MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING
Management: Structure of the EDUSI Castelló entity
The Management Unit of the EDUSI (Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategy) of Castelló de la Plana exercises the functions of Intermediate Body and is clearly separated from the Executing Units that are responsible for initiating and/or executing the operations co-financed by Europe, thus respecting the principle of separations of functions and independence of the Management Unit.
The Management Unit carries out the functions delegated by the Management Authority in the City Council of Castelló, as an Intermediate Body: it coordinates the Strategy, selects the operations, ensures its financial monitoring and its state of implementation, and assumes the information and communication tasks of the EDUSI.
Thus, the Management Unit has among its main functions the selection of operations for funding, thereby ensuring fulfilment of the requirements of the article 125.3 of Regulation (UE) 1303/2013 that is in accordance with the Criteria and Procedures for the Selection of Operations approved by the Monitoring Committee for the Operational Programme. Prior to the selection of each operation, it confirms that the relevant executing unit has the administrative, financial and operational capacity to comply with the conditions of the programme and procedures manual.
The Management Unit also advises the execution units in implementation of the procedures for the proper use of the European funds, informing them of the application of effective and appropriate anti-fraud measures and transmitting the instructions received by the Management Authority and that may affect them directly.
Castelló has its own Management Unit, dependent on the Economic Planning and Projection Office of the City Council that includes professionals specialized in managing European funds and projects. Both the EDUSI Management Unit and the Local Administration personnel involved in the development of the Strategy (Councillorships), receive regular training in managing European funds, anti-fraud, gender perspective applied to urban development or communication (participation in the meetings of the Greco Age Network), among other areas.
The City Council of Castelló has been selected by the European Commission, on the motion of the Ministry of Finance, as an example of success among the EDUSI Councils. Firstly, due to its internal governance model, which in the opinion of the European Commission, has allowed the various municipal departments and technical services to be involved in the
design, development, management and implementation process of the EDUSI. In the selection of Castelló as an example of success, it has been valued as well the participation of key actors and how the participatory process, that has guided the entire Strategy, has been continued through the Social Council of the City (Consell Social de la Ciutat), a body composed of representatives of the economic, social, professional, academic and local neighbourhood sector.
Monitoring: Information and Transparency Plan
The EDUSI management team has activated an Information and Transparency Plan, which includes the design of a website aimed at informing citizens about EDUSI, its challenges, its social impact, the process of materialising operations and its results (https://edusitransformacs. castello.es/); and social networking profiles in order to feed the information flow, increase its social projection and generate a feedback with citizens (answering questions, managing suggestions).
Furthermore, it provides the Social Council with relevant information regarding the development of the Strategy, facilitating thereby its evaluation, and it is in charge of drawing up a periodic report on the implementation of the EDUSI to inform citizens about its state of development.
An EDUSI with citizen support
The participatory processes are not only present in the Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategy of Castelló in general, but also within its operations in order to further consolidate its implementation. In fact, all the actions included in the EDUSI have inherently a prior participatory process. It is carried out through the municipal councils of the city (mobility, security, elderly…) or through consultation with the groups involved (neighbourhood organisations or trade associations).
Anti-fraud measures
In order to ensure the adequate development and implementation of the Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategy of Castelló (EDUSI), and in compliance with the Compromise Agreement regarding the assumption of duties for the EDUSI management signed by the City Council of Castelló de la Plana on 21 December 2016, the City Council has constituted a Fraud Risk Self-Assessment Team.
It is intended to ensure effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures in relation to the operations selected for ERDF funding. Its main functions are to implement initial fraud risk assessment procedures; preventive procedures, including planning annual training measures for the executing units; detection procedures, including carrying out fraud risk self-assessment exercises on an annual basis; the use of the tool: ARACHNE; the use of a Red Flags system; the implementation of a mechanism for reporting irregularities as well as correction and prosecution procedures, including the application of the Anti-Fraud Action Plan, which is intended to correct and mitigate the risk of any further repetition.
