Objective 1 is one of four programmes in the UK set up by the European Union to provide investment funds to help reduce differences in social and economic conditions within and between member countries. It is targeted at those areas where the prosperity, measured in gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head of population, is 75% or less of the European average. In 1999 the European Commission agreed that South Yorkshire qualified for Objective 1 aid for the period 2000 to 2006 along with Cornwall, Merseyside and West Wales.

Objective 1 funds come from four European budgets known as Structural Funds which were set up to provide grant aid to member countries. In South Yorkshire money is drawn down from three of these Structural Funds:

• European Regional Development Fund.
  
• European Social Fund
  
• European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee fund (EAGGF)

Approximately £700m of European aid is available within the South Yorkshire programme. Due to the money being awarded in Euros the exact amount will depend on the exchange rate. Objective 1 never provides the total investment for any project, but offer a proportion of the costs.

The severity of the economic decline in South Yorkshire between 1979 and 1995 has created a number of key issues which the programme strategy sets out to tackle. These include:

• A jobs gap in terms of both volume and quality.
  
• Low profitability amongst the sub-region’s manufacturing companies.
  
• A continuing dependence on sectors in decline.
  
• Low levels of skills and usage of information and communications technology.
  
• Increasing deprivation within many of our communities.

A significant proportion of schemes funded by the programme cover South Yorkshire and is used to complement other funding from Yorkshire Forward, the Small Business Service and the Learning and Skills Council.

Further information about how Objective 1 monies affects Rotherham is available from the Partnership Office. Contact Jeff Wharfe, Local Economic Development Partnership Manager:
Telephone: 01709 310 486
Email: economicmanager@rotherhamnow.co.uk