european structural and investment funds : community grants ingrid gardiner
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European Structural and Investment Funds : Community Grants
Ingrid Gardiner
EU Manager
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
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
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 ProgrammeCommunity 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 WestThe 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%)
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 Networkhttp://europeanfundingnetwork.eu/news/Community-grants-2014-2015 Community Grants Presentation from LEP Engagement eventhttp://europeanfundingnetwork.eu/events/engaging-with-your-leps
Timetable
Domestic timetable
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 – end of December
Launch of Funding Rounds – October 2014?
Questions?
Thank you and remember that this is an opportunity for you…http://www.europeanfundingnetwork.euThank you!