Welcome

2. ESF Funding in London 2007 - 2013 26th April 2007 Presented to the London North ESF Network By David Clayton Welcome

3. Overview • Structure of the 2007-13 ESF Programme in London • Changes in Structure • Priorities • Management • Allocations • Implications for Providers • Questions

4. Changes in Structure

5. Changes in Structure

6. Changes in Structure Summary of Differences • Current national ESF programme consists of Objective 1, 2, 3 and Equal programmes focusing on five main policy fields across 10 measures. • The new ESF national programme will only consist of 2 objectives across 6 priorities. • London only receiving funding under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective.

7. Priorities

8. Priority 1 • Extending Employment Opportunities • Improve employability & skills of unemployed & inactive people • Tackle barriers to work faced by disadvantaged groups (between 70 – 77% of funds) • Reduce number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETS) (between 23 – 30 % of funds) • Potential to fund Community Grants Programme (up to 2% of funding)

9. Priority 2 • Developing a Skilled & Adaptable Workforce • Focus on reducing numbers of those • without basic skills (30 – 65 % of funds) • without level 2 qualifications (30 – 65 % of funds) • There is also some limited flexibility to • train to level 3 to address skills shortages • provide higher level skills training in small enterprises

10. Management • Initial discussions have begun on the split of funding across the priorities between co-financing organisations and the timeline for the new programme. • The aim is to have one Prospectus for all 4 CFOs across London to make application process simpler for providers. However, this has not been finalised. • Initial timeframe suggests work will begin on the tendering process from Sept 2007 with a view to get contracts up and running by Jan 2008.

11. Management • ESF Stakeholders Group • This group is heavily involved in steering the strategy for the new ESF programme in London. • As well the 4 London Co-Financers, it also includes • Greater London Authority (GLA) • Government Office for London (GOL) • London Voluntary Sector Training Consortium (LVSTC) • Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) • European Social Fund Division (ESFD) • Managing Agent • It is likely that the LDA will take over part of the role GOL currently have, with Co-Financers directly contracting with ESFD.

12. Allocations • Current Programme • £660m has been available in the 2000-2006 Programme to support the Objective 2 Programme (ERDF and ESF) and the Objective 3 Programme (ESF). Many projects will be spending funds in 2007 with some continuing to spend in early 2008. 2007-13 Programme • Approximately £320 million has been allocated across London for 6 years under the Regional Competitiveness Objective • Priority 1 - £207 million (64%) • Priority 2 - £113 million (33%) • This is a decrease of approximately £295 million ESF across London for the new programme.

13. Implications for Providers • Notable decrease of ESF in London • Financial Implications – number of contracts that can be funded • Geographical Implications - coverage may be affected in order to get the funds to those at most disadvantage. This could involve ward level delivery for example. • Tendering Process is not too far away – time to forge new partnerships (PAN London) and strengthen existing ones. • We value the ESF provision we have so let the LSC know how it can support providers into the new programme. • Although more specific details are still not known, providers need to think about how their organisation can start to prepare for these changes now.

14. Questions • e-mail to david.clayton@lsc.gov.uk