European Structural and Investment Funds : Community Grants

Ingrid Gardiner

EU Manager

Ingrid.gardiner@ncvo-vol.org.uk

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!