aim of PEOPLE is to explore the opportunities for new forms of employment and for improving well-being and cohesion. A maximum of 10 sub-projects will be funded covering six themes: Reconciliation of work and private life; E-health & Independence; Silver economy; Social and e-inclusion; Social entrepreneurship; and Civil society empowerment.
For more information, please click here.
