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What we do

What does Corporate Services do?

Corporate Services incorporates a range of different roles which support the implementation of the programmes. The SEUPB’s Communications, Information and Communications Technology and Human Resources Teams all lie within Corporate Services. A key part of the Corporate Services is the Certifying Authority, which sits within this directorate.

What does the Certifying Authority do?

The Certifying Authority is responsible for the certification of all expenditure claims submitted to the EU Commission, ensuring eligibility with EU and national rules. This includes the review of processes and procedures by those implementing the programmes and ensuring any irregularities are raised and actioned. In SEUPB, the Certifying Authority also controls the cashflow of the programme, including making payments to lead partners, drawdown of funds from the European Commission and subsequent reimbursement to each Member State.

What does the Managing Authority do?

The Managing Authority is one of a number of bodies identified by European Regulation and given particular roles in the administration of the programme. The Managing Authority has overall responsibility for the management and implementation of the Operational Programme (the document approved by the European Commission which establishes the programme strategy and priorities). The Managing Authority has a number of responsibilities established by EU Regulation.  These include:

• Ensuring that projects are selected according to the criteria approved by the Programme Monitoring Committee;
• Establishing and monitoring procedures for ensuring that project expenditure has been properly and legally incurred, claimed and paid;
• Maintaining systems to store data on all aspects of programme implementation including financial management, audit, monitoring and evaluation;
• Ensuring proper evaluation of the programme is undertaken;
• Guiding the work of the Monitoring Committee and providing it with the documents required to allow it to complete its functions;
• Preparing annual and final reports on implementation, and submitting these to the European Commission following approval by the Monitoring Committee;
• Ensuring that information and publicity requirements established by European Regulations are met.

The Managing Authority within SEUPB has formally delegated the responsibility for selecting projects to the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) for the INTERREG IVA Programme.  For the PEACE III Programme both the JTS and the Consortium of Pobal and the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council  have responsibility for selecting projects.

Since 1 October 2010, the Financial Control Unit, formerly under the Joint Technical Secretariat structure, is also part of the Managing Authority. The Financial Control Unit is responsible for verifying the legality and regularity of expenditure.  They undertake pre-contracting checks on each funded projects’ Lead Partner and carry out both administrative verifications of each claim of expenditure made by a project and on the spot checks. 

What does the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) do?

The Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) oversees the day-to-day implementation of the PEACE III and INTERREG IVA Programmes, supporting and advising both the Managing Authority and the programmes’ Steering Committees.   

JTS is responsible for project assessment and for accompanying the projects from the stage when these first submit an expression of interest to a call for applications, through tthe approval process. During the lifetime of the projects and throughout the programming period, JTS is responsible for project monitoring.  JTS is also responsible for the provision of secretarial services to the Steering Committees, issuing contracts to successful applicants.

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