European Social Fund (ESF): 2007 to 2013
Information about the European Social Fund (ESF) programme for 2007 to 2013 in England and Gibraltar.
For funding from 2014 to 2020, apply for European Structural and Investment Funds.
ESF funding opportunities
ESF Community Grants provide grants of up to £15,000 to small third sector organisations. These grants support a range of activities that help individuals in the hardest to reach communities to make progress towards or enter the labour market.
Community Grants are managed by the Skills Funding Agency (except in London) and administered by a series of grant co-ordinating bodies on a regional basis, which:
- publicise the availability of grants
- manage application and selection processes
- provide support to successful applicants
Read more about the Community Grants.
In London Community Grants are managed by London Councils.
About the European Social Fund
The European Social Fund was set up to:
- improve employment opportunities in the European Union and help raise standards of living
- help people to get better skills and better job prospects
- help equip the workforce with the skills needed by business in a competitive global economy
Read more about ESF at the European level on the European Commission ESF website.
ESF in England
The 2007 to 2013 England ESF programme is investing a total £2.5 billion of European funding in jobs and skills. Priority groups for support include:
- young people not in education, employment or training
- families with multiple problems
- offenders
- people with low skill levels
By the end of May 2015 there had been over 5.59 million participant starts on the programme and over:
- 521,000 unemployed or inactive participants have been helped into jobs
- 262,000 participants have gained basic skills
- 682,000 participants have gained qualifications at level 2 or above
- 533,000 disadvantaged young people have been helped to enter employment, education or training
Some projects funded under the 2007 to 2013 England ESF programme will run up to mid 2015.
Read more about the objectives and funding allocations for ESF in England.
ESF in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Read about ESF programmes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Managing the ESF
ESF Managing Authority
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ESF Division is the ESF Managing Authority for England and Gibraltar. It has overall responsibility for administering and managing ESF and liaising with the European Commission.
The government of Gibraltar EU Programmes Secretariat manages the ESF programme in Gibraltar. It liaises with the DWP ESF Division in England and the European Commission.
Co-financing organisations
ESF funds are distributed to ESF projects through co-financing organisations (CFOs). The 3 national CFOs are:
- Department for Work and Pensions (support for families with multiple problems)
- National Offender Management Service
- Skills Funding Agency
Co-financing organisations:
- manage ESF and match funding (domestic public funding)
- contract other organisations (known as providers) to manage ESF projects
- ensure that ESF funded projects complement national schemes like the Work Programme
The 2007 to 2013 programme also involved several regional CFOs.
Contact us
European Social Fund Division
Level 2 West
Rockingham House
123 West Street
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S1 4ER
Email: esf.2014-2020@dwp.gsi.gov.uk for general questions about ESF or specific questions about the ESF 2014 to 2020 programme.
Guidance and regulations
Operational programme
Information about the ESF operational programme including:
- the programme’s priorities, objectives and target groups
- how it’s being implemented
Project funding and annual implementation reports
Details of ESF funding for regions and projects and annual reports explaining how the ESF has been implemented.
How ESF improves people's lives
Gender equality and equal opportunities
The ESF programme takes gender equality and equal opportunities into account in everything it does by:
- making sure that providers of ESF services take equality into account – for example, in procurement and contract management
- funding services designed to remedy inequality or provide specialist support
Read about increasing the number of women taking part in ESF-funded training in a research report and case studies published by the Skills Funding Agency.
Sustainable development
The ESF programme aims to take sustainable development into account by:
- requiring all ESF projects to have sustainable development policies and implementation plans which demonstrate how they are taking environment into account when delivering their ESF activities
- enabling ESF to be used to support projects which have an environmental focus while also supporting jobs and/or skills
Evaluation and research
We’ve published a collection of our ESF evaluation research.
We’ve listed our research strategy and guidance for people taking part in the European Social Fund cohort study 2012 below.
Updates to this page
Published 1 April 2014Last updated 2 September 2016 + show all updates
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Added ESF 2007 to 2013: gender equality and equal opportunities mainstreaming progress report.
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Added ESF 2007 to 2013: gender equality and equal opportunities plan: final progress report.
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Added link to Open Public Consultation as part of the 2007-2013 ESF ex-post evaluation.
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European Social Fund in England information updated.
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Corrected the data under the heading 'ESF in England' about the numbers of ESF programme participants who've been helped by the ESF programme up to the end of November 2013. The data previously published was to the end of November 2012 instead of November 2013.
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Published information about ESF Community Grants.
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Added a 'sustainable development' section to the collection.
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Removed information about opportunities to apply for ESF techincal assistance funding in Merseyside and South Yorkshire.
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Announced that an invitation to tender for Supervised Jobsearch Pilots was sent to providers on the DWP Employer Related Support Services framework on 5 June 2014.
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First published.