Southern Regional Assembly - PowerPoint Presentation

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Southern Regional Assembly

AN OVERVIEW OF THE

FIRST LEVEL CONTROL SYSTEM

FLC Training Seminar

3

rd

October 2019

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Table of Contents

First Level Control – The Basics

FLC and regulatory requirementsThe different FLC systemsFLC System in IrelandControls carried out by SRA Eligibility PeriodQuality Checks and Audits

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1. First Level Control

The Basics

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First Level Control – the basics

What?

‘First Level Control’ are the checks (audits) of all project expenditure.When? During project implementation; each time before submitting a payment claim.Why? To provide a guarantee to MA, CA the project Partner, that the costs co-financed are accounted for and eligible.

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First Level Control – Why?

European Commission Regulations require member states participating in E.T.C. programmes:

to set up a control system for projects to verify delivery of products and services, soundness of expenditure declared, and compliance with Community and national rulesdesignate the controllers responsible for verifying the legality and regularity of the expenditureensure that the expenditure can be validated by the controllers within a period of three months.

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Responsibilities of a First Level Controller

The verifications to be carried would cover administrative, financial, technical and physical aspects of the project, as appropriate. Verifications would ensure that:

the expenditure declared is real = there is an invoice or other document with probative value.that the products or services co-financed have been delivered in accordance with the approval project decision = it has been paid and received.that the applications for reimbursement by the beneficiary are correct = Audit Trail that the project partner expenditure have complied with the applicable Programme, EU and national rules = it is eligible

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Assurances provided by a FLC

The FLC is required to provide assurance on the eligibility of the

100% of the expenditure included in each claim FLCs can use their professional judgement how to do this but must provide assurance on the 100% of the expenditure in the claimThe verification of expenditure is therefore not similar to an audit where the prime purpose is to form an opinion on the information in the financial report taken as a whole FLCs can reject items of expenditure if they do not meet the eligibility requirements and use their professional judgment to apply financial corrections, such as compliance with public procurement rules, in accordance with the guidelines provided lookout for any anomalies, red flags (fraud, corruption).

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2. FLC and regulatory requirements

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FLC and regulatory requirements

All expenditure reported has to be certified by an independent controller, before submission to the JS

MA is responsible for the financial management and control of the programme (Article 125 (4) of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013) but… the organisation of this control = Partner State responsibility (based on Article 23 (4) of Regulation (EU) 1299/2013: “… each Member State shall designate the body or person responsible for carrying out such verifications…”).

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FLC and regulatory requirements

What?

First level controllers (FLCs) verify and confirm: the compliance of the costs with1. the approved application form2. the legal and financial provisions of the subsidy contract/ partnership agreement3. the applicable European regulations and the national / internal rules4.ETC programme requirements

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3. The different FLC systems

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The different FLC systems

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First level control systems

CENTRALISED (15):

Belgium: Brussels+ Wallonia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Northern Ireland (UK)

DECENTRALISED (16):

Austria, Belgium-Flanders, Bulgaria,

Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

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4. FLC system in Ireland

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FLC System in Ireland

Centralised Control System

In 2008, Two control bodies at regional level appointed to carry out the first level controls. Two public bodiesBorder, Midland & Western Regional Assembly (BMW)Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly (SERA) NowNorthern & Western Regional Assembly (NWRA)Southern Regional Assembly (SRA)

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SRA FLC UNIT – Facts & Figures

5 E.T.C. Programmes

Ireland -Wales Programme Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme (NPA) URBACT Programme North West Europe Programme (NWE) Interreg Europe (IE)4 IT Systems iOLF https://www.iolf.eu eMS https://ems.nweurope.eu https://ems.interreg-npa.eu. Synergie  https://synergie-cte.asp-public.fr WEFO Online https://www.access.service.gov.uk4 Controllers + 1 Clerical Officer 73 Project with 101 Partners

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Key Web Sites

Ireland Wales

https://irelandwales.eu

North West Europe

https://www.nweurope.eu/

Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme

http://www.interreg-npa.eu/

Atlantic Area Programme

https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Interreg Europe Programme

https://www.interregeurope.eu/

URBACT

https://urbact.eu/

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5. Type of Controls carried out by SRA

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Type of Controls carried out by SRA

Desk checks

Compulsory for each progress reportClaims are certified on a ‘first come first served basis’Expenditure is uploaded to the IT system (iOLF, eMS, etc.) and hard copy of the supporting documentation is supplied to the Controller.On-the-spot checksAt least once during the lifetime of the projectNormally towards the end of the project Sample of costs checked from the previous claims and the final claim

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To sum up the whole process

The

project partner completes the list of expenditure and provides supporting documents (partner report)The FLC checks and confirms eligible expenditureControl report including checklistFLC certificateThe lead partner checks and includes partner reports in the joint progress report

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Progress Reporting & Assessment of reports

Start: end of reporting period

Project Partners Partner report incl List of ExpenditureFLCCertificateFLC checklistFLC Reportsubmitted in eMS

Clarifications, supporting docs

Lead Partner

Project report incl Certificates

JS & MA

Assessment

Payment decision

submitted in eMS

submitted in eMS

Certifying Function

Check

Payment to LP

submitted in eMS

Clarifications, supporting docs

End: Partner receives Grant

Lead Partner

Distribution of Grant

Transfer to LP

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6. Eligibility Period

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Eligibility period

Eligibility period

From the official start date to the project end date as stipulated in Application Form.Submission date of last report = project end date =end date of eligibility of costs Last 3 months before project end date = administrative project closure (last payments, preparation of the last progress report, FLC)Expenditure can be reported only if paid before theend of the reporting period!Paid = debited from partner’s bank account

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What is eligible expenditure

incurred

-paid-within the eligibility period-justified by supporting documents

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7. Quality Checks / Audits

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Quality checks/audits

To ensure proper use of funds

Several bodies carry out quality checks / auditsNational checksSecond level auditsEC/ECA auditsCA quality checks Other cases (e.g. bankruptcy)

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FLC and other levels of audits

Sample

based audits

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Thank You!!

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Contact Details

First Level Control Unit

Michael Buckley – Head of First Level Control UnitMarie Harnett–Senior First Level ControllerEve Hayden – Senior First Level ControllerEdel Hunt – First Level Controller Southern Regional AssemblyAssembly HouseO Connell StreetWaterfordTel: 051 860700Email: flc@southernassembly.ieWeb:www.southernassembly.ie