Transcript Building A Greater Society

Supporting voluntary, community and social enterprise
organisations to understand the information requirements
when bidding for and receiving European funding
Types of European Structure and Investment Funds
(ESIF)
2014 - 2020
 Cohesion Fund
 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
 European Social Fund (ESF)
PURPOSE OF ESIF
 Improve local growth
 Create jobs (by investing in innovation, business,
skills and employment)
HOW DOES ESF DO THIS?
 Removing barriers to participation in quality
employment
 Encouraging social inclusion (combating poverty and
discrimination)
 Developing potential and existing workforce by
investing in education, training and vocational skills.
HOW IS THE PROGRAMME MANAGED?
 The Department of Work and Pensions is the Managing
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Authority for ESF in England.
The Big Lottery Fund is delivering a portion of this
through “Building Better Opportunities”
The priorities for Cornwall and the IOS will be set by the
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
There will be Lead Partner for all projects in Cornwall and
IOS ( as yet undecided)
Each project will have a lead organisation
Purpose of Today
 Brief update on ‘calls’
 Understand what information organisations must
provide:
 to support partnership bidding
 when receiving European funding
 Could you provide this now if asked?
 If not, what support do you need?
Calls Process
 There is a 2-stage application process.
 Outline applications are submitted first. These are
assessed (1) to weed out any which are ineligible, and
(2) against the selection criteria: strategic fit, value for
money, management & control, deliverability, compliance.
 The Managing Authority makes the assessment and
seeks advice from the local ESIF/LEP committee on local
strategic fit.
 Based on their outline applications some projects are
then invited to submit Stage 2
 Full applications will then be assessed against the
selection criteria again
Information requirements
 To support partnership bidding
 concise and detailed info required
 in v. short timescales to meet deadlines
 When receiving European funding
 very specific & stringent requirements
 monitoring and reporting systems required
Information to support partnership
bidding
Lead Organisation:
 Responsible for all legal and financial accountability
of the project
 Proven track record of managing complex projects
relative to size of project and money involved
 Clear vision re priorities for the area/expertise
 Good connections in sector to ensure cross selection
or organisations are able to be involved
 Strategies for managing and coordinating the project
 Resources to respond to changing needs
Partnership Structures
 All organisations in partnership that have a delivery
role need to sign partnership agreement
 Lead organisation needs to be legally constituted
body in own right ( incorporated) or if consortium –
single organisation identified or created (otherwise
each organisation in consortium will need to
individually sign partnership agreement).
 Once the partnership agreement is signed any
changes in partners will need to be discussed and
agreed with Lottery beforehand
Partnership Structures cont’d
 All partners need to be in place prior to submission
of Stage 1 application
 Partnership agreement must set out responsibilities
of each organisation
What needs to be in the partnership
agreement?
 Purpose or aim of partnership
 Lead organisation
 Partner organisations
 Financial and contractual arrangements
 Roles and responsibilities
 Policies and procedures
 Administration meetings and record keeping
 Monitoring and reporting
 Communication
 Branding and Publicity
 Duration and Changes
 Sustainability
Delivering European Funding
 Checking project is on tract to meet targets and
outcomes
 Checking it is addressing cross cutting themes of ESF
 Checking all expenditure is eligible and full evidence
is provided
 Ensuring branding and publicity guidelines are
adhered to
 Checking eligibility of participants
 Clawback!
Risk Management
 Minimum contract value: £330,000 ( more likely
£500,000 to £1m) – likely only 20% of grants will be
under £1m
 Full cost recovery: additional staff/resources
 Failures by lead organisation/partners
 Checks on participant eligibility
 Participants who leave project unexpectedly
 Clawback – set up systems and processes needed to
capture/store and report information and evidence
necessary
Brief update on ESIF opportunities:
 Current open calls in Cornwall and IOS – none
 Latest information – calls will open around October
2015
What happens next?
 Gaps in your ability to:
 provide bidding info?
 meet monitoring & reporting requirements?
 Start to think about now:
 How can you fill those gaps? What must you do?
 Do you have the skills and resources within your
organisation or do you need support?
 What specific support would help you?
What happens next?
 More calls will be announced through the year
 CRCC & PCDT or VSF will update you as they are
released
 Big Lottery opt-in ‘Building Better Opportunities’
 Other ‘opt-ins’ calls including Skills Funding Agency
For more information
 www.networkforeurope.eu
 www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds
 www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf