Southern England Local Partners

What We Do

SELP partners in the South East of England include local authorities, universities and other organisations from the county geographical areas of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex.

The South East of England is the second largest regional economy in the UK, accounting for almost 16% of the UK’s GDP with a low unemployment rate of 4%. The region is within good proximity of London  with good transport links to continental Europe and the rest of the world through the channel ports and Gatwick and Southampton airports. Major industries in the area include new technologies and high tech businesses in the fields of ICT, bio-technology, marine technologies, aerospace and engineering. Service sectors in the area range in size from SMEs to major multinational companies including leading edge research and consultancy firms, tourism, and the creative and cultural industries.

The advantages of a Brussels Office

There are approximately 270 regional/local authority representations in Brussels - not being amongst these could mean that we miss out. Legislation formulated in Brussels affects all of the European Union including the UK, and we need to be aware of what is happening and be able to influence this through the various channels at our disposal. Working with our MEPs, national government and other partners in Brussels, we are able to ensure that SELP members learn more about the emerging opportunities in Europe and are able to plan and act accordingly for the benefit of their own stakeholders.

What We Can Do For You:

The work of the Brussels office focuses on a number of different priority areas:

  • Environment and sustainability (including climate change, energy efficiency, water management etc);

  • Business, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, R&D and innovation

  • Transport;

  • Maritime issues;

  • Health and social inclusion;

  • Culture and tourism

  • Skills and education

Services delivered by the office include:

  • Provision of focussed and timely information for an agreed set of key funding programmes;

  • Provision of in-depth, focussed and up-to-date knowledge of relevant EU policy; and

  • Development of strategic contacts, partnerships and networks for exchange of best practice and to enhance the profile of our partners in Europe.

Partnerships and networks:

Through the consortium of partners, SELP has already established successful working relationships with:

  • The Assembly of European Regions (AER)

  • Channel Arc Manche

  • Airports Regions Conference

  • The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR)

  • Eurotowns

  • Eurocities

  • Polis (transport)

  • PURPLE (peri-urban regions)

  • RETIS (social inclusion)

  • A number of individual regions within France including Upper and Lower  Normandy, Nord Pas de Calais, Seine Maritime, Somme and other strategic partners across the EU

Funding streams:

As a partnership, we have extensive knowledge of a number of European funding programmes including the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), Equal, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF), the Framework Programmes (Research), Interreg and Leader+; and a combined  experience of successfully bidding for European funding from many of these sources.