supporting voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to understand the information...

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 FundEuropean Agricultural Fund for Rural

DevelopmentEuropean Maritime and Fisheries FundEuropean Social Fund (ESF)

PURPOSE OF ESIF

Improve local growthCreate 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 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 TodayBrief update on ‘calls’

Understand what information organisations must provide: to support partnership biddingwhen receiving European funding

Could you provide this now if asked?

If not, what support do you need?

Calls ProcessThere 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 biddingconcise and detailed info required in v. short timescales to meet deadlines

When receiving European fundingvery specific & stringent requirementsmonitoring and reporting systems required

Information to support partnership bidding

Lead Organisation:Responsible for all legal and financial accountability of the projectProven track record of managing complex projects relative to size of project and money involvedClear vision re priorities for the area/expertiseGood connections in sector to ensure cross selection or organisations are able to be involvedStrategies for managing and coordinating the projectResources to respond to changing needs

Partnership StructuresAll 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 FundingChecking project is on tract to meet targets

and outcomesChecking it is addressing cross cutting

themes of ESFChecking all expenditure is eligible and full

evidence is providedEnsuring branding and publicity guidelines are

adhered toChecking eligibility of participantsClawback!

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/resourcesFailures by lead organisation/partnersChecks on participant eligibilityParticipants who leave project unexpectedlyClawback – 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