Chief Project Officer in the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anthea Ipinson-Connor, delivered an address on Monday, August 21, about the grant of EC $14 million from the European Union (EU) for Anguilla.
She was at the time speaking at the Annual Review of the 2015-2020 Education Plan, funded by the EDF, among a number of other projects in Anguilla. Following is the main text of her address:
The European Development Fund is the EU’s main instrument for providing development aid to the Overseas Countries and Territories of the EU Member States. Historically, it has provided aid through the Project Approach to Anguilla. Major projects include the construction of Road Bay Jetty, power generation, road improvement and development including the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway, development of the water supply, storage and distribution system and the airport expansion project. The last Sector Budget Support Programmes supported the implementation of Anguilla’s Medium Term Economic Strategy 2010-2014.
It is then fortuitous and fitting that with the advent of Brexit, the United Kingdom’s intended withdrawal from the European Union, and perhaps, with it this significant source of guaranteed grant funds, that our last EDF Programme will support the development of Anguilla’s education sector.
Approximately €14m (EC$42.7m) has been allocated to Anguilla for the 11th EDF Programme and at Anguilla’s request will support the implementation of our Education Development Plan. It is also worth mentioning that with this comes planned technical assistance support in the areas of :
• A Labour Force and Market Survey for Anguilla
• Strategic Planning, Budgeting and Coordination of the Education and Training Sector
Having finalised the programming of this arrangement in April of this year, this is where all the dedicated and hard work in implementing the plan will bear some fiscal fruit.
As I mentioned, the programme of support is in the region of EC$42m which will be released in 4 tranches over the period 2017 to 2020 through a combination of fixed and variable components.
So how does this work?
Well, the Government of Anguilla is subject to general conditions under the Budget Support Programmes and as such is required to show satisfactory progress in a number of areas in order to secure disbursement of the fixed tranches.
The criteria under review and on which we are required to report are that annually we must demonstrate 4 key things:
• the maintenance of Anguilla’s macroeconomic stability;
• the ongoing implementation of a programme to improve public financial management
• ongoing efforts to promote budget transparency; and finally (this is where the work that you do every day comes in) we must demonstrate
• Progress in the implementation of the Education Development Plan,
Additionally, there are specific objectives that are more narrowly focused on supporting the Plan and re¬forms focusing on improving governance and service delivery in the education sector. This is where the EDF Programme supports specific indicators identified in the Education Development Plan that when met will release variable tranches of additional disbursements.
If there is time, allow me to briefly explain – The 2017 disbursement consists of a sole fixed tranche, that is some 3.6m Euros/EC$10.4m. So the four reports listed were prepared by the team at the Ministry of Finance and your Education Services Planner with your support and we currently await this disbursement. For 2018, there is a mixed fixed and variable tranche that together total 2.5m Euros/ EC$7.2m, again the four reports must be submitted but additionally with regards to the variable tranche indicators (and I will only name two), evidence that all six primary schools would have established their school development plans, and that the masterplan for the ALHCS is completed must be provided. The achievement of each indicator comes with a disbursement of approximately EC$595,000.
So you see, overall and specific areas of progress of the Education Development Plan must be demonstrated to fulfil the requirement for support under the EDF Programme.
How important are these funds to Anguilla?
On average it accounts for 4% of recurrent annual revenues. In the context of the overall capital budget for 2017 – it accounts for 23.7%
So in terms of the key messages that the Delegation of the European Union wished to share:
1. On the general policy discussion, there needs to be some level of demonstration of progress, or some explanation why no/little progress has taken place, how this will impact on implementation, and how the plan may be reworked to accommodate this challenge
2. On the specific indicators, there needs to be solid evidence on achievement of the targets/indicators. Additionally if it is clear that meeting the indicators will be impossible, the earlier that this is flagged the better and certainly no later than three months before the indicator is due to be met.
So what I have tried to detail here this morning is the support from the 11th EDF Programme and what are some immediate financial benefits to the aggressive implementation and realised progress in the Education Development Plan.
Essentially though, the implementation of this plan is for us, our Anguilla. Education remains an essential element of economic growth and development. There are clear linkages between investment in human capital and its effect on the structure and pattern of economic development, labour productivity in all sectors of the economy, income distribution, poverty reduction and technological advancement. We can all agree that for us to stay on a path of economic and social development, to be self-sustaining, to be competitive in a global environment there is need for greatly enhanced investment and continued focus on education and training.
