Transcript Slide 1

European Structural and
Investment Funds : Community
Grants
Ingrid Gardiner
EU Manager
[email protected]
What NCVO does
Training & Capacity Building on key areas:
• Governance & Leadership
• Sustainable Funding
• Campaigning, Collaboration & ICT
• Workforce Development
• Helpdesk
• Pilots, knowledge sharing and new ways of working
• Co-ordinates the European Funding Network
European Funding
Network
European Structural and
Investment Funds
Introduction to the European Structural and Investment Funds
• The Structural and Cohesion Funds are the European Union’s
main funding programmes for reducing social and economic
disparities across the EU. In England, these funds comprise
the:
• European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which
supports research, innovation, business development and
infrastructure investment
• European Social Fund (ESF) which supports training,
enhancing access to employment and social inclusion.
• It will also include part of the European Agricultural Fund
for Rural Development (EAFRD), and will be aligned with
the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). This
funding should begin to come on stream in mid-2014.
Size of sector
Income and expenditure
Trends in funding
Trends in funding
Funding & Finance
• Major reductions in public spending (20%)
still coming through
• Shift from grants to contracts
• EU funds 2014-2020
• Move towards social investment, eg.
bonds and loans
• Need to find ways to link public sector
funds with foundations and corporate
partners
European Structural and
Investment Funds
2007-2013 Programme
DWP’s European Social Fund Division (ESFD) is the Managing
Authority of the ESF Programme in England and funding is
‘matched’ with UK Government funding. You can also access
ESF through one of the Co-financing organisations, including
NOMS, and Skills Funding Agency, Department for Work and
Pensions More information on the European Social Fund in
England is available at www.dwp.gov.uk/esf. For information on
ESF and civil society, please go to our dedicated European
Funding Network website.
Above opportunities tendered through PQQ and ITT
Local Enterprise Partnerships
Proposed Delivery Arrangements
European Structural and
Investment Funds
• To re-cap, LEPs are responsible for:
• coming up with an investment strategy for spending their allocation
• finding projects to deliver that strategy, using a mixture of
commissioning, bidding and co-financing as best meets local need
• finding match funding for those projects
• ensuring those projects deliver their targets
• making sure their allocations are spent on time
• monitoring how well they are delivering against their strategies and
the programme priorities
•European Structural Investment Fund 2014-20
•High Level Business Process
•Local Enterprise Partnership
•Project Implementation
•Investment Plan
•Routes into the Programme
•Opt-In
•Negotiated
procedure
with Opt-In
organisations
•Open Call
Seeks ideas to
deliver against
strategy
•LEP Defined
Activity
•Commissioned
investments /
direct bids etc.
•Assess
Strategic Fit
•Monitor
Performance
against Strategy
•Confirm
strategic
fit
•Instruction to
Invest
•Applicant
•Write
Initial
Application
•Managing Authority
•Funding
Agreemen
t
•Develop
Full
Application
•Selection
into the
Programme
•Facilitation to
complete full
Application
Form
•Funding
Agreeme
nt
•Technica
l
Appraisal
•Project
Delivery
•Contract
Management&
Monitoring
•Reporting – All data on IT system – Reports drawn off as required
•Annex to Paper to the Growth Programme Board
•Proje
ct
Close
•Closu
re
Local focus
new opportunities?
• Opt in (e.g. Big Lottery
Fund) to complement
Growth Programme and
social inclusion
• Community Led Local
Development
• Community Grants
• Volunteer time
• Social innovation
• Social investment
• Technical assistance
Civil Society Active
Phase 2
• Completion of Action Plan
• Consultation with the European Funding Network
and civil society partners
• Tendering for LEP engagement activity – project
awarded to Regional Voices (One East Midlands is
the accountable body)
• LEP engagement events
• Support tools
• Blogs and updates on website
• Contribution to LEP events
• One to one surgeries
Role of Partners and EFN
• Following tight timescales investment strategies –
sent 7 October
• Information sharing
• Europeanfundingnetwork.eu
• One to one surgeries with LEPs
• Wider information events before holidays– 10th,
11th and 12th of December
Civil Society and LEPs
• Engagement with all
stakeholders
• Building meaningful
strategic relationships
• Help deliver social
inclusion (20%!)
• That is not the only offer –
civil society sector comes
in many different forms –
CICs, social enterprises,
mutuals and trade unions
Community Grants - ESF
• ESF community grants are grants of up to £12,000 which
enable small VCS organisations to work with most
disadvantaged and excluded people.
• The grants have a local focus and seek to move people closer
to the labour market.
They support a wide range of activities including:
• initial help with basic skills
• taster work experience, including voluntary work
• training, advice and counselling
• confidence building.
Community Grants - ESF
• People with disabilities or health conditions (inc. those with
learning difficulties, mental health issues or drug and alcohol
dependency problems)
• People aged 50 or over and seeking employment
• People from ethnic minorities
• Women
• Lone parents
• Case Studies
2007-2013 Programme
Community Grants through
Grant Co-ordinating Bodies
CFO
Region/ area
Community Grant Body
Skills Funding Agency
Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly
Cornwall Development Company
Ltd
Skills Funding Agency
East Midlands
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Voluntary and Community Sector
Learning and Skills Consortium
Skills Funding Agency
East of England
The Consultancy Home Counties
Limited
London Councils
London
London Councils
Skills Funding Agency
North East
County Durham Community
Federation
Skills Funding Agency
North West
WEA: Learning For Life
Skills Funding Agency
South East
Surrey Community Action
Skills Funding Agency
South West
The Learning Curve (Voluntary
Sector Development)
Skills Funding Agency
West Midlands
Black Country Consortium Limited
Skills Funding Agency
West Midlands
Heart of England Community
Foundation
Skills Funding Agency
Yorkshire & The Humber
Humber Learning Consortium
Why should LEPs consider
Community Grants?
• Flexible programme that
encourages innovative
practices to support a wide
range of employment
focused activity
• Targets those furthest away
from the labour market
• High volume of soft
outcomes
• Builds organisational capacity
• Contributes to LEP priorities
and social inclusion targets
(20%)
Local focus
new opportunities?
•
•
•
•
What is CLLD?
Modelled on previous Leader approaches (RDPE)
An optional tool for territorial development
Focussed on sub-regional areas (10-150,000
population)
• Driven by local communities
• Multi-sectoral (public, private and civil society)
• Integrated approach single or multi-fund options
possible e.g. ESF + ERDF; Leader + ESF + ERDF;
EMFF + ESF etc.
Tasks of LAGs
• Local Action Groups (LAGs)
select accountable body
• Build capacity
• Draw up selection criteria
• Call for proposals
• Selection
• Monitoring and evaluation
Timetable
Domestic timetable
Spring 2013 –
Guidance to LEPs on EU Investment Strategies issued;
UK Partnership Agreement out to formal consultation
July 2013 – Final Guidance issued to LEPs
October 2013 – Investment Strategies to BIS – final strategies
to be submitted by the end of January 2014
October – November – feedback to LEPs
Partnership Agreement – end of December
Operational Programme – March 2014
Questions?
Thank you and remember that this is an opportunity for you…
http://www.europeanfundingnetwork.eu
Thank you!
Useful Resources
To help think through how Community Grants might be used the
following links may be useful:
DWP - ESF Community Grants
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/esf/funding-opportunities/community-grants/
SFA - ESF Community Grants (scroll down the page)
http://skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/providers/programmes/esf/
European Funding Network
http://europeanfundingnetwork.eu/news/Community-grants-20142015
Community Grants Presentation from LEP Engagement event
http://europeanfundingnetwork.eu/events/engaging-with-your-leps
Future of Lifelong Learning Programme
https://www.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk/