European Social Fund in England

2007 - 2013

Innovation and Transnationality

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR INNOVATIVE AND TRANSNATIONAL PROJECTS
31 OCTOBER 2008 (Updated 5 December 2008)

Introduction

Innovation is essential to future economic prosperity and quality of life.

This European Social Fund (ESF) call for proposals aims to support a small range of strategic, regional projects to develop and deliver new ways of extending employment opportunity and raising workforce skills. In doing so, it will contribute to the challenges of promoting social inclusion, raising productivity, fostering competitive businesses, and living within environmental and demographic limits.

Innovation can be defined as the successful exploitation of new ideas (‘Innovation Nation’, DIUS, 2008). In the context of ESF, innovation can include new approaches, tools, methods and service provision to extend employment and raise skills. It can also mean adapting and applying existing approaches, tools, methods and services to new regions, sectors or target groups.

Learning from other countries is an important dimension of innovation within the ESF programme. Projects will therefore include an element of transnational or inter-regional co-operation with at least one other EU Member State. This may involve joint development of new approaches, as well as sharing or transferring good practice between Member States. However, the programme will not support transnational activities that merely seek to establish or develop transnational partnerships.

Projects will also mainstream and disseminate their activities and results to inform both policy development and delivery. Following the selection of projects, thematic networks will be created to bring together projects and decision makers to foster the mainstreaming process.

Projects will start in 2009 which is the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. The European Year aims to promote creative and innovative approaches and initiatives, especially in education and training.

European Social Fund

The European Social Fund was set up to improve employment opportunities in the European Union and so help raise standards of living. It aims to help people fulfil their potential by giving them better skills and better job prospects.

Since 2000, the ESF has been a key part of the EU's Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs. It supports the EU's goal of increasing employment by giving unemployed and disadvantaged people the training and support they need to enter jobs. By focusing on those most in need of help, it contributes to policies to reduce inequality and build a fairer society. ESF also equips the workforce with the skills needed by business in a competitive global economy.

This call for proposals is part of the England and Gibraltar ESF Programme for 2007-2013. Most of the programme is delivered through Co-financing Organisations. The innovation and transnationality call operates outside of Co-financing arrangements. There is further information about the ESF programme on the ESF website.

European Social Fund Priorities

Innovative and transnational projects can be supported within the following priorities of the England and Gibraltar ESF Programme:

Priority 1 - Extending employment opportunities (Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective)
Priority 2 - Developing a skilled and adaptable workforce (Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective)
Priority 4 - Tackling barriers to employment (Convergence Objective)
Priority 5 - Improving the skills of the local workforce (Convergence Objective)

Each application must be submitted within one of these priorities. The proposed activities and target groups must be eligible for support within the selected priority.

Priorities 4 and 5 are for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly only. Priorities 1 and 2 cover the rest of England and Gibraltar.

Innovative Themes

The call for proposals contains six themes for ESF innovative and transnational activity. Descriptions of the themes, including indicative activities, are set out in the following documents:

Active Inclusion (Priority 1)
Engaging with Employers (Priorities 1 and 2)
ICT and the Digital Divide (Priorities 1 and 2)
Meeting New Challenges - Demographic Change (Older Workers and Migration) (Priorities 1, 2, 4 and 5)
Meeting New Challenges – Skills for Climate Change and Sustainable Development (Priorities 2 and 5)
Social Enterprise (Priorities 1 and 2)

The themes were developed by the ESF innovation, transnationality and mainstreaming sub-committee, drawing on the innovation sections of regional ESF frameworks.

From this menu of six themes, regional ESF committees have selected the themes which are most appropriate to their regional priorities. This table shows the selection of themes across all regions.

Each application must address one of the themes which has been selected by the region within which it is submitted. Applications may include partners from other English regions whether or not those regions have selected the theme.

Most regional ESF committees have also set out regional context to their selection of themes. Where there is no regional context, applicants can refer to the relevant regional ESF framework.

The following documents set out the funding available in each region and the regional selection of themes, along with any regional context to the selection:

The regional context identifies specific regional issues that should be addressed by applicants. Applicants should also take account of the relevant regional ESF framework.

Funding

Up to 2% of regional Priority 1, 2, 4 and 5 ESF allocations for 2007-2010 is available under this call for proposals. This represents about £28 million ESF funding in total. The amount available in each region is shown in the table of regional themes and in the regional documents.

The call for proposals aims to support a small number of strategic, regional projects that will have a significant impact on policy and practice. Up to three projects will be supported in each region (four in London), Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Merseyside and South Yorkshire. It is expected that the maximum amount of ESF funding available for a project will be around £1 million.

The call for proposals takes place outside of the usual ESF Co-financing arrangements. Applicants will therefore need to provide at least 50% public match funding (25% in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly). Match funding is explained at section 3.13 of ESF Manual 3. ESF funding will contribute up to 50% of the costs of each project (75% in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly).

Cornwall, Merseyside and South Yorkshire

Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly, Merseyside and South Yorkshire have a special status within the ESF programme. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is a Convergence area with its own Priorities (4 and 5). Merseyside and South Yorkshire are phasing-in areas within Priorities 1 and 2. There are separate allocations and innovative themes for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Merseyside and South Yorkshire. The South West, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber allocations exclude these areas. Applicants from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Merseyside and South Yorkshire must address the themes selected for their areas and not those for the rest of the South West, North West or Yorkshire and the Humber.

Gibraltar

Applications are not being sought from organisations in Gibraltar. Organisations in Gibraltar can be partners in projects, but cannot be treated as transnational partners for the purposes of this call for proposals.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

This call for proposals covers the England and Gibraltar ESF programme. There are separate ESF programmes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland cannot submit applications. They can be partners in projects, but cannot of course be treated as transnational partners.

Transnational Partners

Each application must include at least one partner from another EU Member State. The application must provide evidence of a previous collaborative relationship or transnational co-operation with the partner(s). The other EU Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Guidance

Guidance, including eligibility rules, for all ESF projects is contained in Manual 1 on the ESF website guidance page. Section 1.12 covers innovation and transnationality. Section 1.12 is currently available here and will be inserted into Manual 1 shortly.

Guidance for non-Co-financing projects (which will include projects selected under this call for proposals) is in Manual 3 on the ESF website guidance page.

Applicants must read and follow the guidance in Manuals 1 and 3.

Application Form

Applicants must use the application form for innovative and transnational projects.

ESF Manual 3 Section 3.13 states applications submitted on any other form will not be accepted. ESF Manual 3 Section 3.13 states that “If organisations other than the provider [i.e. applicant] supply some or all of the match funding, a Public Match Funding Certificate (PMFC) must be attached to the application form for each organisation providing match funding." A copy of the PMFC form is attached here.

Deadline for Applications

The deadline for applications has been extended to 4pm on Friday 16 January 2009. Applications must be addressed and sent to:

2008 Call for Proposals
ESF Innovation, Transnationality and Mainstreaming Unit
Birmingham City Council
Council House Extension
Margaret Street
Birmingham
B3 3BU

Five paper copies of each application must be submitted to the ITM Unit. A copy should also be emailed to the ITM Unit at: esf.itm@birmingham.gov.uk

Faxed applications, and applications sent only by email, will not be accepted. Applications received by the ITM Unit after the deadline will not be accepted.

Selection Criteria

The appraisal criteria that will be used to select projects are available for information. The criteria reflect the focus of this call for proposals on innovation, transnationality and mainstreaming.

Applications will be appraised by ESF Managing Authority staff in Government Offices or (in the case of London) ESF Intermediate Body staff in the London Development Agency. Regional ESF committees will endorse the selection of projects.

Project Duration and Eligibility

Projects may last for up to three years. The start date should be no earlier than 1 April 2009 and no later than 1 June 2009. The end date must be no later than 31 May 2012. Expenditure (ESF and match) will be eligible between the start and end dates.

Getting Started

Before starting to develop proposals, applicants should:

identify which region they will submit their application within;
identify which priority and theme they will address;
check that the theme is available within that priority in their region;
have at least one transnational partner with whom they have previously worked;
read the relevant priority, innovative theme, any regional context, guidance manuals 1 and 2, and the selection criteria; and
check they are using the correct application form.

Further Information

There have been four information events on the call for proposals:

Copies of the presentations from the events are available here:

Leeds, 10 November 2008
North East themes
North West themes
Yorkshire & the Humber and South Yorkshire themes

Plymouth, 13 November 2008
Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly themes
South West themes

London, 14 November 2008
East of England themes
London themes
South East themes

Birmingham, 17 November 2008
East Midlands themes
West Midlands themes

Any enquiries about the call for proposals should be sent to the ITM Unit at: esf.itm@birmingham.gov.uk

Questions and answers about the call for proposals will be published on this page. Answers to questions raised so far are in this document.

General information about ESF innovative and transnational activities is in this brochure.