European Social Fund England Operational Programme 2014-2020

Question 1

Section 1: Strategy

Accepted Answer

The European Social Fund (ESF) Operational Programme is part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme for England in 2014 to 2020. It will deliver the Programme’s priorities to increase labour market participation, promote social inclusion and develop the skills of the potential and existing workforce. It will contribute to improving youth employment by providing support for young people who are harder to reach and, by continuing to incorporate the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) money in areas with higher rates of youth unemployment.

Programme Objectives

The programme will contribute to the Europe 2020 Strategy, primarily focusing on the inclusive growth dimension. The relevant objectives from that strategy are:

employment: 75% of the population aged 20 to 64 should be in employment. Aiming to raise to 75% the employment rate for women and men aged 20 to 64, through the greater participation of young people, older workers and low-skilled workers and the better integration of legal migrants ^{[footnote 1]}
social inclusion: 20 million less people across the EU should be at risk of poverty
education: Improving education levels, in particular by aiming to reduce school drop-out rates to less than 10% and by increasing the share of 30 to 34 years old having completed tertiary or equivalent education to at least 40% ^{[footnote 2]}

It will also contribute to the achievement of the relevant parts of the 2017 Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) which are:

address skills mismatches, provide for skills progression, including continuing to strengthen the quality of apprenticeships and providing for other funded “Further Education” progression routes ^{[footnote 3]}

The ESF and Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) funds for England for the programme are significant and in line with public expenditure on employment, social inclusion and skills. For example, the Adult Education Budget spend in 2016 to 2017 was £1.5b and the DWP spend on employment programmes was £576m ^{[footnote 4]}.

Building on the experience and performance of the programme so far and to ensure achievement of Value for Money (VfM) going forward, use of available funds must be realistic, and concentrate on issues to tackle barriers, achieve real benefits for individuals, enterprises and local communities. Funds must only be used where there is a demonstrable need (for example where there is market failure or where ESF will add value to and not duplicate existing provision).

The programme will contribute to policies to increase the employment rate. The strong focus on those at a disadvantage in the labour market will improve social inclusion. This will include continuing to support efforts to reduce the gender employment gap by ensuring an appropriate proportion of participants are women. It will help tackle areas of relatively high youth unemployment, by preparing young people for working life, in particular by reducing the number of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET.

In response to the aspirations as set out in the Europe 2020: UK National Reform Programme 2017 (NRP) the programme will contribute to policies to develop a skilled and adaptable workforce and to increase productivity, by helping people tackle their basic skills needs, develop the intermediate and higher level skills they and their employers need.

The UK government continues to help young people to find work, making progress towards its ambition to abolish long term youth unemployment. In the three months to July 2017, the number of people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed under the International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure had fallen to 528,000, down 97,000 on the previous year. Against this backdrop of improving youth employment, the government is increasing its support for young people who are harder to reach. From April 2017 the ‘Youth Obligation’ began to provide intensive support and work-readiness preparation to 18 to 21 year olds who receive Universal Credit. Those still out of work after 6 months are expected to apply for an apprenticeship, a traineeship, gain work-base skills, or take up a work placement ^{[footnote 5]}.

Priorities

The programme is structured around 5 priority axes, which are built up from the Thematic Objectives and Investment Priorities we have chosen from the regulations:

Inclusive Labour Markets, which combines activities to address employment and social inclusion issues
Skills for Growth
Technical Assistance
COVID-19 Response
Promoting the Socio-economic Integration of Third Country Nationals – Flexible Assistance for Territories - Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (FAST-CARE)

Table 1 sets out in more detail the justification for the thematic objectives and investment priorities which have been selected.

Within these priorities, we will continue to support a range of groups who face relative disadvantages in the labour market including:

people who are unemployed or economically inactive, especially from disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities, lone parents, older workers and ethnic minorities
women returners and other groups of women currently outside the labour market
young unemployed people, and especially those who are not in employment education or training (NEET)
individuals from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities
people who lack basic skills whether they are unemployed or already in the workforce

Programme Architecture

The Operational Programme covers all 3 categories of region (less developed, transition and more developed), in order to bring a coherent strategic approach to tackling the needs of individuals. These do not tend to vary by category of region: there are often greater variations within each category than between each category. For example, the highest rates of unemployment are in areas that include major cities, either within transition or more developed regions; and pockets of deprivation are found in rural areas that are otherwise relatively affluent.

The variations in GDP and productivity across England, and the complex reasons for these variations, has prompted the government to take a new approach to growth policy in England, shifting power away from the centre. The government believes in local solutions for local growth, designed by those who best know their local areas.

To help inform the ESF 2014-2020 programme the government invited Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and partners to assist with the development of the European Structural and Investment Funds strategies. A national framework that set out their priorities was developed by the government to address key issues in England. These local strategies were reviewed in 2016 and were used as the basis for the structure of the programme.

While LEPs across the country have played an important role in supporting local growth, feedback suggests that their performance has varied. The UK government are reviewing the roles and responsibilities of LEPs and will bring forward reforms to leadership, governance, accountability, financial reporting and geographical boundaries. The government will work with LEPs to set out a more clearly defined set of activities and objectives in early 2018. From 2018, the Prime Minister will chair a biannual ‘Council of Local Enterprise Partnership Chairs’. This will provide an opportunity for LEP leaders to inform national policy decisions ^{[footnote 6]}.

Thematic Objective 8 – Employment

Analysis of need

Over the last seven years, the UK government has made huge progress in restoring our public finances and returning the economy to positive growth. The deficit is now down two-thirds since 2010, the unemployment rate is at its lowest in over 40 years and we have had 19 continuous quarters of economic growth ^{[footnote 7]}. Growth is expected to average 1.4 per cent a year over the next five years, slowing a little over the next two and picking up modestly thereafter as productivity growth quickens ^{[footnote 8]}.

Overall employment rate including gender differences

The headline rate for employment fell during the recession. However, since then it has recovered to a near record high. Overall, 32.08 million people are in work or 74.6% with an unemployment rate of 4.3% the lowest rate on record since 1975 ^{[footnote 9]}.

The latest Eurostat data reinforces this by showing an employment rate of 77.7% for those aged 20 to 64, above the EU-wide target and the EU-28 average. It is the 3rd highest employment rate in the EU ^{[footnote 10]}.

The number of female full-time employees – both full and part-time - has steadily increased. The employment rate for women is 71.3%, compared to 81.2% for men. The proportion of women working part-time is much higher than for men (40.6% against 11.4%), although over 80% of women state suggest that this is voluntary. In October 2017 the UK gender pay gap on median earnings for full-time employees decreased to 9.1% compared with 10.0% in 2013. This is the lowest since the survey began in 1997. When including part-time employees the overall gap stood at 18.4%, up from the 2016 figure of 18.2% but down from 19.8% in 2013 and 27.5% in 1997 ^{[footnote 11]}.

The lone parent employment rate is 68.9%, the highest since 1996 (when comparable figures became available). This translates to around 1.25 million lone parents in work, of which 90% are female ^{[footnote 12]}. The UK government is supporting one-parent families in getting out of poverty through work. The government asks lone parents and responsible carers to prepare for work and has also spent a great deal in providing childcare for those who do wish to work ^{[footnote 13]}.

The Work Programme, launched in 2011, helped people furthest from the labour market get into sustained jobs. By September 2016, 550,000 participants had left long term unemployment and found sustained work. The Work Programme closed to new entrants in 2017, but experience gained from the programme has been used to develop the new Work and Health Programme (WHP).

The WHP will give specialised support to both the long-term unemployed (over two years) and to those with health conditions or disabilities (on a voluntary basis). The Programme will focus on people who are likely to be able to find work within 12 months, with support adapted to reflect labour market conditions of high levels of employment and lower unemployment.

Through the Access to Work programme, the government provides support to help employers recruit and retain disabled people and people with health conditions. The Spending Review 2015 provided a real terms increase in funding for Access to Work to promote this demand led scheme more widely ^{[footnote 14]}.

Unemployment

The unemployment rate for those aged 16 years and over in England is 3.6%, lower than the overall UK rate and lower than the EU average of 8.7% ^{[footnote 15]}. The number of people unemployed in England is 1,283,900, a decrease of 144,400 over the past year. Long-term unemployment is also falling. In the UK there are currently 375,000 people who have been unemployed for over a year, down 43,000 ^{[footnote 16]} on the year.

Economic inactivity

England has around 21.7% of working age people not active in the labour market. This is slightly below the UK rate (22.1%) but has been relatively stable over the past year. It has decreased by only 0.2 percentage points, and 33,400 ^{[footnote 17]} individuals.

There are many reasons why people can be inactive and can include: being in education, looking after family and home, long-term sickness or being retired. The government aims to offer support to those who want to become active in the labour market, which will further boost the employment rate. There are a number of barriers that the government are committed to tackling to help individuals and families find work and, where applicable, move out of poverty.

The government is providing support across labour market policies to help families improve their situations, this includes Universal Credit (UC) in-work progression and numerous other active policies. Support for childcare in UC aligns with the government’s wider childcare offer and means more families will find that it pays to get a job. Parents given tailored support from a dedicated work coach, are required to set out the steps they will take towards finding work, and will continue to get support to increase their earnings whether they are in work or out of work ^{[footnote 18]}.

Tackling Youth unemployment

The overall youth unemployment rate across England peaked in the period July 2011 to June 2012 at 21.4%. At that time, youth unemployment in some NUTS2 areas ^{[footnote 19]} exceeded 25%, and in some NUTS3 areas ^{[footnote 20]} it was over 30%. Based on these figures, the NUTS2 areas automatically qualify for the Youth Employment Initiative and the flexibility allowed in the regulations was used to extend YEI to the relevant NUTS3 areas.

Youth unemployment is reducing. The overall 16 to 24 youth unemployment rate for England is now 10.5%, having reduced from 15.1% in 2021. For 16 to 24 males it is down to 11.8% from 16.6%; for females it reduced from 13.5% to 9.1%. There is concern about the transition from school to the labour market: most young people continue in education or training when they leave school and make a successful transition to either further or higher education or employment. But there is still a group who either ‘drop out’ or struggle to make the transition to the labour market at age 18 to 19. As a result, the proportion of young people NEET in England rose sharply at age 18 and at the end of 2013 4.0% were NEET at age 16, 6.1% at age 17, and 12.5% at age 18 ^{[footnote 21]}.

In 2021 the proportion of those aged 16 to 17 years NEET increased by 0.1% to 3% (164,000) when compared to the same period in the previous year. The 18 to 24 NEET rate decreased by 1.6% points to 12.6% compared to the same period in 2020 and much lower than the peak of 18.5% in 2011 ^{[footnote 22]}. In England, 97% of 16 and 17 year olds participate in education or training ^{[footnote 23]}. However, the rates amongst white people are lower and participation rates for males are below that for females. The following local authorities have participation rates below 85% at age 16 to 17: Liverpool, Windsor and Maidenhead ^{[footnote 24]}.

Lack of skills, particularly basic skills (English, maths and ICT) is a key barrier for many young people who are NEET. Despite some progress in recent years, a significant minority of young people do not have the necessary skills and qualifications to find work and/or progress to higher skills.

Disadvantaged groups

People with disabilities and health conditions face particular discrimination and disadvantage in the labour market. Even though the employment rate in the UK is at a historic high only around half of disabled people are in work. As of June 2022 the employment rate for those with a long-term condition was 48.4%. Of those people in employment; (17% of the entire working population) declared a disability.

Many disabled people and people with health conditions want to work, and could do so with the right support. This inequality is a result of a wide range of barriers and people are missing the opportunity to develop their talents and connect with the world of work, and the range of positive impacts that come with doing so, including good health and social outcomes.

There were 4.4 million disabled people in work in 2021; approximately 340,000, or 1 in 10, move out of work each year. By comparison, there are 27 million non-disabled people who are in work; around 1.3 million move out of work each year, or approximately 1 in 20 non-disabled people. Therefore, disabled people are twice as likely to fall out of work as non-disabled people.

There are 4 million disabled people who are out of work; around 380,000 move into work each year. There are about 6.7 million non-disabled people who are out of work; around 1.8 million move into work each year, or nearly 3 in 10 non-disabled people. Therefore, disabled people are approximately 3 times less likely to move into work than non-disabled people ^{[footnote 25]}.

Ethnic minorities

Certain ethnic minorities (especially people from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Black African backgrounds) face greater difficulties in accessing work. The employment rate for people of white ethnic origin in England is 77.1%, the unemployment rate is 3.4% and the economically inactive rate is 20.2%. These are better than the ethnic minority population as a whole and significantly better than specific groups.

In particular people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic origin have the lowest employment rate 59.5%, an unemployment rate of (8.8%) and the highest inactivity rate (34.7%). Women from this group are even more disadvantaged having lower still employment, inactivity and unemployment rates (42.7% ^{[footnote 26]}, 51.6% and 11.7% respectively). Despite the rates for women of this group increasing over the past decade, each ranks significantly worse than women from white groups and their male counter parts.

Minority groups are disproportionately affected by youth unemployment, with the unemployment rate of the young Black group (30.3%) more than double that of the young White group (13.3%) ^{[footnote 27]}.

Employment gaps persist across all regions in the UK, but are particularly high in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, Northern Ireland and Wales ^{[footnote 28]}.

Research has found labour force exit and entry probabilities do not differ between Indian, Caribbean and White women. However, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are less likely to enter and more likely to exit the labour market. In contrast, Black African women have comparatively high re-entry rates ^{[footnote 29]}.

Self-employment is an important form of employment for ethnic minority men, particularly the Pakistani group, with over 30% of Pakistani men in employment being self-employed. The self-employed are mainly concentrated in sectors such as retail, restaurants and taxi-driving. Self-employment rates are lower for the Chinese and Indian groups. Among women, self-employment rates are significantly lower than the male self-employment rates for all ethnic groups ^{[footnote 30]}.

Older Workers

People over 50 face lower than average employment rates and face particular difficulties re-engaging in the labour market if they become unemployed or economically inactive.

The employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 is 70.8%, the unemployment rate is 2.8%, and the proportion economically inactive is 27.1%. The employment rate for men aged 50 to 64 is 75.1% and for women is 66.7%. The unemployment rate for men is 3% and for women is 2.6%. The proportion of men aged 50 to 64 who are economically inactive is 22.6% and for women it is 31.5% ^{[footnote 31]}.

Qualifications and Skills

Lack of qualifications and skills is a major barrier to work. Since the economic downturn in 2008, the employment rate has decreased most for those with qualifications at level 2 or below. Individuals with no qualifications have an employment rate of around 40%. Those with an additional disadvantage fare worst: for example 26% of disabled people without a level 2 qualification are employed, compared to 57.4% of disabled people with a qualification at level 2 or higher.

Territorial variations

Improving labour market participation is relevant across England, but is not uniform. The LEP areas with employment rates below the national employment rate of 75.8% tend to be northern or midland urban areas: These are:

Liverpool City Region 74.8%
Black Country 71.8%
Tees Valley 68.8%
Greater Birmingham and Solihull 69.6%
Lancashire 71.1%
Greater Manchester 71.8%
North East 71.3%
D2N2 74.8%
Greater Lincolnshire 74.2%
Hull 75.1%
Leeds City Region 73.8%
Leicester and Leicestershire 76.4%
Sheffield City Region 73%
London at 75.8% ^{[footnote 32]}

The highest unemployment rates are in many of the same places. In particular Tees Valley, North East, Black Country, Greater Birmingham and Solihull all have unemployment rates of greater than 6% with 11 further LEPs – mostly from the list above – having higher rates than the national average ^{[footnote 33]}.

National policies and programmes

The employment rate will increase primarily through a combination of job creation and active labour market policies, as a result of action to facilitate economic growth. Low levels of taxation and a carefully balanced approach to labour market regulation increase incentives to create new jobs for new business opportunities. Also, flexible working arrangements help with recruitment, retention and productivity.

Additionally, against a background of increasing employment levels, the UK government continues to tackle barriers to inclusive employment, with targeted measures for those who face particular difficulty in improving their situation through work ^{[footnote 34]}.

To help unemployed people access employment, welfare reforms ensure that work pays and individuals are supported in finding work. The Europe 2020: UK National Reform Programme 2017 describes measures to help unemployed people move quickly into work and to address longer-term detachment from the labour market. They include:

facilitate the smooth and effective functioning of the labour market, speeding up job matches, addressing mismatches in supply and demand
tackle worklessness and out of work poverty, reducing inactivity and promoting sustained employment
reduce in-work poverty, promote social mobility, reduce individual dependence and state expenditure on benefits through more or better work

Labour market interventions to achieve these measures include:

passive use of the design of working age benefits to avoid distorting the labour market
activation strategies to maximise labour supply by drawing people closer to the labour market as a condition of benefit -this may involve work-availability and work-search requirements, backed up by sanctions for non-compliance
interventions to raise employment levels among specific groups
the Public Employment Service (Job Centre Plus) offer of job-matching with employers and a personally tailored regime for claimants ^{[footnote 35]}

Reforms to shared parental leave and flexible working schemes mean more women who want to work are able to. In June 2014, all workers gained the right to request flexible working. The Right to Request Flexible Working enables all employees with 26 weeks’ service with their current employer to request a working pattern which suits them and their employer. Shared Parental Leave and Pay enables couples to share childcare responsibilities, with a mother able to share the ‘untaken balance’ of her Maternity Leave and, or her Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance with the child’s father or the mother’s partner.

A new package of government support worth over £6 billion per year by 2019 to 2020 will make childcare more affordable and more accessible. In addition, we will ensure childcare is not a barrier to participation in ESF, by providing participants with childcare support where they need it. This is reflected in specific objectives and targets in the appropriate investment priorities.

National policies to help young people who are NEET, to tackle youth unemployment and equip them with the skills that employers need, are in the Europe 2020 UK National Reform Programme 2017 and the 2017 ‘Industrial Strategy Building a Britain fit for the future.

The participation age has been raised so all young people in England are required to continue in education or training for longer. Young people can participate through full-time education, work or volunteering combined with part-time education or training, or by undertaking a traineeship or apprenticeship.

Since 2014, 17 year olds must continue to study English and Mathematics if they fail to attain a grade ‘C’ at GCSE. Many more young people are securing GCSEs in maths and English at C as a result of this policy. The government is carefully considering issues raised by teachers and stakeholders and awaits the conclusions of a review into the teaching of maths at ages 16 to 19 ^{[footnote 36]}.

The government is increasing its support for young people who are harder to reach. From April 2017 the ‘Youth Obligation’ has provided intensive support and work-readiness preparation to all 18 to 21 year olds who receive Universal Credit. Those still out of work after 6 months are expected to apply for an apprenticeship, a traineeship, gain work-base skills, or take up a work placement ^{[footnote 37]}.

The UK government wants young people to see apprenticeships as a high quality alternative to further and higher education. It is committed to reaching three million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020, with a target to increase the proportion of apprenticeships started by people from ethnic minority backgrounds by 20% by 2020. Funding for apprenticeships is being doubled to £2.5 billion by 2019 to 2020, twice what was spent in 2010 to 2011 and giving employers more power than ever before to design training standards that meet their needs ^{[footnote 38]}.

The government will continue to work with employers on how the apprenticeship levy can be spent, so the levy works effectively and flexibly for industry, and supports productivity across the country.

The UK government aims to publish a comprehensive careers strategy that will set out plans to improve the quality and coverage of careers advice for people of all ages.

The strategy will build on the current work of the Careers Enterprise Company and employers to increase encounters between businesses and young people and the National Careers Service, to improve the quality and coverage of careers advice in schools and colleges, and give people the information they need to access training throughout their working lives. It will be based on evidence, both in this country and internationally, which identifies the most effective practices to support people of all ages and in all areas, including those who are hardest to reach. People need access to the information, advice and guidance that will help them make choices as they progress through the education system and their careers ^{[footnote 39]}.

Use of ESF

ESF will focus on the most disadvantaged, it is likely those already closest to the labour market will find work more easily, but there is a risk that the most disadvantaged will find it difficult to secure work. We have set specific objectives focused on long-term unemployed people and people facing disadvantages, and have set output targets for over 50s, young people, ex-offenders, ethnic minorities, disabled people and lone parents.

ESF will be used to help ensure these disadvantaged groups are provided with the right level of support, tailored to the needs of individuals and local businesses. The main result targets are the proportion of unemployed participants entering employment (including self-employment) on leaving, and the proportion of participants in employment or self-employment 6 months after leaving.

Successes of the Work Programme which operated between 2011 and 2017, have been noted above with significant movements into sustained employment. Much of the learning is now being applied to the Work and Health Programme ^{[footnote 40]}.

ESF will be used to provide additional support, aligned with and building on national programmes.

Some people have complex lifestyles that can create barriers to them finding and holding down employment and reaching their full potential. Their ability to work can be frustrated by issues such as a disrupted education, having to establish their lives after leaving care, poor mental health, a history of offending, drug and alcohol dependency, insecure housing, and serious problem debt. They don’t tend to fare as well as their peers when it comes to being in work. For example, based on 2016 data, of the 26,340 former care leavers aged 19, 20 and 21 years, 10,460 (40%) were not in employment, education or training (NEET), compared with 14% of all 19 to 21 year olds ^{[footnote 41]}.

Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families sets new expectations for Jobcentre Plus to identify people with complex needs at the right time; to strengthen partnership working with local authorities, wider public services and the voluntary sector; to share information more effectively between partners; and to work with local strategic boards to more efficiently address claimants’ needs. This builds on the current approach where Jobcentre Plus tailored employment support and conditionality to help those facing complex needs and offers targeted support for claimants in particular circumstances, for example, prison work coaches based in resettlement prisons across Great Britain. We have set a specific objective focused on getting economically inactive people to participate in the labour market and improve their employability and have set an output target for the number of inactive people we help. For these groups, ESF will tackle the barriers they face, providing support and advice so they move closer to the labour market. Some will then utilise national programmes. Amongst those who are economically inactive, the government will provide support to help all those who are able to access employment.

There is a potential risk that, unemployed people will lack the skills employers need resulting in skills shortages. ESF will continue to help unemployed people acquire the skills they need to compete for new jobs created by economic growth. Addressing basic skills is a priority so we have set a specific objective to improve basic skills, backed up by an output and a result target.

ESF will help in our efforts to close the gender employment gap by providing help to women returners to the labour market, women in low skilled and, or part-time work who want to progress or work more hours, and by promoting careers in occupations where women are under-represented.

The availability of childcare can affect an individual’s ability to participate in ESF provision, so it will be a contractual requirement for providers to make a contribution to childcare costs where it is a barrier to participation. Childcare support will be monitored and evaluated and will take account of provision via Universal Credit and tax-free Childcare. We have set a result target to ensure that childcare support is provided where it is required.

ESF will be used for preventative measures, to work with those at risk of redundancy and ensure that they can move into work with another employer (or set up in self-employment) instead of becoming unemployed.

The main activities include:

additional and innovative approaches to pre-employment training
additional support for long-term unemployed people, including approaches to work experience and training
improving the employability and transferable skills of unemployed, inactive and disadvantaged people
training workless people and those facing redundancy, to upgrade their skills or learn new skills (including basic skills and English for speakers of other languages)
responding flexibly to employer demand in local labour markets where specific needs are identified
as part of wider support, using self-employment as a route out of worklessness; including activities to encourage the unemployed to start and grow businesses (including social enterprises), and potentially creating a financial instrument

Activities to help more unemployed and inactive people into work will be supported through the access to employment investment priority under thematic objective 8 (employment). Those who are furthest from the labour market and have significant barriers to address will be supported through the active inclusion investment priority under thematic objective 9 (social inclusion). These activities will contribute to achieving the Europe 2020 employment objective. Further detail is set out in the section on each Investment Priority.

The ESF and YEI will continue to support young people aged 15 to 29 through the sustainable integration of young people investment priority under thematic objective 8 (employment). We decided to use this investment priority rather than the one on early school leaving, since this issue will be addressed through existing national interventions, such as Raising the Participation Age.

Unemployment can have a long-term scarring effect on young people, ESF will provide intensive, specialised support for the most marginalised and disadvantaged young people (for example care leavers). We have set specific output targets for ethnic minorities, disabled people and lone parents.

ESF and YEI will continue to support additional and complementary measures to reduce the number who are NEET or at risk of being NEET. The YEI will be targeted on areas with very high rates of youth unemployment. Where some of the NEET population are disconnected from the available mainstream activity, a challenge for ESF will be to find and engage them (for example through outreach work), and we have set an output target for inactive young people.

To improve skills levels, we have set specific objectives to increase the number of people undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships, and tackling basic skills, and have set output and result targets for basic skills. The ESF and YEI will fund additional basic skills provision, for example in literacy numeracy and technology, help disadvantaged young people into traineeships and apprenticeships and support them to stay there; and where relevant, will help them to gain intermediate and advanced skills at level 3 and above, equipping them with skills needed by employers ^{[footnote 42]}. This will directly address the CSR relating to skills mismatches and provide for skills progression, including strengthening the quality of apprenticeships ^{[footnote 43]}.

The ESF can enhance local services to help young people make a successful transition from education to working life, by increasing the provision of careers advice and guidance, and strengthening engagement with employers. ESF will not support general education in schools, but can provide additional support, through the sustainable integration of the young people investment priority, for young people from age 15 who are at risk of becoming NEET. This approach was used successfully in the 2007 to 2013 Programme.

Analysis of need

Tackling Poverty

From 2012 to 2015, roughly 3 in 10 (30.2%) of the UK population were at risk of poverty for at least 1 year. In 2015 7.3% of the population were experiencing persistent poverty, equivalent to roughly 4.6 million. Persistent poverty is defined as experiencing relative low income in the current year, as well as at least 2 out of the 3 preceding years. Of the EU countries, the UK had the fifth lowest rate of persistent poverty (7.3%), but the 13th highest poverty rate of 16.7%, (EU average 17.3%).

A higher proportion of women (8.2%) were persistently poorer than men (6.3%), and the gap between male and female persistent poverty rates (1.9 percentage points) was the largest it had been since data began in 2008.

Just over a third (35.8%) of persistently poor individuals expressed high levels of anxiety, compared with a fifth (21.6%) of the population as a whole.

Individuals are considered to be experiencing relative poverty if they live in a household with equivalised disposable income falls below 60% of the national median in the current year. In 2015 the poverty threshold in the UK was £12,567 ^{[footnote 44]}.

Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for the UK government. This requires a focus on the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. The government has therefore introduced two statutory measures of parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment, to drive action on the two areas that can make the biggest difference to children’s outcomes.

As part of the government’s ambition to tackle child poverty and disadvantage it recently published the white paper ‘Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families,’ which sets out new policies that will transform local services so they can better support workless families ^{[footnote 45]}.

Analysis has shown that parents’ ability to work is frustrated by complex issues that prevent them from fulfilling their potential and leave children without the stability they need. It shows that half of children in workless families are living with parents who have at least three characteristics associated with worklessness, such as ill health, low qualifications or living in social housing. It also shows how these other barriers and disadvantages can be both causes and effects of worklessness and can have their own direct impact on parents and children as well as in combination.

Poor parental mental health is much more prevalent in families that experience problem debt, worklessness, and relationship distress. The Troubled Families Programme showed that around two in five families had at least one family member who was identified in the last twelve months as having a mental health problem on entry to the programme (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2017). A large number of children live with parents who have poor mental health. In 2014 to 2015, around one in four children lived with at least one parent reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression. While mothers were significantly more likely to report symptoms of anxiety or depression than fathers, for around one in ten of these children both parents reported such symptoms ^{[footnote 46]}.

The government’s Improving Lives Strategy sets out the scale of the challenge, looking at disadvantage in terms of: worklessness, family problems, low educational attainment, drug and alcohol dependency, poor mental or physical health and debt and crime ^{[footnote 47]}.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the economy and individuals. In response, the ESF England Programme has created an additional Priority Axis (PA4 – COVID-19 Response) through which support directly addresses the impacts of the pandemic. The Priority Axis sets out to directly deliver support to ESF participants who do not have access to on-line services and also to tackle the homelessness situation in London.

All activity for the interventions delivered within PA4 need to end by 31 December 2020 and take advantage of the European Commission’s 100% co-financing easement.

In response to the migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation in Ukraine the ESF England Programme has created Priority Axis 5, which aims to address and to support the socio-economic integration of third country nationals; and help facilitate the reception, welcome and integration of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

In June 2022, as part of its response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the European Commission adopted the FAST-CARE package ^{[footnote 48]}. This builds on the European Commission’s Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) ^{[footnote 49]} support allowing Member States and regions to provide emergency assistance to people fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Supporting Offenders

The UK government is determined to make sure our prisons are safe and are places of reform. Their aim is to get more prisoners off drugs, gaining qualifications while inside, and getting a job after release. Supporting offenders into meaningful employment is a vital part of the government’s approach to tackling reoffending.

Prisoners who are in employment before or after custody are less likely to reoffend, yet only around one in six offenders leave prison and go into a job. 17% of working age prisoners released in 2010 to 2011 were in P45 employment, and 54% were claiming out of work benefits. Therefore, ex-prisoners have much lower levels of employment than the general population, and much of this work is part-time or at very low wages.

Employment is a major factor in reducing re-offending. Supporting offenders into meaningful employment is a vital part of the government’s approach to tackle reoffending. Through our employment strategy we will look to:

address the barriers that employers face and help them to engage with prisons
help Governors to build relationships with local business and meet the needs of the market
ensure prisoners gain the skills and qualifications they need to enter employment on release equip offenders with the self-discipline, skills and qualifications tailored to jobs in the local and regional economy to help them make a success of life on the outside
increase the number of employers who work with us to find real meaningful work, in prison, on Released On Temporary Licence (ROTL) and on release

National policies and programmes

The government has introduced measures to support families including those on low incomes:

Increasing the National Minimum Wage rate to £10.42 from April 2023
Increasing the income tax personal allowance, to £12,570 from April 2023
providing funding for successive council tax freezes
support with childcare costs - essential to improving children’s life chances and supporting parents who want to return to work
poverty and social justice: Improving Lives sets out the government’s commitment to giving individuals and families facing multiple disadvantages the help they need to change their lives. A set of principles inform this approach
a focus on prevention and early intervention
where problems arise, concentrating interventions on recovery and independence, not maintenance
promoting work for those who can as the most sustainable route out of poverty, while offering unconditional support to those who are severely disabled and cannot work
recognising that the most effective solutions will often be designed and delivered at a local level
ensuring interventions provide a fair deal for the taxpayer

The Poverty and social justice policies explain what the government wants to achieve. “Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families” and the “Work and Health and disability” publications set out proposals to improve outcomes for children who grow up in workless families, face multiple disadvantages. It also sought views from disabled people and disability organisations on what it will take to transform employment prospects for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. The government’s approach to supporting offenders with rehabilitation includes:

improved training where employers and education providers work closely with prison managers to tailor their training to the needs of the labour market
IT-based individualised learning and employment services for prisoners that can be available after their release
a greater number of employer-led training workshops
immediate access to the work programmes on release

Use of ESF

Under Thematic Objective 9, ESF will focus on the most disadvantaged. We have set specific objectives on people with multiple and complex barriers and marginalised individuals. We have set output targets on economically inactive people, disabled people, over 50s, and ethnic minorities. We have set a specific objective and an output target focused on offenders. Result targets focus on participants entering employment on leaving, being in employment 6 months after leaving, and particularly for those furthest from the labour market, entering education or training or starting job search.

Thematic Objective 9 will have a stronger focus on the inactive since they are by definition further from the labour market. ESF will help to address barriers to work, helping more people move closer or into employment. To ensure value for money and a fair deal for the taxpayer, ESF will not fund existing provision but will support additional and more intensive actions contributing to the national Poverty and social justice Strategy, and complement the Work and Health Programme, introduction of Universal Credit and local authority services.

ESF will finance integrated support, to address gaps in provision and reach those who are not currently supported. They could include: caring responsibilities, debt, digital exclusion, drug and alcohol dependency, poor basic skills and life skills, lack of motivation and confidence, family, parenting and relationship problems, health and well-being problems, homelessness, learning difficulties and disabilities, offending, access to transport - an issue in rural areas, and help with childcare where needed. Support will include early intervention before problems become entrenched, needs assessment so that effective tailored support can be offered, and outreach activities.

ESF will be used to complement reforms, such as Universal Credit, by enhancing services for those with complex barriers. ESF will contribute to the response to the 2017 CSR.

Activities include:

tackling barriers faced by people in workless households and troubled families or with multiple disadvantages, so they move towards, enter and make progress at work
helping inactive people with potential to enter the labour market but needing considerable support to enter work
targeting people facing barriers such as homelessness, debt, drug or alcohol problems, and mental health issues
targeting disadvantaged communities and deprived areas
tackling discrimination and barriers faced by ethnic minorities and disabled people
integrating offenders into the labour market
supporting the development and growth of social enterprises
tackling barriers faced by disadvantaged people in rural communities, lacking access to services
supporting community-based action including Community Grants, community learning and community led local development
help digitally marginalised people to gain access to online services and information as part of the response to COVID-19
the UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian, and defensive military assistance to Ukraine ^{[footnote 50]}. In line with and subject to government rules, from day one, people fleeing from the war in Ukraine have had the right to work and to access benefits and public services, including education and healthcare, on the same footing as UK nationals. This will continue to be the case for those who wish to remain in the UK, in line with UK government rules

Further detail is set out in the sections on each investment priority.

Thematic Objective 10 - Skills

Analysis of need

Productivity is a key driver of growth and UK productivity has lagged behind other advanced economies, in particular the US, Germany and France.

Productivity is currently 30% higher in the United States and 35% higher in Germany than in the UK. In the 2016 Autumn Statement, the government committed to address the longstanding need to improve productivity, including through a new National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) to support high value investment in innovation, infrastructure, and housing. The Budget focused on improving skills, in order to boost productivity and living standards over the long term ^{[footnote 51]}.

Productivity is the most important determinant of the standard of living of a nation. Increases in productivity levels are essential to improving economic growth and social prosperity. While productivity growth has slowed in almost all advanced economies since the financial crisis, the UK slowdown has been more severe than elsewhere. It is now estimated that it takes a UK worker 5 days to complete what the average G7 worker can do in 4 days. The application of digital technologies within UK industry will increase productivity and revenues, enabling firms to pay higher wages and thus creating multiplier effects on other sectors of the economy. Increased competitiveness will lead to growth, increasing sales, exports and hence employment. Productivity improvements will eliminate the cost advantage of low-wage economies, encouraging companies to re-shore activities and locate closer to their domestic markets. Digital technologies will in themselves create new higher-paid forms of employment as many new roles emerge that did not previously exist, including those in new servitisation business models ^{[footnote 52]}.

The UK government’s Industrial Strategy sets out the vision for the future economy and strategy to boost the productivity, earning power and quality of life. The aim is that by 2030 the UK will have transformed productivity and earning power to become the world’s most innovative economy and the best place to start and grow a business, with upgraded infrastructure and prosperous communities across the country.

The National Productivity Investment Fund will be extended to 2022 to 2023 and increased from £23bn to £31bn, with investment targeted at areas that can have the biggest impact on productivity ^{[footnote 53]}.

Productivity is strongly linked with skills levels and the UK underperforms internationally, particularly in relation to intermediate skills (upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary) and higher level skills. ESF will be used to address skills gaps and shortages in England, responding to local employer needs including intermediate, more advanced and higher level skills and furthering apprenticeship offers (in response to CSR 2017.) Young NEETs and the lowest skilled and most disadvantaged remain a priority, but we recognise it takes time to cover the range of skills levels and gaps and thereby improve growth.

Basic and lower level skills

There are an estimated 9 million working aged adults in England (more than a quarter of adults aged 16 to 65) with low literacy or numeracy skills or both. The 2016 OECD PIACC survey of adult skills showed England ranked 11th in literacy and 17th in numeracy out of 24 countries.

Skills for 16 to 24 year olds in England compared poorly ranking 22nd in literacy and 21st in numeracy ^{[footnote 54]}. In 2012, 9.5% of 16 to 64 year olds in England had no qualifications ^{[footnote 55]} - a key barrier to entering and progressing at work. These basic skills are often required to up-skill or re-skill those in the labour market and those who are made redundant or are at risk of redundancy.

Skills levels vary across England; with higher school achievement in southern areas (particularly the South East) and probably a net movement of graduates into London (inability to retain graduates was noted by many LEPs outside London). Some variation in the level and type of skills is also likely to reflect differences in specialisation between areas. People move to where their skills are most needed, especially those with relatively high skills. Higher proportions of people with low or no qualifications are mainly concentrated in large urban and some rural LEP areas.

National trends mask large differences in skills disparities across and within LEP areas. Local solutions are needed to complement existing national programmes, to address pockets of low skills and the most disadvantaged that may require additional help and support. The World Bank reported in 2015 that the UK will need 745,000 additional workers with digital skills between 2013 and 2017 to meet rising demand from employers ^{[footnote 56]}. Within the next two decades, 90% of jobs will require some digital proficiency, yet 23% of adults lack basic digital skills ^{[footnote 57]}.

The UK government intend to introduce a new entitlement for adults who lack core digital skills to access specified basic digital skills training free of charge ^{[footnote 58]}. Improving skills can contribute to breaking the deprivation cycle. The English Indices of Deprivation show that there is a high degree of correlation between skills levels and other indicators of deprivation, particularly income, employment, and health. The proportion of children in poverty from families where at least one adult is in work has increased over the last decade; level of parental education is often cited as a factor in child poverty ^{[footnote 59]}.

Intermediate Technical Skills

England has weak intermediate technical skills ^{[footnote 60]}. Almost 3 in 10 vacancies are reported as hard to fill. Skilled trades show the greatest shortages, followed by machine operatives, managerial and professional roles, caring, leisure and other services ^{[footnote 61]}. 20% of manufacturers reported skills gaps, while 31% of high-tech manufacturers have recruited from outside the UK because of a lack of suitably qualified people ^{[footnote 62]}.

The shortage of technical-level skills has resulted in the UK being ranked 16th out of 20 OECD countries for the proportion of people with technical qualifications ^{[footnote 63]}. The introduction of T levels in the UK is at the heart of wider reforms to the 16 to 19 education system, the aim is to produce a high quality and coherent system with different study programmes designed to lead people to valuable outcomes. The ambition of the UK government’s Post 16 Skills Plan is every young person, after an excellent grounding in the core academic subjects and a broad and balanced curriculum to age 16, is presented with two choices: the academic or the technical option. The academic option is already well regarded, but the technical option must also be world-class. It must be a distinctive, prestigious, high-quality offer in its own right; a positive, informed choice. The technical option will prepare individuals for skilled employment which requires technical knowledge and practical skills valued by industry ^{[footnote 64]}.

Higher level skills

The Allas Report (2014) ^{[footnote 65]} showed our relative underperformance in global terms on measures of higher level skills. Higher level skills include vocational and technical, as well as academic qualifications which are delivered by further education providers, as well as the HE system. Particular concerns include the number of science and engineering qualifications. Nearly half of businesses report a shortage of STEM graduates as being a key factor in being unable to recruit appropriate staff ^{[footnote 66]}. The number of STEM undergraduates has been increasing over the last few years, but there remains unmet demand from employers ^{[footnote 67]}.

There is evidence of lower participation by women in STEM subjects. The UK is only slightly above the EU28 average for the number of researchers per 1000 in employment, and low scores on management skills will limit our ability to capture economic value from science and innovation.

Businesses value the high-level skills, subject specific knowledge and innovative approaches that individuals with postgraduate qualifications bring. Some employers are choosing to finance postgraduate education to develop their workforce and retain employees ^{[footnote 68]}.

Overall participation in Higher Education (HE) is relatively high, and above the EU2020 target, and so is not a priority for ESF funding. However, in some parts of England it is very low. Higher Education in England published by HEFCE (July 2015) provides evidence that, at very local levels, HE participation in many rural, coastal and some inner-city areas is very low, even where a university is nearby. There are also disparities in performance between different socio-economic groups and students from disadvantaged areas or backgrounds (for example disabled students) tend to do less well in higher education than those from more advantaged areas with the same prior attainment.

The UK government needs to tackle shortages of STEM skills. These skills are important for a range of industries from manufacturing to the arts. 40% of employers reported a shortage of STEM graduates as being a key barrier in recruiting appropriate staff. Jobs in science, research, engineering and technology are expected to rise at double the rate of other occupations between now and 2023 and the majority of jobs are in either STEM-related roles or industries.

The pipeline of students studying STEM-related courses narrows as it reaches higher levels. Of the 16 year olds who have achieved an A* to C grade in GCSE maths, less than a quarter continue to study maths after age 16. Although there has been a 20% increase in entries to maths A levels since 2010, less than a third of students studying STEM related A levels go on to gain a STEM degree, and a significant proportion of STEM graduates do not go into STEM occupations ^{[footnote 69]}.

National policies and programmes

One of the key aims of the government in Building our Industrial Strategy is to help young people develop the skills they need to do the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future. Creating the conditions where successful businesses can emerge and grow, and helping them to invest in the future of our nation. Identifying the industries that are of strategic value to our economy and works to create a partnership between government and industry to nurture them. In doing so, it will help propel Britain to global leadership of the industries of the future, from artificial intelligence and big data to clean energy and self-driving vehicles ^{[footnote 70]}.

The UK government is committed to:

building a world-class technical education system to generate the skills and productivity that are the foundations of a strong economy
spreading opportunity and increasing social mobility and helping break the link between a person’s background and where they get to in life
providing support to households to ensure those who can work do work: whilst recognising the constraints associated with high childcare costs and providing help with them ^{[footnote 71]}

There is already a range of initiatives, including: traineeships to improve young people’s chances in gaining employment; a core offer of an apprenticeship to all young adults and English and maths learning, up to GCSE grade C or better standard (Level 2). Business-backed local skills training schemes and an additional focus by Jobcentre Plus, including making changes to the benefit system rules, has helped to increase by almost 40% the number of benefit claimants in England who start training.

To address literacy and numeracy skills issues, a pilot was launched in November 2014 for new Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants aged 18 to 24 years without level 2 qualifications in English and maths to be mandated to learning for up to 6 months. As a result, in 2014 to 2015 94% of pupils in England were in sustained education, employment or training, and attainment of at least 5 GCSEs at grade C, including English and maths, increased by 0.5 percent to 51%.

The National Careers Service (NCS) incentivise contractors to work with customers from the following priority groups:

low skilled adults without a level 3 qualification
young adults aged 18 to 24 not in education, employment or training
adults facing redundancy, newly redundant or distant from the labour market (have not been in any type of work for two years or more)
Jobcentre Plus customers on JSA, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) who are unemployed, people who are claiming Universal Credit who are looking for work and are at least 18 years’ old
adults in custody or formerly in custody aged 18 years or over
adults with learning difficulties and, or disabilities

It is a national priority to create an employer led system of higher vocational education in England and to increase the numbers attaining vocational qualifications at post-secondary level.

The government is doubling funding for apprenticeships to £2.5 billion by 2019 to 2020 and giving employers more power to design training standards that meet their needs ^{[footnote 72]}. English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision outlines plans which involve 2600 employers from a broad range of sectors from nuclear to fashion, law, banking and defence. The UK government is committed to reaching three million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020 ^{[footnote 73]}.

Use of ESF

ESF can be used to support skills at any level, but it must not duplicate existing provision. ESF should not displace the investment employers and individuals make in training and will focus on areas where the market is not delivering skills needs. The specific objectives focus on improving basic skills, increasing the number of people with technical and job specific skills, and supporting progression in work particularly for women. Output and result targets have been set for basic skills. Other output targets (for over 50s, lone parents, ethnic minorities and women) will ensure a focus on those most in need of help. The result targets focus on qualifications gained and women progressing in work. ESF funding will not subsidise training that would otherwise be funded by business or government. ESF will focus on reducing the proportion of people, especially young people, with low levels of qualifications and, or skills and ensure employer engagement, by placing emphasis on addressing skills mismatches and improving skills to meet their needs. It will primarily fund lower, intermediate and technical skills, in the following activities:

support for improving the skills levels and employability, of people with low or no qualifications, particularly young people NEET
support for disadvantaged groups who have no or low qualifications, to improve their skills and employability
training for people facing in work poverty, to help them progress and increase their pay and, or working hours or obtain better quality higher paid jobs
skills support for those made redundant or unemployed
expanding and enhancing traineeships
expanding and enhancing apprenticeships
support for intermediate and technical skills for local industries and sectors, especially in STEM, new and emerging technologies, such as those which support a low carbon and climate resilient economy, and in support of other thematic objectives
promoting and developing better links between business and educators
improving or increasing provision of adult careers advice, complementing the National Careers Service and adding value but not substituting its services
activities to inspire and encourage lifelong learning and the consequent benefits of learning

ESF will be used for higher level skills in response to the 2017 Country Specific Recommendation, where: it supports growth; there is market failure; it contributes to programme objectives; and cannot be provided by the mainstream system. It will fund the following types of activities:

expanding and enhancing apprenticeships
activities to help start and grow a business and support for local SMEs’ skills needs (especially management and leadership) particularly in new and growth sectors and to encourage diversification in rural and coastal areas; potentially using a financial instrument
activities to increase the STEM skills base of individuals most in need
promoting links between employers and educators to expand and enhance skills provision, to improve information, advice and guidance and to encourage entrepreneurship

However, full qualifications at level 3 and above are generally provided for by grants and loans to individuals which are easily available, and it is not usually possible for ESF to replace this funding. However, where there is an identified gap in available or suitable support, and it can be demonstrated as falling within ESF priority objectives, funding may be possible. Such circumstances are likely to be exceptional and should not include reluctance by learners to take up loans. ESF will instead be able tackle the weaknesses identified in the Country Specific Recommendations by funding units of qualifications, rather than full ones, where that meets the individual’s needs.

The Less Developed Region has specific needs as a result of an historic lack of investment in higher education which means a lower proportion of the population have NVQ4 and above qualifications. Investment in this region will be more likely but will still only be considered where market failure can be demonstrated and where all other funding options have been considered. For example, where support for higher skills qualifications (including post graduate) is specifically linked to local business growth ambitions, key local societal issues or where ESF funded intervention could encourage additional participation from disadvantaged individuals and where existing mechanisms cannot achieve this. This approach will build upon the 2007 to 2013 ESF Programme provision in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly with the development of a local process to establish the local specific need, market failure or individual support requirement.

Activities to improve skills will be supported within the Access to Lifelong Learning Investment Priority under Thematic Objective 10. Activities to improve partnership working between business and providers will be supported within the labour market relevance Investment Priority under Thematic Objective 10.

Further detail is set out in the sections on each Investment Priority.

Other Thematic Objectives

Although all ESF will be invested in the employment, social inclusion and skills objectives, it will contribute to other Thematic Objectives by increasing the supply of labour and improving workforce skills relevant to these thematic objectives. In certain specific cases ESF could make a limited contribution as follows:

Objective 1: strengthening research, technological development and innovation) develop science and technology skills, including by creating centres of excellence in key sectors and stronger links between HE and business
Objective 2: enhancing access to, and use and quality of ICT, improve ICT skills, and develop and deliver skills provision for the use and exploitation of digital technology. ESF will contribute to this objective through Thematic Objective 9. A new Priority Axis 4 has been created to support the COVID-19 recovery, by delivering activity that aims to address the digital divide for existing ESF participants by giving them access to IT devices to enable them to access the internet
Objective 3: enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs, through skills programmes aimed at SMEs for example leadership and management training; mentoring or coaching initiatives; advice, guidance and information; and placement or internship opportunities. It can help to foster a more entrepreneurial society, by reducing barriers to entrepreneurship and self-employment
Objective 4: supporting the shift towards a low carbon economy in all sectors - developing skills to deliver innovation and adoption of low carbon technologies; developing more training provision for low carbon transition; and developing new and alternative skills for construction. Unemployed and inactive people can be trained in skills needed for jobs in a low carbon economy, so they benefit from employment opportunities generated by Thematic Objective 4
Objective 5: promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management, developing skills and pathways to employment, for example by supporting skills and employment activities that complement new community flood risk management approaches and sustainable land management and drainage. Also, other activities supporting adaptation, risk prevention and management in relation to climate change
Objective 6: preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency, supporting complementary training and employment activities, for example to create, restore and manage blue-green infrastructure; activities to support the environment whilst also using it as a resource to help promote social inclusion; and complementary skills and training activities that help improve SME business resource efficiency. ESF will complement the other Structural Investment Funds, especially the European Regional Development Fund, where we will take a joint programme management approach

Justification for selection

CPP highlights need to invest in quality and relevant skills and lifelong learning, to help support individuals and enterprises and to drive growth
CSR - improve skills to meet employer needs and ensure employer engagement by addressing skills mismatches through more advanced and higher level skills provision. Reduce the number of young people with low basic skills
UK Partnership Agreement identifies need to focus on increasing the productivity by improving skill levels
increasing skills levels is a key driver to economic growth and will underpin investment across ESI funds

Financial Allocation

The financial allocation to each Thematic Objective and Investment Priority reflects the potential of ESF to address development needs identified in the Partnership Agreement and the programme strategy to complement national policies and address relevant CSRs, as set out this strategy section. The split of the allocation between thematic objectives has also taken into account the needs identified by local partners in their European Structural and Investment Fund strategies, which were developed within a national policy framework. The allocations are in line with the 2007 to 2013 split (approximately 60% on employment and social inclusion measures and 40% on skills).

Overall the allocation to Thematic Objectives is:

Thematic Objective 8 (employment): €1,013 million ESF. This reflects the important contribution that improving labour market participation will make both to growth and to social inclusion. In addition, €160m from the Youth Employment Initiative, plus an equivalent amount of ESF money, will address the challenge of youth unemployment in areas with highest rates
Thematic Objective 9 (social inclusion): €1,167 million. Of this currently €295 million will be allocated to HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) activity and up to €30 million will be available for Community Led Local Development, reflecting the requirement that at least 20% of ESF at Member State is allocated to this objective
Thematic Objective 10 (skills): €869million. This reflects the potential of ESF to support additional provision at all skills levels to help individual progression and promote local growth

In addition, 4% of the ESF allocation will be available as Technical Assistance, representing about €116 million.

Most of the ESF financial allocation, in all 3 Categories of Region is concentrated on 5 Investment Priorities.

In more developed regions, 94% will be concentrated on 5 Investment Priorities:

Access to employment for jobseekers and inactive people
Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people
Active inclusion
Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning
Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems

In transition regions, 95% will be concentrated on 5 investment priorities:

Access to employment for jobseekers and inactive people
Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people
Active inclusion
Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning
Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems

In the less developed region, 91% will be concentrated on 5 investment priorities:

Access to employment for jobseekers and inactive people
Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people
Active inclusion
Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning
Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems

Table 2: Overview of the investment strategy of the operational programme

This information can be found in Table 2.

Question 2

Priority Axis 1: Inclusive Labour Markets

Accepted Answer

This Priority Axis aims to increase participation in the labour market and thereby improve social inclusion and mobility. It will support the following investment priorities:

Access to employment for jobseekers and inactive people (1.1): to help those who are disadvantaged but still relatively close to the labour market to tackle their barriers to work, and enter and sustain employment
Sustainable integration of young people (1.2): to focus on helping young people, particularly those who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET, to participate in the labour market and in learning activities
Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) (1.3): to focus on helping young people, who are NEET, to participate in the labour market and learning in areas eligible for the YEI
Active inclusion (1.4): to help people who are more distant from the labour market and may face multiple disadvantages to tackle their multiple, complex and profound barriers to work and to move towards or into employment, or to sustain employment
Community Led Local Development (1.5): to support activities initiated by local action groups

This Priority Axis brings together ESF Investment Priorities from Thematic Objectives 8 (employment) and 9 (social inclusion). It reflects the fact that our overall aim is to help people into work, or to begin the journey towards work. There is a spectrum of need, and a spectrum of activities which are required, and these span Thematic Objectives 8 and 9. The programme will help to promote pathways to sustainable employment for people who are distant from the labour market and experience social exclusion and multiple disadvantages.

It is important that the programme has a Priority Axis that will both tackle the deep seated barriers that these people face and move them closer to or into employment. Employment and social inclusion investment are therefore grouped within this single Priority Axis, to improve the effectiveness and impact of the programme on the most disadvantaged people. A single Priority Axis also recognises that the sources of national co-financing often do not make a distinction between employment and social inclusion activities and so cannot be disaggregated into separate Priority Axes.

At least 20% of the programme’s total resources will be allocated to investment priorities under the social inclusion thematic objective. Although it does not include Investment Priorities from Thematic Objective 10, it will contribute to this objective indirectly through skills activities to tackle barriers to work and inclusion.

The Priority Axis covers all three categories of region in order to improve the effectiveness of the programme by simplifying the programme and to make it easier for potential applicants and the wider public to understand what ESF sets out to achieve. Many of the needs of individuals who are out of work or at risk of social exclusion are broadly similar across different areas. The categories are defined on the basis of GDP, but in many cases the employment and social exclusion challenges in more developed regions are the same or more significant than those in other categories.

Investment Priority 1.1: Access to employment for jobseekers and inactive people

Investment Priority: 1.1 - Access to employment for job seekers and inactive people, including the long term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
1.1.1	To improve the employability of long-term unemployed people, so that they can compete effectively in the labour market.	This specific objective is focused on those who are long-term unemployed and who are less likely to move back into work than people who have been unemployed for less time. The additional support from this Investment Priority will help long-term unemployed people to tackle their barriers to work and move into sustainable employment. The main result target focuses on moving participants into employment (including self-employment) on leaving. There will be a quantified result target set for this result indicator in each category of region.
1.1.2	To provide individuals from groups which face particular labour market disadvantage with additional support so that they can compete effectively in the labour market.	This objective is focused on those who are unemployed but have more than one major barrier to progressing into employment (including self-employment) and sustaining employment. This client group will be more challenging to help and will often require intensive ongoing support to address complex barriers, which will be reflected in the targets. Support will be tailored to individual needs. Participants will include individuals who are over 50, lone parents, disabled or have health problems, from ethnic minorities or who lack basic skills. The main result targets focus on moving participants into employment or into education or training or getting them involved in active job search. Output targets will ensure we are reaching appropriate numbers of participants from these groups.
1.1.3	To encourage inactive people to participate in the labour market and to improve their employability.	This objective is focused on individuals who are distant from the labour market and who need additional support to give them the skills and, or confidence to enable them to move towards employment (including self-employment). Participants will include individuals who are lone parents, disabled or who have health problems, are over 50 or who are from ethnic minorities. The main result that will be achieved is that inactive participants will engage more in the labour market. A specific output target will ensure we are targeting inactive people, and we have result targets to measure movement into work and increases in activity.
1.1.4	To address the basic skills needs of unemployed and inactive people so that they can compete effectively in the labour market.	This objective is focused on individuals who lack the basic skills required by employers, such as IT, literacy and numeracy. Participants will have the opportunity to gain basic skills relevant to labour market needs or to enable them to progress towards gaining further skill skills. The main result will be that those without basic skills will be helped to gain them. This will enable them to play a fuller part in the labour market. There is an output target for participants without basic skills and a result target for participants gaining basic skills.
1.1.5	To provide support for women at a disadvantage in the labour market, and particularly those who are currently inactive, to contribute to our efforts to reduce the gender employment gap.	The additional support from this Investment Priority will help more unemployed and inactive women to compete effectively in the labour market. It will be focused on engaging and providing additional support to women who have barriers to entering the labour market, including language, skills, age and caring responsibilities. Participants could include older women wishing to return to work after caring for children, lone parents or women from ethnic minorities who have never worked. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will be in employment (including self-employment) or engaged in active job search on leaving. There is a stretching output target for female participation and a result target for participants with childcare needs receiving childcare support.

Table 4:

Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by Investment Priority and Category of Region) (for ESF) can be found within the data tables.

Priority Axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment priority: 8i - Access to employment for job seekers and inactive people, including the long term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility.

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables, table 4 8i.

Actions to be supported under the Investment Priority

The government is promoting employment for all by providing support mechanisms and benefits that incentivise work and reduce worklessness, to ensure that individuals can fulfil their potential within the labour market. National policies to help people move from welfare to employment are designed to ensure that individuals are better off in work than on benefits.

Universal Credit will provide the support needed to prepare people for work, move into work, or earn more. In return for this support, it is expected that individuals will be responsible for doing everything they can to find work or increase their earnings ^{[footnote 74]}.

As the recovery strengthens, it is likely that those closest to the labour market will find it easier to find work, but there is a risk that the most disadvantaged will be left behind and find it increasingly difficult to compete effectively for work. ESF will therefore be used to ensure that these disadvantaged groups are provided with the right level of support, tailored to the needs of individuals and businesses in local labour markets. This will be the primary added value for ESF. Activities include help to identify the barriers individuals face in moving into work (for example: confidence, lack of recent work experience, basic skills, job-related skills, job seeking skills, or other material barriers like debt or transport difficulties) and working with them to tackle these barriers.

Some groups are already well catered for through national programmes – for example Universal Credit and the Work and Health Programme. But those with more entrenched problems, even if they have access to these programmes, can find it difficult to get the most from them. For these people ESF will be used to provide additional locally designed support, which is aligned to and builds on national programmes.

Those classed as inactive and on benefits have access to help from national programmes but take-up tends to be low. People with disabilities and health conditions are more likely to be unemployed. For these groups, ESF will be used to tackle the barriers they face and provide them with the support and advice they need to move closer to the labour market. For some, ESF support will then lead to accessing national programmes. In all cases, it is important to address transitions between unemployment and work, to improve retention.

There is also a risk that, as the economy strengthens, unemployed people will lack the skills which employers need, and skills shortages will emerge. ESF will therefore help unemployed people acquire the skills they need to compete for new jobs created by economic growth.

ESF will not support activities that duplicate or replace existing support within national programmes but may be used to support additional activities or target groups, including provision co-designed with local partners. This could range from additional early interventions for people who are newly unemployed, to support for very long-term unemployed or inactive people. It may include piloting new approaches to improving access to employment, alongside mainstream provision.

Examples of actions which may be supported for all unemployed and inactive people include:

additional and innovative approaches to pre-employment training, to ensure individuals have the core work-related skills that employers require, including preparation for apprenticeships
support for those who need pre-traineeship and pre Work and Health Programme assistance, to prepare them for the next step

The Investment Priority will focus on providing extra support for long-term unemployed people, including those who have completed the Work Programme or Work and Health Programme. When a person is still unemployed after many efforts to help them, innovative solutions are required, including new approaches to work experience and training, intermediate labour market activity and volunteering opportunities.

The Investment Priority will focus on giving extra support to specific target groups, whose circumstances mean they face particular challenges in getting back to work.

These include:

people with disabilities or health barriers (including mental health issues)
older workers
people with caring responsibilities
lone parents, ethnic minorities,
ex-service personnel
care leavers
those with chaotic lives
third country nationals and migrants with the right to work in the UK
people who have difficulty accessing support because they live in isolated rural areas
those from jobless households

The Investment Priority will respond flexibly to employer demand in local labour markets where LEPs and their partners identify specific needs, so employers will be engaged to establish their needs. This may include needs highlighted by Universal Credit Local Support Service partnerships and health and wellbeing boards to help Universal Credit claimant’s progress into the labour market and move from the hidden economy to legitimate work.

Activities will usually target both men and women. There will also be some activities targeted at women to increase their participation, particularly in occupations or sectors where women are under-represented. This Investment Priority includes additional support for inactive lone parents (most of whom are female); support for older unemployed women; and support to help activate economically inactive women who want to work.

In exceptional circumstances wage subsidies and work incentives will be used, but they must be additional to support provided through government programmes. Any proposals for wage subsidies and work incentives must provide an evidence base for using them locally and ensure that deadweight is avoided. They should be targeted on disadvantaged individuals and groups where there is evidence that they are cost effective and can have an impact in terms of sustainable employment. In addition, ESF can be used to support people into work in SMEs that are experiencing recruitment difficulties in sectors where market failure can be demonstrated. For example, ESF could support them through skills training and engaging with disadvantaged individuals, to help them access traineeships and apprenticeships. Following the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy and the subsequent change to apprenticeship funding arrangements, ESF could now be used to fund wage and training costs for apprenticeships where this would represent value for money.

The Investment Priority will also help overcome the challenges brought about by the limited range of employment in some rural areas, complementing actions supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. It will also support activities to support labour mobility, including national EURES activities. These activities are relevant across all types of territory, with the exception of those specific to rural areas.

Guiding principles for selection of operations

Our key principles in the selection of operations are a focus on quality, impact, added value and compliance. In order to deliver these principles, we have designed selection criteria which will be approved by the Growth Programme Board and be applied by the Managing Authority and the Intermediate Body to the assessment and appraisal of all applications. The proposed selection criteria cover:

strategic fit. We will examine the extent to which the project delivers what is required by the Operational Programme; whether it is aligned to local needs; and whether it adds value to and does not duplicate existing national provision
value for money. The project must demonstrate a clear case that the investment will deliver relevant activities, outputs and results that would not otherwise take place, and represent good value for money
management and control. Applicants must demonstrate that they have the appropriate expertise, management capacity and capability to meet the requirements of the fund
deliverability. We will examine the risks, constraints and dependencies linked to the delivery of the project and whether there is sufficient match funding identified
compliance. We need assurance that applicants have a full grasp of the compliance requirements for procurement, state aid, European Union rules on publicity and the fund specific eligibility rules
cross-cutting themes. As required by the Common Provisions Regulation, the criteria will also take into account the general principles of sustainable development and promotion of equality between men and women and non-discrimination

Operations must take into account the development needs set out in the ESF Operational Programme. Within the context of the Operational Programme and in line with the overarching strategy described in section 1, the specific territorial development needs described in local ESI Funds strategies will be considered in the selection of operations.

The Programme continues to assume that a significant part of the Operational Programme will be delivered through co-financing arrangements with the four Co-financing Organisations who have operated under Memoranda of Understanding with the Managing Authority during the first half of the 2007 to 2013 programme.

A significant part of the programme will continue to be delivered through the provision of grants to applicants responding to open bidding calls. The Managing Authority will ensure there is no duplication of provision. This will apply to both opt-in and non-opt-in provision. In addition, the Managing Authority will actively promote and encourage cross LEP area partnership communications in order to encourage the sharing of good practice, encourage cross LEP applications and support strategic cohesiveness.

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The MA may consider the use of Financial Instruments in this Investment Priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Priority axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment priority: 8i - Access to employment for job seekers and inactive people, including the long term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by investment priority and, where appropriate by category of region

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 5 8i.

Investment priority 1.2: Sustainable integration of young people

Investment priority: 1.2 Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people (ESF), in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
1.2.1	To support the rise in the participation age by supporting additional traineeship and apprenticeship opportunities.	The additional support from this investment priority will help more young people enter traineeships and apprenticeships in areas that do not qualify for the Youth Employment Initiative. By helping more young participants aged 15 to 24, male and female, who were NEET or at risk of NEET, to take up traineeships or apprenticeships, we will improve movements into work.
1.2.2	To engage marginalised 15 to 18 year olds and support them to re-engage with education or training.	The additional support from this investment priority will help to find and engage young people who are disconnected from mainstream activity in areas that do not qualify for the Youth Employment Initiative. Participants could, for example, be members of gangs, care leavers, young lone parents, ex-offenders or young people with learning difficulties. They are likely to require more intensive and tailored interventions. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will be engaged with education or training on leaving, and this will be measured by the result target.
1.2.3	To address the basic skills needs of young NEETS so that they can compete effectively in the labour market.	The additional support from this investment priority will help young NEETs in areas that do not qualify for the Youth Employment Initiative to acquire the basic skills necessary to enable them to progress into an apprenticeship, traineeship or other employment. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will have gained basic skills. There is an output target for participants without basic skills and a result target for participants gaining basic skills.
1.2.4	To provide additional work experience and pre-employment training opportunities to unemployed 18 to 24 year olds.	The additional support from this investment priority will help unemployed 18 to 24 year olds in areas that do not qualify for the Youth Employment Initiative to transition into training or sustainable employment (or self-employment). The main result will be achieved is that more participants will enter traineeships, apprenticeships or sustainable employment (including self-employment) on leaving.
1.2.5	To support young lone parents to overcome the barriers they face in participating in the labour market (including childcare).	The additional support from this investment priority will help young lone parents in areas that do not qualify for the Youth Employment Initiative to move closer to and into sustainable employment (including self-employment). Support will include assistance with childcare when this has not been covered by public provision, such as Universal Credit. It will also help participants to overcome other barriers, such as low basic skills or lack of confidence. The main result will be achieved is that more participants will move into sustainable employment (including self-employment). There is an output target for the number of lone parents.

Table 4: Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by investment priority and category of region) (for ESF).

Priority axis: 1 Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment priority: 8ii Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people (ESF) in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

This table can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 4 8ii.

Actions to be supported under the Investment Priority

Unemployment can have a long-term scarring effect on young people, so this group remain a high priority as the recovery strengthens. A range of help is already available, but ESF will be used to support additional and complementary measures to increase the number of young people who are in education, employment and training, and to reduce the number who are NEET or at risk of being NEET. This Investment Priority will not support activities that duplicate or replace existing provision.

Of particular concern is that some of the NEET population are marginalised and disconnected from the mainstream activity which is available. One of the challenges for ESF will be to find and engage these young people (for example through outreach work) so they can benefit from the support on offer. Innovative approaches, customised training and support and volunteering activities can be provided. Where necessary specific activities will be designed to address the needs of target groups such as: young lone parents; looked after children and care leavers; carers; ex-offenders; those involved in gangs; and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Traineeships and apprenticeships are an important part of the offer for young people, and ESF can help make them more successful. ESF will be able to support traineeships so long as it is not displacing already planned (and funded) provision and it adheres to the traineeship Framework for Delivery. Any activity on apprenticeships must comply with relevant legislation. The investment priority will be able to complement apprenticeships including supporting improvements to recruitment, assessment and training.

Actions in this investment priority will be able to complement traineeships by enhancing or building on existing and planned traineeship provision through wrap-around activity. It will also be able to provide additional support for disadvantaged young people beyond the core elements of training (work preparation, English, Maths and Technology) and work experience. Support for both traineeships and apprenticeships may include increasing uptake through dedicated marketing or outreach work and supporting individuals to remain on the programme (for example mentoring and paying trainees’ costs such as transport).

Actions in this investment priority will enhance local careers guidance services for young people, including where appropriate providing education, training and careers guidance professionals with information on local job options, business developments and local skills shortages. This will help ensure that young people’s choices (for example about their training) are informed by the available jobs; and that their expectations about types of jobs and wages are realistic.

It will broker opportunities with local employers to take on young people who are NEET (including those with complex barriers) for example through traineeships, apprenticeships, work experience, supported internships for young people with learning difficulties, and support for employers to take on young people NEET.

ESF funding for young people can be used to help those starting provision, including providing more advice to women to enable them to make important career choices. Any interventions targeting young people still at school must not substitute for provision that schools or local authorities would be expected to provide and must be targeted at those who are at risk of being NEET.

Guiding principles for selection of operations

See text at Investment Priority 1.1

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The MA may consider the use of Financial Instruments in this Investment Priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Priority axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets Investment priority: 8ii - Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people (ESF) in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by Investment Priority and, where appropriate by category of region

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 5 8ii.

Investment Priority 1.3: Youth Employment Initiative

Investment Priority: 1.3 - Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people (YEI), in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
1.3.1	To support the rise in the participation age by providing additional traineeship and apprenticeship opportunities for 15 to 29 year old NEETs in YEI areas, with a particular focus on 15 to 19 year old NEETs.	The additional support from this investment priority will help more young people aged 15 to 29 enter traineeships and apprenticeships. It will be focused on young people in YEI areas, with a particular focus on 15 to 19 year old NEETs. The additional support from this investment will support investment in traineeships and apprenticeships, including improvements to recruitment and assessment and engagement with employers. The main result will be that more young participants aged 15 to 29, male and female, who were NEET are in traineeships or apprenticeships as a result of ESF interventions, and this will support movements into work.
1.3.2	To engage marginalised 15 to 29 year old NEETs in YEI areas and support them to re-engage with education or training, with a particular focus on 15 to 19 year olds.	The additional support from this investment priority will help to find and engage young people in YEI areas, particularly those aged 15 to 19, who are disconnected from mainstream activity. Participants could, for example, be members of gangs, care leavers, young lone parents, ex-offenders or young people with learning difficulties. They are likely to require more intensive and tailored interventions. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will be engaged with education or training on leaving.
1.3.3	To address the basic skills needs of 15 to 29 year old NEETS in YEI areas so that they can compete effectively in the labour market.	The additional support from this investment priority will help 15 to 29 year old NEETs in YEI areas to acquire the basic skills necessary to enable them to progress into an apprenticeship, traineeship or other employment. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will have gained basic skills. There is an output target for participants without basic skills and a result target for participants gaining basic skills.
1.3.4	To provide additional work experience and pre-employment training opportunities to 15 to 29 year old NEETs in YEI areas, with a particular focus on those aged over 18.	The additional support from this investment priority will help unemployed 15 to 29 year olds and particularly those aged 18 to 29 in YEI areas to transition into training or sustainable employment (or self-employment). The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will enter traineeships, apprenticeships or sustainable employment (including self-employment) on leaving.
1.3.5	To support 15 to 29 year old lone parents who are NEET in YEI areas to overcome the barriers they face in participating in the labour market (including childcare).	The additional support from this investment priority will help 15 to 29 year old lone parents who are NEET in YEI areas to move closer to and into sustainable employment (including self-employment). Support will include assistance with childcare when this has not been covered by public provision, such as Universal Credit. It will also help participants to overcome other barriers, such as low basic skills or lack of confidence. The main result will be achieved is that more participants will move into sustainable employment (or self-employment). There is an output target for the number of lone parents.

Table 4a: YEI result indicators and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective

Priority Axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment Priority: 8ii - Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people (YEI) in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 4a 8ii YEI.

Actions to be supported under the investment priority

This investment priority implements the actions supported by YEI resources, which are targeted on NUTS 2 regions with youth unemployment rates above 25% in 2012. There were four in England, Inner London, Merseyside, Tees Valley and Durham, and West Midlands.

In agreement with the Commission (Article 16 ESF Regulations), Member States decided to allocate a limited amount, not exceeding 10% of the funds under YEI to young persons residing in sub regions which experience high youth unemployment levels and which are outside eligible NUTS 3 regions.

The UK has decided to use this flexibility in England only. Therefore, Inner London, Merseyside, Tees Valley and Durham and the West Midlands received 90% of the total YEI funding potentially available to them, and the remaining 10% was allocated to English NUTS3 regions outside the core qualifying regions with a youth unemployment rate in 2012 above 30% in proportion to the numbers of unemployed youth. This applies to Kingston upon Hull, Nottingham, Leicester and Thurrock.

Since these areas also often faced higher unemployment amongst the 25 to 29 year old group, we decided to use the flexibility in the regulations to extend the eligible age range for YEI. This ensured that we used the fixed YEI budget cost effectively despite the falls in youth unemployment since it was calculated. We added an additional output target for this older age range. The other output and result targets all covered the full age range, and we separated the two age groups in our reporting and monitoring.

Participants in YEI provision must be NEET (not in employment, education or training), aged 15 to 29 and reside in an area eligible for the initiative. The definition of NEET for the 2014-2020 ESF Programme is: any young person aged between 15 to 29 who is not currently in any form of employment or undertaking any education or training and is consistent with the definition used by the Office for National Statistics for the statistics they publish on NEETs. Further information is provided in the published programme eligibility rules and supporting programme guidance. It should be noted students are not eligible for YEI support.

This investment priority supports additional provision that complements existing government programmes to tackle youth unemployment and reduce the number of young people NEET.

The YEI supports additional and more intensive provision that meets the needs of individuals and local labour markets. It will not support activities that duplicate or replace existing provision.

Actions in this Investment Priority help to re-engage marginalised young people NEET, including through innovative approaches, customised training and support and volunteering activities. Activities may be focused on specific target groups such as: young lone parents; looked after children and care leavers; carers; ex-offenders; those involved in gangs; and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.

YEI will support traineeships if it is not displacing already planned (and funded) provision and it adheres to the Traineeship Framework for Delivery. For apprenticeships, any activity must comply with the apprenticeship legislation.

Actions in this Investment Priority complement traineeships by enhancing or building on existing and planned traineeship provision through wrap-around activity. It provides additional support for disadvantaged young people beyond the core elements of training (work preparation, English and maths) and work experience. It complements apprenticeships and includes supporting improvements to recruitment, assessment and training.

Support for both traineeships and apprenticeships may include increasing uptake through dedicated marketing or outreach work and supporting individuals to remain on the programme (for example mentoring and paying trainees’ costs, such as transport).

Actions in this Investment Priority will enhance local careers guidance services for young people, including, where appropriate, supplying education and training providers and careers guidance professionals with information on local job options, business developments and local skills shortages. It provides opportunities for local employers to take on young people who are NEET (including those with complex barriers) - including through traineeships, apprenticeships, work experience, supported internships for young people with learning difficulties, and support and information for employers, to establish their requirements and encourage them to take on young people who are NEET.

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The use of financial instruments is not planned in this investment priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Priority Axis: 1: Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment Priority: 8ii - Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people (YEI) in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by Investment Priority and, where appropriate by category of region

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 5 8ii YEI.

Investment Priority 1.4: Active Inclusion

Investment Priority: 1.4: Active Inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
1.4.1	To support people with multiple and complex barriers to participation to address these underlying issues and to move closer to or into the labour market.	The additional support for this investment priority will help people who are distant from the labour market and require intensive support in addressing their multiple, profound and complex barriers to participation in the labour market. The main result will be that people address their complex needs and therefore are better able to engage in labour market activity. There are output targets for disadvantaged sub-groups and result targets for movement into work and increased labour market activity.
1.4.2	To support prisoners in custody and on release, and those without work who are serving sentences in the community, to improve their employability.	The additional support from this investment priority will help to improve employability through basic skills provision, work experience, and addressing chaotic lifestyles, substance abuse and employer discrimination. They will require specialist tailored support which recognises their particular circumstances. There is an output target for offenders. The result to be achieved is that more participants will be in employment (including self-employment) education, training or active job search upon leaving.
1.4.3	To engage marginalised individuals and support them to re-engage with education, training, or in employment.	The additional support from this investment priority will help participants to move into employment, education or training. They will have a range of barriers and will be distant from the labour market or education or training. They will require intensive, tailored support. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will be in education, training or employment upon leaving.

Table 4: Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by investment priority and category of region) (for ESF)

Priority Axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment Priority: 9i - Active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability.

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 4 9i.

Actions to be supported under the investment priority

Instead of simply treating the symptoms, ESF will help to address the root causes of poverty that create barriers to work, and so help more people move closer or into employment. The nature of the issues faced by the most disadvantaged means that barriers to work have to be tackled in a holistic and integrated way, including through supporting early action before problems become entrenched. Outreach activities will be particularly important since some of this group are, by definition, disconnected from existing government services.

ESF will finance integrated packages of support that address gaps in provision to disadvantaged groups and reach those who are not currently receiving support. Investments will help to tackle inactivity particularly by helping disadvantaged groups including workless households overcome barriers, improve their employability and move towards employment.

The Investment Priority will help address a range of issues, and any other barriers to work which individuals face. Many face multiple disadvantages and as a result have chaotic lifestyles which make engaging with support and addressing barriers all the more difficult. But if the underlying issues are not addressed, they will struggle always to move on.

The Investment Priority will complement and add value to other services and funds, especially helping those with more complex barriers move closer to employment. This may include helping those in greatest need of a more consistent service offer and who may require extra support. It may provide additional and more intensive and flexible support identified by Universal Credit Local Support Service partnerships and health and wellbeing boards. This may include actions to help Universal Credit claimants’ progress into the labour market and support their career progression.

Activities at a local level may target specific communities or ethnic minorities with high levels of poverty and social exclusion. This may include spatial targeting in key neighbourhoods where worklessness is persistently high and inter-generational. These actions should raise aspirations and tackle core economic barriers.

The Investment Priority will promote equal opportunities and combat discrimination in the labour market. It includes support for economically inactive women from ethnic minorities, including those with child or elder care responsibilities, and who often face multiple disadvantages. Activities should be designed to respond to the specific needs of participants with disabilities or health conditions, care leavers, migrants, older workers, participants from ethnic minorities and women. Some participants will experience multiple disadvantages, for example older workers with a disability and individuals with mental health issues may face barriers related to their age and disability. Providers should take such multiple disadvantages into account when assessing the needs of participants from all backgrounds when they are designing and delivering activities. They should also work with employers to help integrate people with disabilities and ethnic minorities, and other disadvantaged groups, into the workplace.

The Investment Priority will also provide additional support through the HM Prison and Probation Service to prisoners in custody and on release, and to those without work who are serving sentences in the community, especially from very hard to help groups. These groups often face a range of barriers (low skills, limited work experience, chaotic lifestyles, substance abuse, employer discrimination), which mean they require specialist tailored support which recognises their particular circumstances.

The Investment Priority may also help to tackle specific barriers faced by refugees and migrants and to integrate them into the labour market.

The Investment Priority may also support individuals by supporting the development and growth of social enterprises.

The Investment Priority may also help disadvantaged people access volunteering or job placements in sectors such as low carbon and those dealing with climate change mitigation with the aim of either helping them access any new jobs which emerge in these sectors or use the volunteering or job placements as motivational tools to help people get back to work in other sectors.

Examples of activities that may be supported include:

basic skills and ESOL training, including additional support with basic skills in preparation for apprenticeships
support for those who need pre-traineeship, pre Work Programme assistance, and Work and Health Programme assistance to prepare them for the next step
support complementing other skills provision, such as team working, effective communication, problem solving, critical thinking and self-direction
money management support and advice and financial literacy programmes in order to address deep seated debt issues which make moving from benefit into work more challenging
digital and internet literacy courses to aid job searching, access to benefits and progress in work
volunteering and training opportunities (as a pathway back to work) for marginalised individuals, groups, communities to help them access jobs in low carbon sectors or land drainage flood risk management or work that supports property level protection against flooding
local ‘Community Grant’ type activity to support small scale voluntary sector activity which can be crucial to reaching out to these groups
first contact engagement activities (for example, arranging events in places that people feel comfortable to visit)
local networks and groups to support people to get a job or access learning (for example, Jobs Club or Learning Champion type activity) to provide people with a safe environment and peer support
softer skills development (for example, assertiveness, anger management and motivation)
on-going motivational, holistic support for disadvantaged participants who progress into employment and who need continued support to help them stay in work for longer
volunteering, which is recognised in general terms as a good way to re-engage those furthest from the labour market

To complement other Thematic Objectives, the Investment Priority may support activities that are designed to promote social inclusion whilst also tackling environmental issues such as environmental protection, waste recycling, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. These activities are relevant across all types of territory.

Guiding principles for selection of operations

See text at Investment priority 1.1

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The MA may consider the use of Financial Instruments in this Investment Priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Priority axis: 1: Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment priority: 9i : Active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by investment priority and, where appropriate by category of region

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 5 9i.

Investment Priority 1.5: Community-led Local Development (CLLD)

Investment priority: 1.5: Community-led Local Development strategies

Specific Objective

Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support

To deliver additional, localised support to people in particularly deprived areas, so that they move towards or into employment.

The additional support from this investment priority will help people in deprived areas who are unemployed or inactive to tackle their barriers to work and move towards employment. The main result that will be achieved is that more participants will be in employment (or self-employment) education, training or actively engaged in job search upon leaving. The additional support from this investment priority will help local communities to devise and deliver innovative solutions to local labour market challenges. Participants will be unemployed or inactive and they could face a range of barriers to employment, including age or disability. Projects funded under this Investment Priority will be underpinned by a CLLD Strategy which has been assessed and approved by a National Panel.

Table 4: Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by investment priority and category of region) (for ESF)

Priority Axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment Priority: 9vi Community-led Local Development strategies.

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 4 9vi CLLD.

Actions to be supported under the Investment Priority

In line with the approach outlined in section 4 of this Operational Programme and the government’s approach to integrated territorial development, the use of Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) within the European Social Fund Operational Programme allows for the targeting of activity on specific geographic areas in support of local economic growth.

CLLD will contribute to EU2020 objectives by helping to address the following key issues:

embedding access to opportunities for growth for all areas and groups
addressing persistent levels of unemployment, economic inactivity and poverty, particularly in urban areas
promotion of entrepreneurship and access to local services and amenities

The CLLD arrangements below align with the integrated ESIF CLLD delivery approach set out in the 2014-2020 UK ESIF Growth Programme Partnership Agreement (England Chapter); and the 2014-2020 England European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme.

The CLLD model and EU guidance issued to MAs and stakeholders recognises that such investment is complementary to mainstream programme investment in other Investment Priorities and will require accompanying measures to build community capacity and to ensure that economic opportunities are accessed and embedded locally.

The use of the CLLD instrument is intended to contrast with, add value to and complement mainstream programme provision by facilitating integrated multi-fund investment strategies comprising ESF and ERDF actions in support of investment priorities identified by communities themselves in a bottom-up approach. This approach is intended to enable the community to sustain bottom-up regeneration and economic development capacity over a longer period of time than is typically possible through the use of top down programme delivery activity.

As identified in EU Guidance, the use of the CLLD model itself - involving as it does integrated CLLD strategies and Local Action Groups in decision making and implementation directly - presents the essential ‘niche’ or added value over and above provision under other Investment Priorities. Further information on the implementation of CLLD in England is provided in section 4 of this Operational Programme document.

In terms of specific territories targeted in Transition and More Developed areas CLLD prioritises the needs of areas as identified by reference to the 20% most deprived areas using the England Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). Areas not within the 20% IMD most deprived have been considered for incorporation in the CLLD area only if adjacent to areas within 20% IMD, and where their incorporation links need with opportunity or presents a more coherent functional economic area.

In the Less Developed area the use of IMD is modulated to ensure 70% of CLLD resource targets areas within 30% IMD most deprived areas. As above, the remaining 30% of resource has been available to target areas outside of 30% IMD most deprived only where they are adjacent, where their incorporation links need with opportunity or presents a more coherent functional economic geography. This modulation reflects the specific challenges and opportunities faced in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This involved close analysis of CLLD investment strategies in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and underpinning intervention logic with reference to the IMD.

The government requires that Community-Led Local Development under the England Growth Programme must:

focus upon sub-regional areas at a level below LEP area boundaries with a population of not less than 10,000 and not more than 150,000
prioritise areas identified as being in the most deprived 20% areas by reference to the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 in More Developed and Transition Area
prioritise those areas identified in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly as being in the 30% most deprived areas by reference to the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010
be led by Local Action Groups representing public, private and local socio-economic interests
complement but not duplicate LEADER LAG and EMFF LAG activity
adopt integrated and multi-sectoral strategies with a public sector contribution in the region of EUR 3m per CLLD Strategy
be driven by local needs and potential as identified by the community through the Local Action Group
be innovative at local level

Community-Led Local Development employs a bottom-up approach to identifying both need and solutions. Most activity is expected to take place within urban areas, which face the most serious disadvantage. Local Action Groups (LAGs) which comprise partnerships of public, private and civil society sectors, develop and drive the delivery of a CLLD Local Development Strategy. These must support the delivery of the local ESI Fund(s) and the respective Operational Programmes.

In line with European Commission Regulations 1303/2013 and 1304/2013, ESF support for CLLD in England is programmed using Thematic Objective 9 resource and therefore directly addresses issues of social exclusion and poverty.

However, in line with the Common Provision Regulation and in particular Articles 32 to 35 of European Commission Regulation 1303/2013, CLLD Local Development Strategies are able to deliver activities under Thematic Objectives 8 and 10. All activities must be justified in the context of the ESF Operational Programme in pursuit of coherent, social, economic and sustainable growth, and add value to mainstream and ESF activity being delivered locally.

The main objective of ESF CLLD activity is to deliver additional, localised support to people in particularly deprived areas, so that they move towards or into employment. This is generally in the context of support for marginalised groups and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.

ESF funded CLLD activity is expected to be delivered through either a single ESF mono-fund Local Action Group (LAG) strategy or a multi-fund LAG strategy which incorporates ESF alongside the ERDF programme. This does not preclude single ESF Mono-fund LAG proposals from being submitted. CLLD strategies are considered and approved at a local LEP area level.

Within either option it is expected that through local community driven approaches, ESF CLLD LAG activity tackles a broad range of issues that are barriers to labour market participation. These include for example: caring responsibilities; debt; digital exclusion; drug and alcohol dependency; poor basic skills; as well as life skills; lack of motivation and confidence; family, parenting and relationship problems; health, mental health and well-being problems; homelessness; learning difficulties and disabilities; offending; isolation issues faced by individuals and where needed support for childcare.

All activity must address specific locally identified needs in support of growth at community level. This is to ensure interventions add value to local strategies which cannot adequately be met through mainstream ESI Fund programme provision and are more tailored to local area characteristics and need, empowering people across the community and providing longer term sustainable outcomes.

ESF CLLD activity focuses on delivering clear added value to any other ESI Fund provision managed by the LAG; and through appropriate local governance structures and delivery mechanisms - complementing other local area growth focused interventions from within the Growth programme and beyond.

CLLD priorities and activities are determined locally from the communities themselves. Examples of ESF CLLD activities include:

stimulating local economies to deliver jobs and growth, including innovative activity to tackle multiple deprivation and specific local barriers to accessing employment and skills faced by groups and individuals farthest from the labour market
providing individual pathways to integration and re-entry into employment, for example through developing links between disadvantaged groups and local employers, the social economy, social enterprises and intermediaries able to provide information, advice and guidance on employment and self-employment options
improving the integration of marginalised families and communities
combating discriminations in local areas that are based on gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
reducing employment barriers linked to social and economic isolation, for example by addressing health and transport issues and increasing access to information and sources of advice on issues such as debt and money management
improving low level skills amongst young people NEET and adults, including communication, ICT and digital skills
facilitating community participation and engagement, including community leadership and peer support programmes
on-going motivational, holistic support for disadvantaged participants who progress into employment and who need continued support to help them stay in work for longer
stimulating local economies to deliver jobs and growth in areas often affected by industrial decline – for example ex-mining communities
support for the development of community and social capacity building, including social enterprise and through investment in developing high growth start-ups
stimulating local level collaboration amongst citizens, small businesses and other local economic bodies
addressing poor linkages between areas of deprivation with nearby areas of high economic growth and job opportunities

In multi-fund LAG areas, the European Social Fund activities listed above are complemented by integrated use of the European Regional Development Fund within the local CLLD strategy itself. Whilst European Social Fund investment broadly delivers additional, localised support to people in particularly deprived areas, so that they move towards or into employment; revenue and capital focused European Regional Development Fund investment targets broadly the needs of the community and small and medium enterprises. For example:

small equipment grant
tailored business support activity, mentoring, coaching, information, advice and guidance

Guiding Principles for the Selection of Operations

CLLD will not represent a simple mechanism for pre-allocation or financial redistribution at sub-LEP geographies as resources will only be awarded following selection through a competitive process and the approval of a CLLD investment strategy - and associated financial allocation - as part of that selection process. The Managing Authorities will specifically assess this aspect to ensure the principle is respected.

Further information is provided in CLLD guidance published on GOV.UK.

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The use of financial instruments is not planned in this investment priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Priority Axis: 1: Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment Priority: 9vi Community-led local development strategies.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by Investment Priority and, where appropriate by category of region

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 5 9vi CLLD.

The Operational Programme will promote social innovation, in particular with the aim of testing, evaluating and scaling up innovative solutions, including at local or regional level, to address societal challenges in partnership with all the relevant partners from the private, public and VCSE sectors. Social innovation may be implemented within priority axis 1 or 2, rather than through a dedicated priority axis.

Examples of themes for social innovation which may be supported within this priority axis are:

supporting activities and initiatives to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty and exclusion by helping unemployed and inactive enter sustainable employment and providing support to low skilled workers to increase their opportunities for better paid employment
developing provision and new opportunities for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups
developing innovative approaches to integrating young people into the labour market, especially those who are NEET
addressing labour market issues related to demographic change and health
promoting gender equality
supporting community-based approaches to promoting employment and social inclusion, including approaches focused specifically on rural or urban areas
creating new tools, services, techniques and business models to increase labour market participation and promote social inclusion
support innovations in procurement in line with the Social Value Acts
creating new tools, services, techniques and business models to improve workforce skills
creating on-going motivational and or holistic support for disadvantaged participants who progress into employment and who need continued support to help them stay in work for longer
developing new approaches to delivering basic skills in a way that meets individual and business needs
developing new approaches to address the intermediate, advanced and higher skills needs of businesses
developing the local skills base
addressing the skills needs of an ageing population
supporting entrepreneurs, developing social enterprise, promoting self-employment and encouraging a culture of entrepreneurship

Other themes, within the scope of the priority axis, may emerge during the life of the programme.

Contribution to thematic objectives 1-7

This priority axis will contribute to thematic objectives 1 – 7 by increasing the supply of labour available to the sectors covered by these thematic objectives, through actions to improve the employability and skills of unemployed, inactive and disadvantaged people. For example, ESF will be able to train unemployed and inactive people in skills needed for jobs in a low carbon economy which would enable them to benefit from employment opportunities generated by thematic objective 4.

Transnational co-operation.

Arrangements for transnational co-operation are described in section 4.

Table 6: Performance framework of the priority axis

This information can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables: table 6.

Additional qualitative information on the establishment of the performance framework (optional)

Approach to financial indicators

The 2023 target values are simply equal to the total funding available in the priority axis by category of region.

For the 2018 target values, we looked at the rate of spend in the 2007 to 2013 programme. The Operational Programme was adopted at the end of September 2015 and we anticipated that amounts of payment claims submitted in early 2019 which correspond to expenditure incurred and paid by beneficiaries in 2018 could be counted in addition to payment claims submitted to the Commission in 2018. This means that there will be 3 years between the date of adoption and the last spending which can be included. In 2007 to 13 the OP was adopted at the end of August 2007. We therefore looked at spend up to the end of July 2010.

The spend in this period was €656,830,331. This was 21% of the programme value - €3,089,886,379.

We intended to apply that rate (21%) to the main allocation (for instance excluding the performance reserve which we cannot assume we have access to) in the 2014 to 2020 programme, to calculate the spend by 2018, rounding to the nearest €1m. The ex-ante evaluator’s advice was that we should apply a percentage reduction to take account of the fact that there is more change in our delivery arrangements between 2007 to 2013 and 2014 to 2020 than there was between 2000 to 2006 and 2007 to 2013, which will mean a slightly slower start. We don’t have firm evidence on which to base this, so have applied a modest reduction by 1 percentage point to 20%.

The ex-ante evaluator also asked whether it was sensible to assume the same rate of spend in all priorities. We have concluded that we should have a different target approach for PA 2, based on delivery of the programme.

Although the Operational Programme was adopted in September 2015, there was a staggered start to the programme. Priority Axis 1 provision was deliberately prioritised to ensure there was no gap in provision from the 2007-13 programme. The MA deliberately delayed the start of PA 2 provision for around 12 months. Therefore, PA 2 didn’t begin operating until around September 2016. We anticipate that amounts of payment claims submitted in early 2019 which correspond to expenditure incurred and paid by beneficiaries in 2018 could be counted in addition to payment claims submitted to the Commission in 2018. This means that there will be 2 years between the date of PA 2 projects starting and the last spending which can be included. In 2007-13 the OP was adopted at the end of August 2007. We have therefore looked at spend up to the end of August 2009.

The spend in this period was €291,332,158. This is 9.43% of the programme value - €3,089,886,379.

We intend to apply that rate, rounded to the nearest half percent (9.5%), to the main allocation (for instance excluding the performance reserve which we cannot assume we have access to) in the 2014-20 programme, to calculate the spend by 2018, rounding to the nearest €1m (Table 2 shows both ESF only and total expenditure figures).

We have then compared that to the amount required to meet N+3 targets, taking into account the pre-financing payments. This is comfortably above the €472m which we would need to spend in these priorities in order to meet the 2018 N+3 target.

Approach to output indicators

In line with the guidance that the output indicators have to relate to operations representing the majority of the resources in the priority axis and should be as few as possible, we have chosen to use “total participants” as the output indicator for each priority axis in each category of region.

The 2023 target values are a sum of the total participant target values set out in the Operational Programme against each investment priority. In priority axis 1 we have excluded the participants in investment priority 9vi CLLD. This is a new instrument, and we have less evidence on which to base our target setting and are therefore less confident at this stage (in advance of agreeing local development strategies) in the output target we have proposed.

This exclusion means that the output indicator for Priority Axis 1 covers 96% of the allocation. These percentages vary by category of region, but the proportion covered by the performance framework output indicator exceeds 50% in all cases.

For the 2018 target values we have simply assumed that there will be a correlation between spend and participants and have therefore followed the logic of the financial assumptions. We have therefore first reduced the 2023 targets to take account of the performance reserve (deducting 6%), and then assumed we will achieve 20% of that target by the end of 2018.

The ex-ante evaluator suggested we also look at the rate at which participants were recorded in the 2007-13 programme. We have looked back at the first 2 to 3 years of the programme, and realised that these were the years when the programme was most affected by the recession and the participant figures were therefore distorted by our move to a greater quantity of lower unit costs provision. We have therefore decided that using this evidence would be inappropriate for the 2014-20 programme.

The information in the tables listed below can be found in Priority Axis 1 data tables under the relevant sheet:

table 7: dimension 1 intervention field
table 8: dimension 2 form of finance
table 9: dimension 3 territory type
table 10: dimension 4 territorial delivery mechanisms
table 11: dimension 6 ESF secondary theme (ESF and YEI only)

Question 3

Priority Axis 2: Skills for Growth

Accepted Answer

This Priority Axis aims to support skills for growth. It will support the following investment priorities:

enhancing equal access to lifelong learning (2.1). This focuses on improving the skills of individuals to meet their goals and the needs of the local economy, primarily training, advising or supporting individuals, including those in and out of work who may be at risk due to skills deficiencies or facing redundancy
improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems (2.2). This focuses on improving employer participation and engagement in learning so that it is responsive to the needs of the local economy and more individual’s progress into or within learning. This is primarily about improving partnerships and systems

These Investment Priorities are from Thematic Objectives 10 (skills). However, the Priority Axes will contribute indirectly to Thematic Objectives 8 and 9 by training people in skills that reflect the more fluid movement between out-of-work and in-work and the need to ensure skills provision reaches those who need it. Through this, the priority axes aim to sustain and enhance peoples’ employment prospects and reduce their risk of social exclusion.

The Priority Axis covers all three Categories of Region in order to improve the effectiveness of the programme by simplifying the programme and to make it easier for potential applicants and the wider public to understand what ESF exists to achieve. Many of the skills needs of individuals are broadly similar across different areas. The categories are defined on the basis of GDP, but in many cases the skills challenges in more developed regions are the same or more significant than those in other categories.

Investment Priority 2.1: Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning

Investment Priority: 2.1- Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning for all age groups in formal, non-formal and informal settings, upgrading the knowledge, skills and competences of the workforce, and promoting flexible learning pathways including through career guidance and validation of acquired competences.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
2.1.1	To address the basic skills needs of employed people, particularly in SMEs and Micro businesses.	The additional support from this investment priority will help employed people to gain basic skills. It will also improve the capacity of SMEs and micro businesses and support business growth. We have set an output target for the number of participants without basic skills and a result target for participants gaining basic skills.
2.1.2	To increase skills levels of employed people from the existing level to the next level up, to encourage progression in employment.	The additional support from this investment priority will help employed people to progress at work through achieving higher skills, and it will drive growth in their organisation by improving productivity. We have set result targets for participants gaining qualifications or units – separate targets for level 2 and level 3.
2.1.3	To increase the number of people with technical and job specific skills, particularly at level 3 and above and into higher and advanced level apprenticeships, to support business growth.	The main result will be achieved is that more participants will have gained a qualification or a unit of qualification. This investment priority will also support business growth through the development of a more highly skilled workforce. We have set a result target for participants gaining qualifications or units at level 3 or above.
2.1.4	To increase the skills levels of employed women to encourage progression in employment help address the gender employment and wage gap.	The additional support from this investment priority will support women in raising the level of their skills, helping them to progress in employment or self-employment and achieve higher earnings. There is a result target about progression in work. This investment priority will also contribute to supporting business growth through the development of a more highly skilled workforce.

Priority Axis: 2 - Skills for Growth

Investment Priority: 10iii - Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning for all age groups in formal, non-formal and informal settings, upgrading the knowledge, skills and competences of the workforce, and promoting flexible learning pathways including through career guidance and validation of acquired competences.

Table 4: Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by investment priority and category of region) (for ESF)

This information can be found in Priority Axis 2 data tables: table 4 10iii.

Actions to be supported under the investment priority

ESF will be used to tackle the need to improve skills in England at all levels including basic, intermediate and higher levels according to the needs of the local area, to drive and support productivity and growth. ESF can be used to support skills at any level, but it is important that it complements and does not duplicate existing policies and provision. It should not displace the investment that employers and individuals make in training and ESF will not subsidise training that would otherwise be funded by business or government.

Full qualifications at level 3 and above are generally provided for in mainstream policy by grants and loans for individuals. It is not appropriate for ESF to be used to replace government-funded loans and grants, to meet the requirement that ESF should not be used to replace government funding. However, in exceptional circumstances there may be a case for allowing such an investment to take place, for example where a local specific need and, or market failure has been demonstrated and where it falls within the ESF priority objectives. Any case submitted for consideration will be assessed on its individual merits but exemptions are expected to be very limited.

ESF funding must be targeted where there is clear justification for intervention financed by public expenditure. Targeting should take account of the existing mainstream funding of skills and how ESF can effectively support and provide additionally to significant levels of public funding in this area. This may include:

skills shortages or needs in particular sectors or local areas which are not currently being addressed by employers or individuals
leadership and management training in small and medium size enterprises (up to 250 employees)
training and support for people at all levels, in particular addressing the needs of disadvantaged groups in and out of the workplace
access to learning; information about learning and skills
brokerage of opportunities between learners and employers

ESF will not substitute for investment in training that would otherwise be funded by employers or individuals, or is a statutory requirement. The specific need for intervention in each local area is set out in LEP area European Structural and Investment Funds strategies. Examples of activities that will be supported within this investment priority are set out below:

Basic and low level skills

basic skills interventions to support progression and generate opportunity
additional or innovative approaches to training in a vocational context for those with low level skills in Maths, English and ICT, to support them in finding work or progressing in work; and to enable them to achieve vocational qualifications and continue to up-skill
skills training for people facing in work poverty to help them progress and increase their pay and working hours or obtain better quality higher paid jobs and move out of poverty (includes support for part-time workers – mostly female – who wish to upskill to work longer hours and, or progress within work)
support for generic skills such as customer handling, team working, and communication
tailored training and lifelong learning opportunities for older people
skills support for traineeships and apprenticeships including improvements to recruitment and assessment
support for informal learning and community-based learning

Support for progression in work

support for part-time workers, most of whom are female, who want to up-skill in order to access jobs, careers which offer longer working hours
training to support the career progression of women including to leadership and management roles, especially in SMEs
support for intermediate, technical and advanced vocational provision for career progression
funding development costs and contributing to delivery costs of vocational short courses designed to help low skilled employees to progress to higher value employment (particularly where this targets groups under-represented in higher skill roles)

Tackling disadvantage

funding outreach activity, including taster courses to disadvantaged individuals to help improve take up and retention. This might include the cost of participation in summer schools or work-based access courses
funding development of new outreach activity, including taster or access courses, particularly where this is being co-designed with intermediaries or representatives of target groups and, or involves innovative approaches
funding development of new methods of delivering learning to reach remote learners (including e-learning and local delivery in non-traditional venues) where this does not duplicate mainstream activity
financial and or bursary support targeted at disadvantaged individuals , specifically for course related costs demonstrated as being a barrier to accessing learning (but not tuition fees, or costs covered by government grants and loan schemes or learning, learner support packages)
support for the most disadvantaged recipients of advanced skills provision by funding additional learning support for under-represented groups where this activity can be demonstrated to enhance retention and attainment
increase participation where there are current or predicted skills shortages, particularly to address the needs of SMEs with growth potential or to target under-represented groups
funding costs of specific modules (additional to the core credit-bearing element of higher education programmes) designed to prepare under-graduates and graduates for employment or self-employment
funding specific activity (development or delivery) targeted at increasing the employability of particular groups which have lower employment rates and face particular barriers to gaining employment (for example those with a disability)

Support for wider career choices

additional advice and guidance with a focus on improving understanding of employment opportunities in the local labour market, for example providing more targeted advice to women that helps them make important career choices
initiatives to promote participation by women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) provision

Intermediate and advanced (higher level) skills

support for intermediate, technical and advanced skills for specific industries and sectors identified as driving growth in local economies in support of other relevant thematic objectives
skills and training packages in response to redundancies (including earlier support to companies, as well as when redundancy occurs)
skills support, especially for low paid workers to help them learn new low carbon skills, including retrofitting for the low carbon sectors
funding development costs and contributing to delivery costs of vocational short courses designed to enable progress onto advanced courses or access good quality employment
supporting activity to develop self-employment or entrepreneurial skills to start and grow a business or social enterprise
develop skills to meet future needs (for example, in relation to new technology, construction or production methods or responding to restructuring, diversification)

Where appropriate, training may complement activities delivered within the thematic objectives relating to innovation, low carbon, climate change, ICT and SME competitiveness, especially where improving intermediate, technical and advanced skills can contribute to these thematic objectives.

Guiding principles for selection of operations

See text at Investment Priority 1.1.

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The MA may consider the use of Financial Instruments in this Investment Priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Priority axis: 2 - Skills for Growth

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Investment Priority: 10iii - Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning for all age groups in formal, non-formal and informal settings, upgrading the knowledge, skills and competences of the workforce, and promoting flexible learning pathways including through career guidance and validation of acquired competences.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by Investment Priority and, where appropriate by Category of Region

This information can be found in Priority Axis 2 data tables: table 5 10iii.

Investment Priority 2.2: Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems

Investment Priority 2.2: Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems, facilitating the transition from education to work, and strengthening vocational education and training systems and their quality, including through mechanisms for skills anticipation, adaptation of curricula and the establishment and development of work based learning systems, including dual learning systems and apprenticeship schemes

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
2.2.1	To promote improvements in the labour market relevance of skills provision through active engagement with relevant institutions and employers, particularly SMEs and Micro businesses.	The additional support from this investment priority will enable the design of skills provision which will help individuals gain skills and qualifications relevant to the needs of the labour market.

Priority Axis: 2 - Skills for Growth

Investment Priority: 10iv - Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems facilitating the transition from education to work, and strengthening vocational education and training systems and their quality, including through mechanisms for skills anticipation, adaptation of curricula and the establishment and development of work based learning systems, including dual learning systems and apprenticeship schemes.

Table 4: Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by Investment Priority and Category of Region) (for ESF)

This information can be found in Priority Axis 2 data tables: table 4 10iv.

Actions to be supported under this Investment Priority

To maximise its contribution to smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth, ESF will support projects that make education and training provision more responsive to the needs of the economy, so that employers’ skills needs are more quickly and more effectively met, and individuals receive better designed skills provision which equips them for the world of work.

ESF will not fund activity that duplicates or cuts across national policy on grants and loans for tuition for skills activities. Exemptions to this principle will be considered only where a market failure has been demonstrated and where the activity falls within the scope of the Operational Programme.

Activities to be supported within this investment priority include:

support for collaborative projects, placements, internships, or other activities with SMEs that enable students and graduates to gain industry relevant experience and skills
building capacity in SMEs to provide project, placement, internship opportunities and enhance the contribution of advanced skills to SME growth, including programmes to specifically engage the most disadvantaged groups or those who face particular local disadvantages in utilising advanced skills
brokering opportunities to encourage and increase work experience, work placements, traineeships, apprenticeships, and graduate placements particularly through wider employer engagement and involving supply chains
promoting apprenticeships (especially at advanced levels in manufacturing and other priority sectors) by developing a supportive environment for employer engagement
developing better links with business to equip students with the skills to start and grow a business to meet local business needs

Where appropriate, training may complement activities delivered within the thematic objectives relating to innovation, low carbon, climate change, ICT and SME competitiveness, especially where improving intermediate and advanced skills can contribute to these thematic objectives. The focus on SMEs complements ERDF priorities, reflects the lower level of leadership, management and enterprise skills in smaller businesses and takes account of the fact that larger businesses in the UK are already eligible for skills support.

Guiding principles for selection of operations

See text at Investment Priority 1.1

Planned use of Financial Instruments (where appropriate)

The use of financial instruments is not planned in this Investment Priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Priority axis 2: Skills for Growth

Investment Priority 10iv: Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems facilitating the transition from education to work, and strengthening vocational education and training systems and their quality, including through mechanisms for skills anticipation, adaptation of curricula and the establishment and development of work based learning systems, including dual learning systems and apprenticeship schemes.

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by Investment Priority and, where appropriate by Category of Region

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

This information can be found in Priority Axis 2 data tables: table 5 10iv

As referenced throughout this document, the ESF will promote social innovation, in particular with the aim of testing, evaluating, and scaling up innovative solutions, including at local or regional level, to address social needs, in partnership with the relevant partners and, in particular, social partners. Social innovation may be implemented within Priority Axis 1 or 2, rather than through a dedicated priority axis.

Examples of themes for social innovation which may be supported within Priority Axis 2 and which apply to all Categories of Region include:

creating new tools, services, techniques, and business models to improve workforce skills
developing new approaches to delivering basic skills in a way that meets individual and business needs
developing new approaches to address the intermediate, advanced, and higher skills needs of businesses
developing the local skills base
addressing the skills needs of an ageing population
supporting entrepreneurs, developing social enterprise, promoting self-employment and encouraging a culture of entrepreneurship
developing leadership and management skills
developing intermediate and higher level skills
supporting the delivery of employer owned training solutions
enhancing access to Apprenticeships and Traineeships
promoting opportunities for entrepreneurship, business start-up, self-employment and social enterprise
developing better links between education, training providers and business

In relation to Thematic Objective 1 (strengthening research, technological development and innovation), ESF could contribute specifically by developing science and technology skills, including by creating centres of excellence in key sectors and strengthening links with business.

In relation to Thematic Objective 2 (enhancing access to, and use and quality of, ICT) ESF could contribute specifically by improving ICT skills, and developing and delivering skills provision relevant to the use and exploitation of digital technology.

In relation to Thematic Objective 3 (enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs), ESF could contribute specifically through skills programmes aimed at SMEs: leadership and management training; mentoring, coaching initiatives; advice, guidance and information; and providing placement or internship opportunities.

In terms of Thematic Objective 4 (supporting the shift towards a low carbon economy in all sectors), ESF could contribute specifically by developing skills to deliver innovation and adoption of low carbon technologies; developing more training provision for low carbon transition; and developing new and alternative skills for construction.

In terms of Thematic Objective 5 (promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management) and 6 (preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency) ESF could contribute specifically through skills training for green jobs and technologies.

Performance Framework

Table 6: Performance framework of the priority axis

This information can be found in the Priority Axis 2 data tables: table 6.

Additional qualitative information on the establishment of the performance framework (optional)

Approach to Financial indicators

The 2023 target values are simply equal to the total funding available in the Priority Axis by Category of Region.

For the 2018 target values we have looked at the rate of spend in the 2007 to 2013 programme. The Operational Programme was adopted at the end of September 2015 and we anticipated that amounts of payment claims submitted in early 2019 which correspond to expenditure incurred and paid by beneficiaries in 2018 could be counted in addition to payment claims submitted to the Commission in 2018. This means that there will be 3 years between the date of adoption and the last spending which can be included. In 2007 to 2013 the OP was adopted at the end of August 2007. We have therefore looked at spend up to the end of July 2010.

The spend in this period was €656,830,331. This is 21% of the programme value - €3,089,886,379.

We intended to apply that rate (21%) to the main allocation (for instance excluding the performance reserve which we cannot assume we have access to) in the 2014-20 programme, to calculate the spend by 2018, rounding to the nearest €1m (Table 2 shows both ESF only and total expenditure figures). The ex-ante evaluator’s advice was that we should apply a percentage reduction to take account of the fact that there is more change in our delivery arrangements between 2007-13 and 2014-20 than there was between 2000-06 and 2007-13, which will mean a slightly slower start. We don’t have firm evidence on which to base this, so have applied a modest reduction by 1 percentage point to 20%.

The ex-ante evaluator also asked whether it was sensible to assume the same rate of spend in all priorities. We have concluded that we should have a different target approach for PA2, based on the delivery of the programme.

Although the Operational Programme was adopted in September 2015, there was a staggered start to the programme. Priority Axis 1 provision was deliberately prioritised to ensure there was no gap in provision from the 2007-13 programme. The MA deliberately delayed the start of PA 2 provision for around 12 months. Therefore, PA 2 didn’t begin operating until around September 2016. We anticipated that amounts of payment claims submitted in early 2019 which correspond to expenditure incurred and paid by beneficiaries in 2018 could be counted in addition to payment claims submitted to the Commission in 2018.This means that there will be 2 years between the date of PA 2 projects starting and the last spending which can be included. In 2007-13 the OP was adopted at the end of August 2007. We have therefore looked at spend up to the end of August 2009.

The spend in this period was €291,332,158. This is 9.43% of the programme value - €3,089,886,379.

We intend to apply that rate, rounded to the nearest half percent (9.5%), to the main allocation (for instance excluding the performance reserve which we cannot assume we have access to) in the 2014-20 programme, to calculate the spend by 2018, rounding to the nearest €1m (Table 2 shows both ESF only and total expenditure figures).

We have then compared that to the amount required to meet N+3 targets, taking into account the pre-financing payments. This is comfortably above the €472m which we would need to spend in these priorities in order to meet the 2018 N+3 target.

Approach to output indicators

In line with the guidance that the output indicators have to relate to operations representing the majority of the resources in the priority axis and should be as few as possible, we have chosen to use “total participants” as the output indicator for each priority axis in each category of region.

The 2023 target values are a sum of the total participant target values set out in the Operational Programme against each investment priority. In priority axis 2, we have excluded investment priority 10iv since the output measure here is enterprises rather than participants.

This exclusion means that the output indicator for Priority 2 covers 82% of the allocation. These percentages vary by category of region, but the proportion covered by the performance framework output indicator exceeds 50% in all cases.

For the 2018 target values we have simply assumed that there will be a correlation between spend and participants and have therefore followed the logic of the financial assumptions. We have therefore first reduced the 2023 targets to take account of the performance reserve (deducting 6%), and then assumed we will achieve 20% of that target by the end of 2018.

The ex-ante evaluator suggested we look at the rate at which participants were recorded in the 2007-13 programme. We looked back at the first 2-3 years of the programme and realised that these were the years when the programme was most affected by the recession and the participant figures were therefore distorted by our move to a greater quantity of lower unit costs provision. We therefore decided that using this evidence would be inappropriate for the 2014-20 programme.

2.A.9 Categories of intervention

All the information contained in the tables below can be found in the Priority Axis 2 data tables under the relevant table:

table 7: dimension 1 intervention field
table 8: dimension 2 form of finance
table 9: dimension 3 territory type
table 10: dimension 4 territorial delivery mechanisms
table 11: dimension 6 ESF secondary theme (ESF and YEI only)

Question 4

Priority axis 3: Technical Assistance

Accepted Answer

This priority axis covers all three categories of region because the Operational Programme and other priority axes cover them all, and therefore some Technical Assistance actions will need to be taken across the whole of the programme territory. A single priority axis responds to the need to set up a single IT system together with single managing and audit authorities that will work across categories of regions in order to enhance operational efficiency. Activities such as evaluation, information and communication are also better handled across all types of regions.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
3.1	To ensure that the activities which fall within the scope of the programme are managed, monitored and evaluated in line with the Common Provisions Regulation, European Social Fund Regulation and the Commission’s delegated and implementing regulations.	This specific objective aims to ensure that the programme is delivered efficiently and effectively. The key measure evidenced through the annual audit authority control report is an unqualified audit opinion from the Audit Authority, which is accepted without reservation by the European Commission. Our objective is to keep the error rate below a threshold of 2%, on both an annual and cumulative basis.

Table 12 Programme specific result indicators

Priority axis 3: Technical Assistance

Specific objective 3.1: To ensure that the activities which fall within the scope of the programme are managed, monitored and evaluated in line with the Common Provisions Regulation, European Social Fund Regulation and the Commission’s delegated and implementing regulations.

2.B.5 Result indicators

Table 12: Programme-specific result indicators (by specific objective)(for ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund)

This information can be found in Priority Axis 3 data tables: table 12.

Actions to be supported and their expected contribution to the specific objectives

Technical Assistance actions support the delivery of priority axes within the Operational Programme across all categories of region. Where the Managing Authority is the beneficiary, there must be clear separation of duties. Technical assistance is also made available to intermediate bodies to cover tasks delegated to them. It is also available to Local Action Groups for CLLD as preparatory support. Salary costs, subject to the Human Resources and remuneration policies of the employing organisation, will be incurred within all activities below, enhancing the capacity to achieve the overall objectives.

Programme management

Effective Programme management requires that the programme organisation and structure, roles and responsibilities and reporting arrangements are well defined and implemented. Good programme management also means that advice and support is made available (including specialist and technical expertise) when required. Examples of activities include:

preparation, management, monitoring and implementation of the programme, including appraisal, contract management, monitoring and verification audit
actions to control against fraud
specialist advice and support including legal and financial expertise
provision of secretariat support and coordination of the GPB (Growth Programme Board), the thematic, technical and local sub committees, and relevant ad hoc groups established to support the delivery of the programme
provision of advice and support to help embed the horizontal principles of sustainable development, equal opportunities and gender equality using appropriate expertise to grow the understanding, commitment and capacity of management bodies and beneficiaries
acquisition, installation and maintenance of the necessary IT hardware and software to support programme and project management which complies with EU and UK e-cohesion requirements
production of high quality programme management information to facilitate monitoring, decision making and programme operation
preparation of reports, including annual implementation reports, to the Commission

Programme Development and Capacity Building

Robust governance, accountability and partnership engagement are key elements of programme management good practice. Technical Assistance will be used to ensure that the Programme develops effectively and that management bodies, staff, partners, applicants and suppliers are aware of their responsibilities. Possible activities include:

technical advice and support for project development activity to help ensure that the requirements of EU regulations and national guidance are incorporated within project design
training and development of MA, IB and beneficiary staff, and relevant partners including members of the GPB and of the sub committees
support for Civil Society networks to assist participation of voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in the programme
support and advice to LAGs and local partners on development and delivery of CLLD Local Development Strategies

Programme analysis, monitoring and evaluation

Robust governance and accountability requires that programme related analysis, monitoring and evaluation form an integral part of programme delivery. Examples of activities include:

baseline data provision to measure programme performance, particularly results and output indicators and value for money
policy and socio-economic analysis updates to facilitate production of the Annual Implementation Reports
cohort surveys to measure long-term indicators
evaluation studies at suitable intervals
development of research and evaluation expertise through training
an independent evaluator to include assessment of the programme’s horizontal principles as part of planned evaluations and to update the equality analysis as required during the lifetime of the programme (assessments to be shared with key external partners)
studies to support the preparation or impact assessment of specific projects as necessary
implementation and impact evaluations linked to the monitoring of the programme
additional monitoring support, if required, to comply with EU regulations
on-going review and refinement of European Structural Investment Fund strategies by relevant partners

Information and publicity

Publicity forms an integral part of the programming strategy, and the Managing Authority will ensure that the activities and benefits of the funds are communicated to the wider public. To help achieve this, a joint ESF and ERDF communication strategy will be established for the ESI Fund programmes, to be ratified by the GPB. The delivery of the strategy within the ESF programme will be led by the Managing Authority with support from Intermediate Bodies, Opt-In Organisations, the HMPPS and other national and local partners (who will have a key role to play in contributing to its implementation). All projects are required to comply with the publicity requirements of EU regulations. Examples of activities to reach a wide range of target audiences at national and local level and that could be supported by ESF Technical Assistance include:

developing and maintaining a website portal or bespoke, enhanced website content to help publicise the activities, achievements and impact from the ESF funding stream
developing effective channels for communication and publicity, such as booklets, marketing material, bespoke newsletters, films, media content and social media feeds, to be used to target and engage a range of audiences
guidance and pro-active monitoring to ensure all projects adhere to the publicity requirements
promotional events and activities to launch the programme, publicise calls for proposals, recognise programme milestones, showcase ESF activities and achievements at different levels of delivery, and disseminate best practice
supporting partners in communicating programme and project activities in their own and across other areas
promoting cooperation, networking and exchange of best practice which could include sharing of best practice between Local Enterprise Partnership areas as well as other European Union funding programmes

The above activities may potentially be aligned with similar activities being funded through ERDF Technical Assistance.

Preparation for the 2021 to 2027 programming period

To develop a robust Programme compliant with EU regulations, technical assistance will be used specifically but not exclusively to support the following types of activities:

support for the completion of the ex-ante evaluation, alongside the development, preparation and negotiation of Operational Programme(s)
the review of current IT provision
research and evaluation to strengthen the evidence base and rationale of future ESI Fund priorities and analyse options, as well as the business processes and management arrangements required to administer the Programme(s)
administrative support to develop 2021 to 2027 Programme development as appropriate

This section bears no prejudice to the UK’s decision to invoke article 50 of the TFEU in 2017.

Table 13: Output indicators (by priority axis for ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund)

This information can be found in Priority Axis 3 data tables: table 13.

Priority Axis 3: Technical Assistance

2.B.6.2 Output indicators expected to contribute to results (by priority axis)

This information can be found in:

table 13: output indicators
table 14: dimension 1 intervention field
table 15: dimension 2 form of finance
table 16: dimension 3 territory type

Question 5

Priority Axis 4: COVID-19 response

Accepted Answer

As part of its response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe, the European Commission has made provision for Member States to request that 100% co-financing rate is applied to expenditure declared in payment applications during the accounting year starting on 1 July 2020 and ending on 30 June 2021. The Managing Authority has considered the easement in the context of the objectives and implementation of the existing Operational Programme and has consulted and worked closely with Partners to identify how best to implement the easement and maximise the potential to fund support which will help overcome the impacts of the pandemic.

This Priority Axis has been established to specifically fund support needs which respond directly to the impacts of COVID-19. In line with the terms of the easement, the Priority Axis is valid for the European Commission’s 2020 to 2021 Financial Year only. The actions that can be supported by ESF must be completed and all expenditure defrayed by the 31 December 2020. It supports the following Investment Priority:

Priority Axis 4.1: To address the digital divide, by providing access to information and services, through digital technologies.

The additional support from this investment priority will help digitally marginalised people to gain access to online services and information. It will also improve the capacity of people to engage in the digital society, including helping them to stay engaged throughout any further local, national restrictions due to COVID-19.

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
4.1	To address the digital divide, by providing access to information and services, through digital technologies.	The additional support from this investment priority will help digitally marginalised people to gain access to online services and information. It will also improve the capacity of people to engage in the digital society, including helping them to stay engaged throughout any further local, national restrictions due to COVID-19.

Actions to be Supported under this Investment Priority

The existence of a ‘digital divide’ has been one of the key social issues of the Internet since its early diffusion at the turn of the twenty-first century ^{[footnote 75]}.

Over time, as access to the Internet has become increasingly central to everyday life, those without access to broadband infrastructures, digital devices, and Internet skills have been socially, politically and economically disadvantaged. Therefore, critical questions remain about levels of access and skills that shape who uses and does not use the Internet, why, and what difference this makes.

The 2019 OxIS Survey ^{[footnote 76]} identified two somewhat countervailing trends in access. In essence, between 2013 and 2019, digital divides became both narrower and deeper.

This survey found that since 2013, the digital divide has continued to narrow in Britain. A larger proportion of the public in Britain used the Internet in 2019 compared to 2013 but only by an increase of about 4 percentage points. Adoption of the Internet has slowed in the latter part of its S-curve of diffusion ^{[footnote 77]}. While diffusion has not stopped, more than 15% of the public in Britain remains offline.

Access to the Internet has never been equally distributed across the population. Through the early decades of Internet diffusion, the digital divide has been related to and has generally reinforced social and economic inequalities, such as income and education; however, it has also been associated with age, a variable not necessarily tied to economic resources ^{[footnote 78]}.

In an increasingly digital age, those who are not engaging effectively with the digital world are at risk of being left behind. Technological change means that digital skills are increasingly important for connecting with others, accessing information and services and meeting the changing demands of the workplace and economy. This is leading to a digital divide between those who have access to information and communications technology and those who do not, giving rise to inequalities in access to opportunities, knowledge, services and goods. This has been exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19, with many services and information sources moving exclusively to on-line access. In addition to the loss of ‘face to face’ services, the closure of many sources of free internet access (such as cafes, libraries and local community centres) has meant that many facing digital poverty have been more excluded than ever before.

This Priority within the Programme will seek to address two of the main ‘access’ issues associated with digital exclusion. The first is that of having physical access, for instance. a device that will allow the user to access the internet. The second is that just having the device is often not enough, due to the cost of data and the often unaffordable costs of home internet access. Internet access in the home is only available through long-term broadband and or data contracts, which are often unaffordable for those on lower incomes, and ‘pay as you go’ services often attract a ‘poverty premium’ in that they are more expensive per byte of data than would be the case through 12 month or 2 year contracts.

Data poverty is a key digital issue today since it acts as a barrier to a digitally inclusive society and it further entrenches inequality and marginalisation.

It is estimated that approx. 1.9m households in the UK do not have access to the internet, and are digitally excluded, resulting in inequality for those who cannot access information and services throughout the COVID-19 lockdown and continued social distancing measures. In the fight against COVID-19 a lot of services (including information and advice) moved their primary contact to online channels, widening the already existing digital divide; those that have access to the internet versus those that don’t. Digital exclusion is not always the single barrier to individuals and does often correlate with other inter-related issues such as unemployment, low pay and lower educational attainment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has therefore highlighted this divide and accelerated the need to address it, in tandem with the other support the ESF programme can offer. Given the increasing level of concern regarding a second wave of the disease, and the continued local lockdowns where hotspots occur across England, this divide will only continue to widen, and will result in high levels of inequality in the population if not addressed now.

Many ESF participants face multiple disadvantages and as a result have chaotic lifestyles which make engaging with support and addressing barriers all the more difficult. This Investment Priority will support ESF participants who for various reasons, for example, lack of money or the ability to enter into internet provider contracts due to their circumstances mean they are digitally excluded.

ESF will be used to provide a device and a pre-paid dongle, valid for three months, for ESF participants where there is a need to do so, that will enable ESF participants to access on-line ESF provision and continue to benefit from ESF support.

Once purchased, the device and dongle will be provided to the ESF participants through a loan agreement but remains the property of the ESF project.

Guiding principles for selection of operations

See text at Investment Priority 1.1

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

The use of financial instruments is not planned in this investment priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF.

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Priority axis 4: COVID-19 Response

Thematic Objective 9i: Active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability

2.A.6.5 Output indicators by investment priority and, where appropriate by category of region

This information can be found in Priority Axis 4 data tables: table 5.

Performance Framework

The information in the tables listed below can be found in Priority Axis 4 data tables:

table 6: performance framework of the priority axis
table 7: dimension 1 intervention field
table 8: dimension 2 form of finance
table 9: dimension 3 territory type
table 10: dimension 4 territorial delivery mechanisms
table 11: dimension 6 ESF secondary theme (ESF and YEI only)

Question 6

Priority axis 5: FAST-CARE

Accepted Answer

Priority Axis 5 aims to address the migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and to support the socio-economic integration of third country nationals; and help facilitate the reception, welcome and integration of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

In June 2022, as part of its response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the European Commission adopted the FAST-CARE package ^{[footnote 79]}. This builds on the European Commission’s Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) support ^{[footnote 80]} allowing Member States and regions to provide emergency assistance to people fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

FAST-CARE makes provision for Member States, regional and local authorities, and partners to address the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the arrival across Europe of around 8 million refugees ^{[footnote 81]} from Ukraine. It aims to provide additional, flexible support where it is most needed, for those welcoming and integrating displaced people – including Member States, local authorities, and civil society organisations. FAST-CARE basic needs and support measures apply to adults and to children under 18 years of age.

The Managing Authority has considered the provisions available through FAST-CARE in the context of the objectives and implementation of the existing Operational Programme; and the unexpected challenges arising from the invasion, at a time when we have been engaged in the recovery of the UK economy and society after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Priority Axis has been established to specifically fund needs which respond directly to actions that can be supported by ESF through FAST-CARE; and contributes towards Thematic Objective 9 (inclusion).

This Priority Axis has an ESF co-financing rate of 100% and supports the following Investment Priority:

ID	Specific Objective	Results that the Member States seek to achieve with Union support
5.1	Support for the facilitation of the reception, welcoming and integration of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.	The additional financial support from this Investment Priority will support and facilitate measures such as, but not limited to: short term first reception and immediate relief activities, such as providing food, basic material assistance, accommodation, transport, immediate healthcare, information, and translation services, welcome and orientation measures such as accommodation, and accommodation and staff costs for running the facilities and integration activities, healthcare, psychological care, community-based support, childcare, social housing, access to the labour market, education, and training.

Actions to be Supported under this Investment Priority

The FAST-CARE regulations enable us to provide ESF funding to assist organisations that work with people from Ukraine fleeing aggression. Funding will be delivered using 100% ESF.

Funding available under this Investment Priority will be paid on a Flat Rate Unit Cost basis in relation to the basic needs and provision of support of individual refugees residing in the UK, who have been granted temporary protection or other adequate protection under national law in accordance with Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 ^{[footnote 82]} and Council Directive 2001/55/EC ^{[footnote 83]}.

The FAST-CARE funding available in this Investment Priority within the Programme can be used to support the following actions:

in the short term, the financing of first reception and immediate relief of people fleeing the war in Ukraine such as providing food, basic material assistance, accommodation, transport, immediate healthcare, and translation services
at a second stage, the financing of welcome and orientation measures such as accommodation, accommodation and staff costs for running the facilities and integration activities (including civil society organisations operating in local communities)
in the longer-term, access may be offered to healthcare, psychological care and community-based support, childcare, social housing, access to the labour market, education, and training.

Guiding Principles for selection of operations

FAST-CARE funding will be made available through applications which will be subject to a Gateway Assessment undertaken by the Managing Authority under the following criteria:

applicant eligibility
expenditure eligibility
the fit with the Call

Proposals that pass the Gateway Assessment will move into the appraisal stage which consists of the following:

management and control
deliverability
compliance (State Aid and Publicity)

Planned use of Financial Instruments

The use of financial instruments is not planned in this investment priority.

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Not applicable to ESF

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

This information can be found in Priority Axis 5 data tables: table 5.

The UK and its international partners are united in support for Ukraine. The UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian, and defensive military assistance to Ukraine ^{[footnote 84]}.

In line with and subject to government rules, from day one, people fleeing from the war in Ukraine have had the right to work and to access benefits and public services, including education and healthcare, on the same footing as UK nationals. This will continue to be the case for those who wish to remain in the UK, in line with UK government rules.

In the UK, as of 21 February 2023, 219,400 Ukraine Scheme visas had been issued to people through the Ukraine Family Scheme (66,100) and Ukraine Sponsorship (Homes for Ukraine) Scheme (153,300) ^{[footnote 85]}.

Since March 2022, the UK government has worked with councils and communities to help them build new lives in the UK.

The additional support from this Investment Priority will financially support measures facilitating the reception, welcoming and integration of people fleeing the war in Ukraine. This support is eligible from 24 February 2022.

Within this Investment Priority, costs must relate to socio-economic integration support provided to third country nationals who have been displaced as a result of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and have accessed local services in England. Support for adults and children under 18 is eligible.

Performance Framework

Table 6: Performance framework of the priority axis

This information can be found in Priority Axis 5 data tables: table 6.

The FAST-CARE regulations enable us to provide ESF funding to assist organisations that work with people from Ukraine fleeing aggression. Funding will be delivered using 100% ESF.

Funding available under this Investment Priority will be paid on a Flat Rate Unit Cost basis in relation to the basic needs and provision of support of individual refugees residing in the UK, who have been granted temporary protection or other adequate protection under national law in accordance with Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 ^{[footnote 86]} and Council Directive 2001/55/EC ^{[footnote 87]}.

The FAST-CARE funding available in this Investment Priority within the Programme can be used to support the following actions: * in the short term, the financing of first reception and immediate relief of people fleeing the war in Ukraine such as providing food, basic material assistance, accommodation, transport, immediate healthcare, and translation services * at a second stage, the financing of welcome and orientation measures such as accommodation, accommodation and staff costs for running the facilities and integration activities (including civil society organisations operating in local communities) * in the longer-term, access may be offered to healthcare, psychological care and community-based support, childcare, social housing, access to the labour market, education, and training.

The information in the tables listed below can be found in Priority Axis 5 data tables:

table 6: performance framework of the priority axis
table 7: dimension 1 intervention field
table 8: dimension 2 form of finance
table 9: dimension 3 territory type
table 10: dimension 4 territorial delivery mechanisms
table 11: dimension 6 ESF secondary theme (ESF and YEI only)

Technical Assistance

There is a separate Priority Axis dedicated to Technical Assistance, and our plans are set out there.

Question 7

Section 3: Financing plan

Accepted Answer

3.1 Financial appropriation from each fund and amounts for performance reserve

This information can be found in Table 17.

3.2 Total financial appropriation by fund and national co-financing (€)

Information can be found in the data tables below:

Question 8

Section 4: Integrated approach to territorial development

Accepted Answer

As described in the UK Partnership Agreement, the government’s localism agenda encourages communities to take control of their own issues and shape their own solutions. In relation to the wider economic growth agenda the government is further committed to ensuring that local partners are at the centre of efforts to drive forward economic growth in England.

This is evidenced by the central role that local partners and LEPs play in shaping and supporting the delivery of the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) Growth Programme Strategies in the period 2014 to 2020. LEP territories have been established to reflect actual economic footprints and the economic assets of areas, driven by enterprise, employment, education, civic and civil society and environmental and social partners. For these areas to function optimally, the ESF and ERDF Operational Programmes each have a territorially flexible investment approach, which focus on responding to needs and are unfettered by artificial boundaries.

The Europe 2020 strategy’s pursuit of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth also provides a clear framework within which the Growth Programme seeks to align the ESI Funds in order to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion. Moreover, in the context of a national approach the England ESF Operational Programme contributes towards the objective of strengthening economic and social cohesion through the following complementary place based initiatives:

the lead role that LEPs and wider local partnerships have in developing integrated and coherent territorial strategies at local level through local ESIF strategies
the use of the Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) instrument within ESF and ERDF programmes in a way that complements and does not duplicate actions covered by LEADER funded Local Action Groups (LAGs) and European Maritime and Fisheries Fund LAGs (FLAGs); and provides an opportunity for a greater local level determination of issues and solutions that leads to outputs and results that would not otherwise be realised
an Integrated Territorial Investment in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Co-ordinated territorial investments through a range of different funding sources are shown to have a genuine impact. New territorial based partnerships such as CLLD LAGs are described in the UK Partnership Agreement. These locally integrated partnership approaches will have potential to generate innovative solutions, for instance in deprived areas and for marginalised groups. Very locally, CLLD will promote partnerships of public, private and civil society sectors in LAGs in communities of shared interest who will design and drive spatially specific development.

4.1 Community-led local development

The government’s Plan for Growth and localism agenda encourage communities in England to take, own and design solutions to local issues.

In line with EU guidance to Managing Authorities and stakeholders, all CLLD activity is financed within thematic objective 9 (social inclusion) but can also support relevant activities that fall within the scope of objectives 8 (employment) and 10 (skills), as long as justified in the context of the ESF Operational Programme and local level ESIF plans.

All activities must be justified in the context of the ESF Operational Programme in pursuit of coherent, social, economic, and sustainable growth, and add value to mainstream and ESF activity being delivered locally.

Co-ordination of and assessment and administrative set up for CLLD.

Within the ESF Operational Programme the main focus of CLLD is on delivering additional, localised support to people in particularly deprived areas, so that they move towards or into employment.

CLLD focuses on the specific needs and opportunities of a particular area, typically much smaller than that of the average Local Enterprise Partnership territory and be based on communities with a population size of between 10,000 and 150,000.

In Transition and More Developed areas CLLD prioritises deprived communities in primarily urban areas identified by reference to 20% most deprived Lower layer Super Output Areas in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). Areas outside the 20% IMD most deprived areas are considered at the margin for inclusion into the eligible CLLD area only if they are adjacent and if their incorporation links areas of need to opportunity or makes the area covered by the local development strategy more coherent in terms of presenting a functional economic geography.

In Cornwall and Isles of Scilly the use of IMD is modulated to reflect the specific challenges faced as a less developed region. This results in 70% of CLLD resource being focused upon areas identified with reference to the 30% IMD most deprived areas, the remaining 30% of resource targets areas adjacent to the IMD 30% areas for the purposes of linking need to opportunity or presenting a more coherent functional economic geography.

CLLD is based on a partnership of public, private, and civil society sectors coming together to form a Local Action Group (LAG) that develop and drive the delivery of a CLLD strategy with a minimum threshold of at least €3m public sector contribution to ensure critical mass. The LAG is an essential feature of CLLD and its responsibilities are set out in European Commission regulation 1303/2013 – Article 34.

Circumstances in which a community driven ESF CLLD approach might apply include:

tackling multiple deprivation and specific work-related barriers faced by those furthest from the labour market
reducing employment barriers linked to social and economic isolation, for example by addressing health, debt and money management issues and increasing access to information and advice sources
facilitating community participation and engagement and support to address specific issues within local economies, such as low level skills

More detailed examples of types of ESF CLLD activity that can be supported are set out within Section 2 (Priority Axis 1: Investment Priority 1.5, Community-Led Local Development).

The government has established an integrated, multi-fund approach at local level using ESF and ERDF), to be taken forward by LAGs. In a multi-fund LAG, in line with EU guidance to the MA and where justified, government will support the identification of a lead ESI fund arrangement for the management and administration costs of a CLLD strategy. This will be up to 25% of total investment identified by the LAG for CLLD.

Guiding principles for the Selection of Operations

The guiding principles for the Selection of CLLD Operations are set out in Chapter 2 - Investment Priority 1.5 Community-Led Local Development which can be found within the CLLD guidance published on GOV.UK.

4.2 Sustainable urban development

In England, the government is giving England’s cities new powers and freedoms through City Deals. These are agreements between government and a city that give the city control to take charge and responsibility of decisions that affect its area.

Building on this devolution of responsibility, England’s cities are playing a leading role within LEP areas in the development of European Structural and Investment Funds strategies. These strategies include many examples of integrated investments in city regions.

Sustainable urban development will be financed through the ERDF. It is possible to align the ESF with ERDF support for sustainable urban development where there is a clear need and intervention logic at local level. Where appropriate, and with agreement of the Managing Authority, mainstream ESF may complement and be aligned with SUD proposals contained within ERDF OP.

Table 20: Integrated actions for sustainable urban development, indicative amounts of ERDF and ESF support is not applicable.

4.3 Integrated territorial development (ITI)

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (C&IoS), as the only Less Developed region in England, benefit from an Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) to ensure the implementation and delivery of a targeted programme of investment for the territory. C&IoS is a territory which is principally thinly populated but also has some areas of intermediate density. It has a long coastline. This is the only ITI we have planned.

The C&IoS ITI combines ERDF and ESF in an integrated strategy. It will address the multi-dimensional and interconnected nature of development needs in the Less Developed territory. The ITI aligns with EAFRD and EMFF to reflect the rural and costal features of the territory. Similarly, domestic policy and financial resources which reflect and match fund ESI Funds priorities will be set out and planned for in the C&IoS ITI. Implementation of ITI will be overseen by a Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ITI Board. The role will reflect the roles of the Local ESIF Committees described in section 7.2.

Table 21: Indicative financial allocation to ITI other than those mentioned under point 4.2 (aggregate amount)

This information can be found in Table 21.

4.4 The arrangements for inter-regional and transnational actions, within the OP, with beneficiaries located in at least one other Member State

The Operational Programme will support transnational co-operation with the aim of promoting mutual learning and thereby increasing the effectiveness of policies supported by the ESF. Transnational co-operation activities will involve partners from at least one other Member State as well as the UK. Transnational co-operation may be implemented within priority axis 1 or 2; there will not be a specific priority axis dedicated solely to transnational co-operation.

In principle, transnational co-operation may be part of any operation within Priorities 1 or 2, subject to the agreement of the Managing Authority. The Managing Authority will decide whether to participate in co-ordinated or joint action at EU-level including the common implementation framework. If it does take part in the common framework, it will consult the relevant sub-committee of the Growth Programme Board on the themes in which the programme will participate.

4.5 The contribution of the planned actions under the programme to macro-regional and sea-basin strategies, subject to the needs of the programme area as identified by the Member State.

Not applicable.

Question 9

Section 5: Specific needs of geographical areas most affected by poverty or target groups at highest risk of discrimination or social exclusion

Accepted Answer

ESF in England, particularly in Priority Axis 1, focuses on target groups at highest risk of discrimination or social exclusion. Section 1 shows that these groups are not confined to discrete geographical areas – they can be found in urban and rural locations and in different LEP areas across the country.

The target groups who are at highest risk of discrimination or social exclusion include:

people in households where no one works. Workless households are more likely to be in poverty and dependent on benefit
long-term unemployed people
young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. 4.2% of 16 year olds are NEET, 11.2% of 17 year olds, 11.2% of 18 year olds and 15.2% of those aged 19 to 24. Young people who are particularly likely to be marginalised including care leavers, offenders and those learning difficulties or disabilities ^{[footnote 88]}
disabled people. They are more than twice as likely not to hold any formal qualifications as are non-disabled people. Around half of disabled people of working age are not in employment
certain ethnic minority groups. People of Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic origin have the lowest employment rates
offenders and ex-offenders. Almost half of prisoners have no qualifications and 13% have never had a job
older people aged 50 and above who are unemployed or inactive and need to update their skills to re-engage in the labour market
people with multiple disadvantages. About 11% of adults in England experience, at any one time, three or more of six areas of disadvantage (education, health, employment, income, social support, housing, and local environment)

There are people in these groups across the whole of England. The highest concentrations are urban areas in the north and midlands of England and in inner London.

The programme aims to tackle the root causes of poverty and barriers that prevent these groups from entering the labour market and accessing employment opportunities. This includes integrated packages of support tailored to the needs of disadvantaged people in local areas. Each person needs to be treated as an individual who may face a number of disadvantages or barriers. There is no single model for helping all people who face a particular disadvantage. The most effective interventions will often be designed at a local level.

Integrated approaches will be able to include:

early intervention to tackle problems before they become entrenched
thorough needs assessment so that effective tailored support can be offered
outreach activities
employability support and skills training; and community-based provision

They will tackle a range of issues and barriers including:

caring responsibilities
debt
digital exclusion
drug and alcohol dependency
poor basic skills (including life skills)
lack of motivation and confidence
family, parenting and relationship problems
health and well-being problems
homelessness
learning difficulties and disabilities
offending
access to transport (a key issue in rural areas)

Activities should involve close coordination between local services and align with or enhance with other National or Local provision.

This information can be found in Table 22.

Question 10

Section 6. Specific needs of geographical areas which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps (where appropriate)

Accepted Answer

England has no special territorial features as defined in Article 174 of the Treaty.

Question 11

Section 7: Authorities and bodies responsible for management, control and audit and the role of relevant partners.

Accepted Answer

7.1 Relevant authorities and bodies

Table 23: Relevant authorities and bodies.

Authority	Name of the Authority	Head of the Authority	Address	Email
Managing Authority	Department for Work and Pensions	Pete Long	Arena Central, Bridge Street, Birmingham, B1 2AX	pete.long@dwp.gov.uk
Certifying Authority	Department for Work and Pensions	Mark Jackson	1 Hartshead Square Sheffield S1 2DF	Mark.Jackson1@dwp.gov.uk
Government Internal Audit Agency	Government Internal Audit Agency Group Chief Internal Auditor European Team	Kevin Watkins	7th Floor, 10 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NB	kevin.watkins@GIAA.gov.uk
Body to which Commission will make payments	Department for Work and Pensions	Clare Bonson	1 Hartshead Square, Sheffield, S1 2FD	Clare.Bonson@dwp.gov.uk

7.2 Involvement of relevant partners

7.2.1 Actions taken to involve the relevant partners in the preparation of the operational programme, and the role of those partners in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the operational programme

The government engaged extensively with partners at national and local level during the development of the England European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Growth Programme that includes the ESF OP.

This process started in April 2012 with the publication of an informal consultation on design principles for the ESF OP alongside the other ESIF in England. A series of meetings took place to consider ESIF Growth programme options and agree a final model.

This was tested through a series of road shows with several established contacts and in consultation with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (formally Department of Communities and Local Government), and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). A wide range of internal, external stakeholders, including all members of the 2007 to 2013 ESF PMC, were invited to participate. Involvement was also sought from appropriate representatives of organisations with relevant knowledge and expertise on: the target groups, social inclusion, education and training as well as on equality issues other horizontal themes, and from representatives of economic and social partners such as the CBI and TUC.

These roadshows provided opportunity for government officials to talk with local partners about the outline content of the ESF OP as part of a proposal for an ESIF Growth Programme. The ESIF Growth Programme encompasses ERDF and ESF and part of the European Agricultural Fund for Regional Development in a delivery model organised around Local Enterprise Partnership territories across the country. Discussions and informal meetings continued throughout 2013 as the model was further tested and discussed with the European Commission.

In 2013 government issued outline and supplementary guidance to partners in line with the Code of Conduct on Partnership, the draft UK Partnership Agreement and draft EU regulations as they then stood. The guidance commissioned further local evidence in each LEP territory that provided important complementary data within an EU and national strategic framework.

The guidance made it clear that LEPs should consult with as wide a range of stakeholders as possible, particularly providers with specialised knowledge of working with groups that experienced disadvantage in the labour market such as ethnic minorities, disabled people, young people NEET, women and people with low skills. The LEPS are comprised of representatives of local and regional authorities as well as representatives of business and civil society organisations based within the LEP area.

Government worked with partners to hold extensive consultations in each Local Enterprise Partnership territory as plans were developed. This included Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the focus of an integrated territorial investment. Partners from the business, education, voluntary and environmental sectors engaged in a wide variety of local meetings, workshops and via published and online media. This process and resulting data provided important complementary information and analysis that has ensured a strong territorial dimension within a national Operational Programme.

In addition to the consultations and roadshows the MA set up the Operational Programme Working Group to assist in developing the 2014 – 2020 Operational Programme. The membership of the group was drawn from both public and private sector as well as civil society, trade union, CBI and LEPs. The group met twice over a twelve month period and provided valuable input which informed the OP development.

The official consultation on the ESF OP was launched on Monday 14 April 2014 and stakeholders and partners were notified. The consultation documents were made available for online viewing on GOV.UK together with a series of questions to guide partner responses. The consultation ran for four weeks closing on Friday 9 May 2014. To support the consultation, two partner events were held in London at the end of March 2014 where detailed discussions on key themes and areas contained within the Operational Programme took place. Feedback from these discussions was used to further refine the OP. Key themes included: match funding, support for higher level skills, the role of LEPs in the ESF governance structure, the business process and Youth Employment Initiative. There were 49 responses to the consultation, including 12 from local authorities 11 from LEPs as well as organisations representing groups affected by poverty and social exclusion.

The OP has been drafted to enable support for a broad range of disadvantaged groups, and activities will be decided according to local needs. There was broad support for the draft OP and respondents’ comments were reflected in the revised OP. Where comments were not taken forward this was because they sought to target very specific target groups, or because they sought greater flexibilities than the ESF regulations permitted, including activities which would duplicate other public funding.

There were a few requests for greater clarity which we responded to in the revised draft; a few requests for additional detail which we concluded was not appropriate for the OP.

We produced an extensive equality survey alongside the OP and received a positive opinion on it from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This work helped plug a gap in our earlier development work, which was commented on by the ex-ante evaluator.

Partnership working

A national ESIF Growth Programme Board (GPB) is responsible for the Operational Programmes for the ERDF and the ESF in England. Agendas are structured so that sufficient time is allocated to discuss ESF items. The EAFRD GPB is the GPB for EAFRD funds within the European Growth Programme. Defra, as EAFRD Managing Authority, is represented on the national GPB for ERDF and ESF.

The GPB is chaired by a representative of the Managing Authorities and the secretariat is provided by the Managing Authorities. Membership is drawn from representatives of a wide range of national and local partners across the public, private, business, social, voluntary and environmental sectors, in line with the requirements in the Code of Conduct on Partnership. It ensures an appropriate balance between different sectors, taking into account the nature of the funds. Appropriate organisations representing equalities issues and civil society organisations with an equality remit have been identified and are actively involved as members of the GPB and its national sub-committees.

Managing Authorities (MA’s) are responsible for ensuring that the programmes are delivered in line with applicable law and represent good value for money, and they are ultimately accountable to the European Commission. The MA’s manage the Operational Programmes in accordance with the principle of sound financial management.

The GPB is supported by a number of sub-committees advising it on relevant policy and operational matters. These sub-committees, provide supporting advice in specific policy areas such as innovation, skills and aspects of implementation, bringing in leading experts from their fields and providing an important resource for the GPB and ESIF Growth Programme. All sub-committees report to the GPB, to ensure transparency of proceedings. The GPB does not delegate decisions to these national sub-committees though their advice is important in informing the GPB’s perspective, advice and decisions.

The Common Provisions Regulation foresees that partners will be involved in the preparation of progress reports and throughout the preparation and implementation of programmes, including participation in the GPB and its governance structures. For the first time the EU agreed a protocol for this - the Code of Conduct on Partnership, sets out the main principles and good practices for the involvement of partners.

Accordingly, the MA’s work in partnership with economic, environmental, equality, social and civil society partners at national, regional, and local levels throughout the programme cycle, consisting of preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

To ensure the strong territorial basis of EU Cohesion policy is implemented in a way that best capitalises on national arrangements and local strengths, local ESIF Committees have been set up in each LEP Territory. This partnership model provides an effective territorial balance within a national OP and ensures that the programme’s intervention logic is optimally delivered at national, pan-local and local level.

Local promotion of ESI Funds projects and their impact is a priority for these local ESIF Committees, as is local leadership of this amongst citizens. This complements the functions of the MA but does not substitute for them. Each local ESIF committee is chaired by a local partner who, along with other members drawn from business, public, environmental, voluntary and civil society sectors, are advocates for the opportunities and impact of the ESI Funds. Membership is inclusive and in line with EU regulations and the wide scope of ESI Funds priorities. The MA is the Deputy Chair of the local ESIF Committee, except in London.

The role and purpose of these local ESIF Committees is clearly defined. They are not responsible for any tasks set out in EU regulations for which MA’s are responsible in relation to management of the ESIF They exist to:

provide advice to the MA’s on local development needs and opportunities to inform Operational Programmes and ESI Funds Strategies
work with sectors and organisations they represent so they engage with and understand the opportunities provided by the ESIF to support OP and local economic growth
promote active participation amongst local economic, environmental and social partners to help bring forward activities which meet local needs in line with the OP’s and local ESIF strategies and Implementation plans
provide practical advice and information to the MA’s to assist in the preparation of local plans that contribute towards OP priorities and targets. Provide local intelligence to the MA’s in the development of project calls decided by the MA’s that reflect OP and local development needs as well as match funding opportunities
provide advice on local economic growth conditions and opportunities within the context of OP and the local ESIF Strategy to aid the Managing Authority’s assessment at outline and full application stage
contribute advice, local knowledge and understanding to the MA’s to aid good delivery against spend (including in relation to delivering value for money), milestones, cross-cutting themes, outputs and results set out in the OP and local ESIF strategies

In this way partners play the important role foreseen in the Common Provisions Regulation and the main principles and good practices set out in the European Code of Conduct on Partnership. Managing Authorities ensure partner roles and responsibilities are clearly set out at all levels and conflicts of interest are avoided. To ensure that this is compliantly managed, local ESIF Committee members are required to complete a “declarations of interest” register which is updated at each meeting. The Managing Authority is responsible for maintaining and monitoring the register and its application at each meeting.

The role of the local ESIF committees is to advise the Managing Authorities and help ensure that ESIF investments are complementary to interventions funded through local public and private sector funding. Partners are close to the practical implementation and understand local economic needs and are very well placed to advise on this complementarity, as well as assisting Managing Authorities to reach the broadest range of stakeholders and informing potential beneficiaries about funding opportunities. The advisory role of local ESIF committees is not to interfere in the Managing Authority tasks and functions.

DWP was formally designated as the ESF Managing Authority for England in December 2016. The Greater London Authority (GLA) has been designated as an Intermediate Body for delivery of the ESF in London with responsibility for the procurement and delivery of the programme across the GLA area. This includes selection of operations and monitoring of performance. In addition, Liverpool City Region and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly have been granted responsibility for decision making on the local strategic fit of projects for their areas, including providing advice to the Managing Authority on value for money and deliverability of projects. Decisions are made in-conjunction with the relevant ESIF committee with a wide range of tasks delegated to it.

Community-Led Local Development (CLLD)

The MA sought proposals for Local Development Strategies that implement CLLD in conformity with the strategy and selection criteria set out in priority axis 1, Investment Priority 1.5 and section 4.1

The MA has the following responsibilities:

publish a call for Local Development Strategies
set up committees to select Local Development Strategies submitted by Local Action Groups with advice from partners as appropriate
oversee the implementation of CLLD in each area covered by an approved Local Development Strategy and for England as a whole

The leads, partner agreed body for each Local Action Group have the following responsibilities which conform to Article 34 of the Common Provisions Regulation:

set up a Local Action Group that represents the community interests of a proposed Local Development Strategy with a minimum 50% non-public body partners and select a lead partner, agreed body
prepare and submit a Local Development Strategy to the Managing Authority
draw up selection procedures and criteria
prepare and publish calls for proposals
assess applications which the Local Action Group will consider and select according to those operations that best contribute to the Local Development Strategy and are compliant with EU regulations

Preparatory support is made available, including through Technical Assistance if appropriate.

7.2.2 Global Grants

There are no plans to use Global Grants in the ESF Operational Programme.

7.2.3 Allocation for an amount for capacity building (for the ESF, where appropriate)

Support for capacity building will come from Technical Assistance. Any requests for Technical Assistance must take the form of concrete proposals which demonstrate a clear contribution to the objectives of the TA priority axis, and are directly linked to the administration and use of the funds.

Question 12

Section 8. Coordination between the funds, the EAFRD, the EMFF and other Union and national funding instruments and with the EIB - ARTICLE 87(6) (A) CPR

Accepted Answer

Coordination between the European Structural and Investment Funds is an overarching principle of the Growth Programme which combines the ESF and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It also includes part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and is aligned with the objectives of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Bringing the funds together in this way allows much greater flexibility in the way money is spent.

Closer alignment will be achieved in three main ways:

integrated strategies. The strategies which have been produced at LEP level have been built on an integrated view of the needs of the local area, which have then informed the priorities of how the funds should be used at local level. This means that the funds are used in a complementary way to drive local growth
integrated oversight. At national and local levels single committees will oversee the implementation of the funds, and are supported by Managing Authority teams working closely together
integrated business processes. We have designed business processes which apply across ESF and ERDF, which makes it easier for any project which needs to apply for money from both funds

ESF are able to provide support for skills and jobs which help to directly complement ERDF, EMFF (and some) EAFRD activities such as:

skills and jobs in low carbon sectors
skills for workers in the renewable energy sectors
skills and jobs for retro-fitting and low carbon heating
skills and jobs related to flood prevention, climate change mitigation including property level protection and land drainage
skills and jobs in the fishing industry

There is also scope to coordinate between the European Structural and Investment Funds and the EU’s other sources of funding for research, development and innovation (ERASMUS for All, EURES, the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation, Horizon 2020 and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Co-Fund). The general approach to coordination is set out in the Partnership Agreement.

ERASMUS for all

Within the Growth Programme, LEPs and partners have identified that ERASMUS for All has the potential to complement the skills thematic objective by supporting the development of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills identified by employers as crucial for future prosperity. Other activities identified include:

developing projects to support staff mobility across all sectors of lifelong learning
tapping into the programme’s knowledge alliances between higher education institutions and employers
sector skills alliances to promote creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship
mobility for students; youth exchanges and youth volunteering

To complement the employment thematic objective, LEPs and partners have identified how ERASMUS for All can improve employability through improving the links between education and training providers and businesses and improving the skills and employment prospects for young people and the long term unemployed.

The ERASMUS for All knowledge alliance initiative is an area which could be explored to see if there is potential to make effective linkages to social inclusion activities to add value and greater impact.

EURES

Within the Growth Programme, some LEP areas plan to utilise the EURES job matching initiative to complement activities around advice and guidance towards employment and skills. In addition, EURES has been identified as a programme to support initiatives and projects to assist activities to promote the mobility of workers.

LEP areas have identified the potential for complementarity in areas such as skills and employment for young people, improving working conditions, addressing gender, age imbalances and tackling barriers faced by vulnerable people. Local partners may wish to use ESF to test new approaches to employment and social inclusion developed through the Programme for Employment and Social Change, and to disseminate good practice.

Horizon 2020 and – the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Co Fund

A practical and targeted approach will be taken to identify links and coordinate activities between Horizon 2020 and other EU programmes over the course of the programme period. LEPs and partners, such as universities and other research centres, will be asked to work with the Managing Authority to identify appropriate opportunities to develop synergies within their implementation plans, ensuring they are fully compliant with both sets of regulations. The scope of these opportunities will vary across the programme area, and the number and range of the proportionate to the potential scale of alignment. The Managing Authority and partners, such as academic and research institutions, will also work together to identify and encourage appropriate projects that support our ESF objectives and could benefit from assistance from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Co-Fund.

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund

The ESF Managing Authority continues to work closely with the Managing Authority for the UK National programme for the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) to ensure that the two programmes complement each other. In particular, ESF funds support which has a very specific job, vocational focus (including vocationally focused ESOL). The ESF support will, as far as possible, aim to build on the more general support activities funded under the AMIF programme. (AMIF will fund language, basic life skills, civic orientation, and other support to help individuals gain access to ESF vocational support).

To reduce any risk of double-funding from EU sources, AMIF supported projects will be asked to sign an undertaking that they will not utilise funding from any other EU source as co-financing for an AMIF project. In order to further support complementarity, the two Managing Authorities will also explore ways of developing a more joined up approach to future, for example, by exploring ways of linking the Strategic Migration Partnerships and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

National Funds

National government-funded programmes have historically been a key source of match funding for, and draw down of, significant EU funds. The programme will retain the delivery of ESF through Co-financing which was introduced in 2000 to 2006 and further developed in the 2007 to 2013 programme. Co-financing has enabled public bodies such as the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Department for Work and Pensions, The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) (previously the Big Lottery Fund) and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to manage ESF and national funding together.

Co-Financing has proved an effective means of delivering ESF investment, and the programme intends to build on this success by allowing local partners to ‘opt-in’ to Co-Financing in 2014-2020. This will allow LEPs and local partners to access match funding and administrative support from key national delivery organisations while retaining influence and strategic control of how services funded by European funds are delivered locally. The model provides a mechanism for national bodies to deliver policy priorities that are part-funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds and which are tailored to local conditions.

The HMPPS will continue as a Co-Financing Organisation and because of the complex nature of its client group, will receive a national allocation from the ESF.

Question 13

Section 9: Ex-ante conditionalities

Accepted Answer

These are technical tables for the Commission and are therefore not included here.

Question 14

Section 10: Reduction of the administrative burden for beneficiaries

Accepted Answer

This section outlines the action that has been taken to reduce the administrative burden on beneficiary organisations.

The key focus of the approach to simplification has been to review and apply the lessons learned from the 2007 to 2013 programmes and to introduce measures that reduce the administrative burden on beneficiaries. Beneficiary feedback indicated that partners wished the Managing Authorities to develop a process and approach that included the following features:

clearly defined roles and responsibilities
approach aligned across different funds
standard documentation within a single business process, where possible
clear and unequivocal guidance
better access to information

The Managing Authority has taken this feedback into account and designed the business process to be employed for the 2014-2020 programme on the following principles:

a single process for structural Funds (the ERDF and ESF) including a single point of access, single application documentation, process whilst maintaining separate management of funds
the customer journey is at the heart of the process design – keeping things clear, simple and as accessible as possible. The emphasis is on clear and explicit information and guidance so that there are no surprises for the applicant, beneficiary
doing the right things at the right time and doing it well. Avoiding duplication and focusing resources and effort where they deliver most impact, benefit
reducing compliance risk through clear guidance and early and robust testing
digital by default - design and implementation of a single accessible IT system holding all relevant information and operating on the principle of ‘collect once, use often’

The process design reflects the valuable learning from the 2007-2013 previous programmes and feedback during the first half of the 2014-2020 programme resulting in a process that incorporates:

clearly defined roles and responsibilities at all stages of the process
an IT system designed around the needs of the business process, and capable of meeting the varying needs of the programme life cycle
review and continuous improvement a key component of the process
systems designed to survive possible structural and organisational changes

Specific examples of how the process helps reduce administrative burden on beneficiaries whilst maintaining robustness in approach are:

Standardisation of management arrangements

A standard business process has been applied across ERDF and ESF from the beginning of the programmes. Applicants have a single, clear route of entry into the European Structural and Investment Funds avoiding confusion and duplication.

Application and appraisal process

The application and appraisal process has been designed to focus on relevant and essential information appropriate to each stage in the application, approval process. Applications are submitted through a single portal. Information should be provided once and tested at the appropriate time. The process has a strengthened focus on identifying and addressing potential compliance risk at the earliest stages. This will help mitigate risk to both the beneficiary and Managing Authority and ensure potential beneficiaries consider compliance more fully in developing applications.

Information Technology

A single IT system underpins the new business process. The Managing Authority, the Certifying Authority, Intermediate Bodies, and beneficiaries will all have access and use the same system as the primary source of data and reporting. All transactions will be done electronically. This will ensure greater transparency, greater and faster access to information and simplify reporting.

Support for applicants

The Managing Authority provides information, advice and support to local partners and applicants to ensure that all players are clear of the requirements early in the process and are empowered to bring forward robust, compliant, value for money applications in line with domestic priorities and are capable of delivering the ambition of the Operational Programme.

Regulations, guidance and procedures

Guidance and information is available through a single accessible portal. A single national set of controlled documents has been produced for the ERDF and ESF. The guidance draws directly from the EU regulations and guidance as a minimum. Additional requirements will only be established where there is clear evidence from the lessons learned that additional requirements should be added. Guidance aims to be concise, clear and avoids use of jargon.

Monitoring and audit

The scheduling of monitoring and verification visits is co-ordinated across the ERDF and ESF. This is intended to reduce the number of individual visit requests and promote greater consistency. Standardised documents are used for all monitoring and the Audit Authorities use a shared set of criteria for ERDF and ESF audits. This enables beneficiaries to better plan for and understand the requirements of monitoring and verification visits.

Simplified costs

Simplified costs is the default approach for all indirect costs. This will provide greater clarity for applicants and beneficiaries and reduce the requirement for complex apportionment methodologies. This approach helps reduce the risks of non-compliance for beneficiaries.

Opt-in model

The ‘opt-in’ model has been developed to allow local partners to access national ‘match’ funding and administrative support from key national delivery organisations. The model provides a mechanism for national bodies to deliver policy priorities that are part-funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds and which are tailored to local conditions. The ‘opt-in’ model builds on Co-financing which was introduced in the 2000-2006 European Social Fund programme and further developed in the 2007-2013 programme. Co-financing has enabled public bodies to manage ESF and public match funding together and has proved an effective means of delivering European Social Fund investment. By providing and accounting for ‘match’ funding, the ‘opt-in’ model will reduce administrative burdens on providers. It will also allow providers who do not have ‘match’ funding to access European Structural and Investment Funds, thus removing a major barrier to participation.

Question 15

Section 11: Horizontal principles

Accepted Answer

The Partnership Agreement sets out the overall approach to the horizontal principles of sustainable development and equal opportunities. This section describes the specific actions that will be taken to promote these principles within the England ESF Operational Programme.

11.1 Sustainable development

The objectives of the ESF programme will be pursued in line with the principle of sustainable development, including the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment as well as the need to prepare for expected changes to the environment and climate. The programme has built on the approach adopted in the 2007-2013 ESF programme and the lessons learned during that programme.

The ESF supports complementary activity, where possible, through skills enhancement and training, for sustainable development projects directly supported by other programmes such as the ERDF.

The Managing Authority prepared a sustainable development mainstreaming plan in consultation with the relevant Growth Programme Board (GPB) and national sub-committees. The plans will be monitored and reviewed on a regular basis by appropriate partners, experts.

The Managing authority has built on good practice identified in the 2007-2013 programme and lessons learnt in the first half of the 2014-2020 programme. The Managing Authority produced a brief report which looked back at lessons learned and which identified good practice examples of projects which had a specific environmental content. It considered what types of project can be funded in the 2014-2020 period and recommended that specialist environmental projects that help promote jobs, skills, or tackling social inclusion should be encouraged. Examples include:

the therapeutic use of farm-type projects to provide support and motivational help to vulnerable people. This approach is particularly effective when traditional `classroom’ environments have failed
Merseyside Probation Trust’s Merseystride project - an innovative social enterprise project for community payback offenders who are furthest away from the labour market. Participants are trained to recycle, repair and assemble flat-pack furniture that is then sold through their retail showroom
River stewardship projects, as highlighted in the report, have enabled young people to develop skills, acquire a qualification in environmental conservation, or move into or towards employment

The Managing Authority and Co-Financing Organisations ^{[footnote 89]} require all programme providers to have sustainable development governance, policies and implementation plans which explain: a) their commitment to promoting sustainable development and complying with relevant EU and domestic environmental legislation; and b) how the commitment will be turned into action at project level. The Managing Authority have put in place a monitoring mechanism to assess implementation and compliance beyond the application stage of the projects.

The Managing Authority require all Co-Financing Organisations, Intermediate Bodies and Local Action Groups to ensure that sustainable development requirements are covered in their overall aims and decision making, project selection, procurement arrangements, contract management and monitoring (for both ESF and match funding). This requirement applies to the selection and management of projects which contract directly with the Managing Authority.

The Managing Authority will organise and deliver a sustainable development awareness training programme for Managing Authority, Intermediate Body and Co-Financing Organisation procurement, contract management and monitoring staff during 2014-2020.

Provider contracts will be monitored. This will include basic checks such as ensuring that sustainable development policies and implementation plans are in place and that appropriate action is being taken to implement them.

The Managing Authority and Co-Financing Organisations will ensure that sustainable development requirements are embedded into the specifications and contracts for ESF-funded and match-funded support.

The Managing Authority and Co-Financing Organisations will ensure that relevant calls for proposals will, wherever possible, actively and visibly encourage applications which support ESF activities that have a specific environmental focus (whilst also supporting jobs or skills) and provide complementary training support for specialist sustainable development activities delivered by other programmes such as ERDF.

The Managing Authority will monitor the extent to which projects and providers are using sustainable development policies and plans, the programme is supporting specialist environmental projects and the programme is providing specialist complementary support for specialist sustainable development projects that are being delivered by other programmes such as the ERDF. Sustainable development mainstreaming will be covered in the evaluation strategy.

A separate Strategic Environmental Assessment is not required because: (a) the programme is not designed to support agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste management, water management, telecommunications, tourism, town and country planning or land use; and (b) the programme does not set the framework for development consent in respect of projects listed in the EIA Directive or other projects which are likely to have significant environmental effects.

11.2 Equal opportunities and non-discrimination

The programme will promote equal opportunities and non-discrimination. The MA and all delivery partners will adhere to the principles and processes set out in EU and UK equality legislation.

The UK government has adopted the following principles to further integrate promotion of equality into the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation actions of the programme:

no exclusion on the grounds of protected characteristics
projects are designed to meet the needs of all potential participants
services are responsive to the needs of all communities and under-represented groups
support is targeted towards under-represented communities where relevant
responsiveness to, and inclusiveness of, under-represented groups in delivery and management

The 2014-20 programme will build on the lessons learned from the 2007 to 13 programmes and feedback from the first half of the 2014-2020 programme, including the findings of an evaluation of the mainstreaming of gender equality and equal opportunities within the ESF in England in 2010 ^{[footnote 90]}, a research report on engaging women in the ESF provision published in 2011 ^{[footnote 91]} and an evidence report published in August 2013 on helping disabled people.

The Managing Authority will prepare a programme-level equal opportunities and gender equality mainstreaming plan in consultation with the relevant Growth Programme Board (GPB) sub-committee - performance will be regularly reported.

The Managing Authority will ensure that equality is embedded in all relevant ESF guidance manuals, cross referring to existing good practice guidance and key lessons learned from the 2007 to 2013 programme and the first half of the 2014-2020 programme. The Managing Authority will, from time to time, seek advice from disability and other equality organisations when preparing calls for proposals to help ensure that any calls, specifications will help meet the needs of people with relevant protected characteristics.

The good practice guidance in promoting gender equality includes a checklist which will be used to help inform core criteria for project selection along with other equality-related criteria.

The Managing Authority will require all Co-Financing Organisations, Intermediate Bodies and Local Action Groups to ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is embedded in project selection, procurement arrangements, contract management and monitoring. This requirement will also apply to the selection and management of projects which contract directly with the Managing Authority.

The Managing Authority will organise and deliver a sustainable development awareness training programme for Managing Authority, Intermediate Body and Co-financing Organisation procurement, contract management and monitoring staff during 2014-2020.

As far as possible workshop and best practice materials developed for the training will be shared with partners where it is felt appropriate to do so.

The groups we are targeting through the 2014-20 programme include long term unemployed people, inactive people, lone parents, disabled people, people from ethnic minorities, ex-offenders, young people and older people, and we have set output targets to ensure that we help appropriate numbers of these people. The strategy section makes clear that as the economy improves our focus will increasingly be on those who face multiple disadvantages.

All ESF activities should be accessible to disabled people and responsive to their needs. The investment priorities on access to employment and active inclusion can support activities focused on improving the employability of disabled people and those with health conditions. The active inclusion investment priority will help those furthest from employment and who often experience other disadvantages. The investment priority for the sustainable integration of young people will help those who are NEET or at risk of being NEET and have learning difficulties and disabilities.

People from ethnic minorities should be able to access ESF provision in all investment priorities. Interventions must be tailored to the needs of people from different ethnic minority groups in each locality, and where appropriate targeted on specific groups. There is a strong case for interventions targeted at groups with low employment and high inactivity rates in the access to employment and active inclusion investment priorities, for example women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, especially in areas with high concentrations of people from ethnic minorities.

Activities in the access to employment, active inclusion and access to lifelong learning investment priorities will respond to the needs of older people. Specific activities will be delivered to help improve the participation of older women, depending on local needs.

11.3 Equality between men and women

Although female participation in the English labour market has increased, there is still a gender gap in employment of 10.1% with a male employment rate of 79.7 % and a female rate of 69.9% (for those aged 16-64). Part of the gap can be attributed to different levels of inactivity in the labour market (27.1% for women and 16.3% for men, aged 16-64 in England). LFS data show that, at a UK level, 22.5% of inactive women would be interested in working.

The ONS report ‘Women in the Labour Market’ (2013) explained that the low ranking for female employment rates in London and Birmingham was linked to the diverse ethnic population with some women not in work due to looking after families. Looking at the most recent city data, Nottingham has the lowest employment rate for women (53.2% for women aged 16-64). Help should be aimed at inactive women from ethnic minorities in England’s cities, including those with caring responsibilities (child or elder care) and who are multiply disadvantaged.

The extension of the state pension age for women has increased the number of older women in the scope of unemployment. The Quarter 1 2017 Annual Population Survey indicated 3.8m women over 50 were in employment and the unemployment rate for the same group was 106,800. Disadvantaged older women should be targeted for support if they wish to find work (or stay in work).

Some women want to work longer hours. There are 4.9 million females in England who work part-time and 1.5 million males. The majority work part-time because they want to – figures are not available for England but at a UK level, only 12% of women work part-time because they couldn’t find a full-time job.

ESF will be used to help address these issues. The types of activities and specific groups we envisage include:

inactive women from ethnic minorities, including those with child or elder care responsibilities, and who are often multiply disadvantaged. Barriers include: childcare; lack of skills or work experience due to starting family at a young age; no opportunity to acquire skills before starting a family; possible cultural, psychological issues. Activities for ESF support include innovative outreach support to help people connect with mainstream support and also holistic support with a vocational focus. (IP 1.4)
lone parents. Barriers include: inflexible jobs, employers (poor work/life balance), concerns about possible financial instability and lack of skills, recent skills. Examples of activities to be supported include job search skills, vocational training, remedial training and basic skills support (IP 1.1)
disadvantaged older unemployed women. Barriers include age discrimination, low confidence and elder care responsibilities. Activities to be supported include job search training, skills refresher training and mentoring/ confidence building (IP 1.1)
women who are inactive but who would be interested in working. Barriers include lack of motivation and confidence, lack of skills, outdated skills and difficulties in travelling to work. Activities to be supported include confidence building support, job-search training, job-specific training, work experience and mentoring support (IP 1.1)
women seeking career advancement and/or progressing from part-time to full-time work, or at least increasing their hours at work. Barriers include seasonal work, sectors with a high concentration of part-time work and age (younger people are more likely to be underemployed). Activities to be supported include up-skilling, vocational qualifications and identifying progression routes (IP 2.1)

The Managing Authority, Co-Financing Organisations, Intermediate Bodies and Local Action Groups will be required to promote gender equality when preparing their calls for proposals or procurement rounds. Project applicants submitting tenders or applications will be required to explain how they will actively promote gender equality through the design and delivery of their projects. For example, a tender specification for in-work training should require the applicant organisation to explain how it will ensure that female employees will have access to support, including those who may be working part-time and, or have childcare needs.

Providers targeting disadvantaged people and other groups in the programme are also required under the Equality Act 2010 to do so with a corresponding gender focus. This will include actively encouraging more women to take part in the programme, as well as making sure that the type and nature of support offered is appropriate and helps meet the needs of women, including disadvantaged women.

Programme providers will be expected to consider the needs of women in a number of key areas of design and delivery of their services, for example by:

promoting gender equality throughout their recruitment process
offering information, advice and guidance
providing or procuring childcare support where this might be a barrier to participation
ensuring that the structure and content of the activities delivered are suitable and appropriate for women and men
ensuring that provision is accessible, flexible and gender-sensitive where necessary

The Managing Authority will ensure that there is regular monitoring of the participation rates for women and men. Results data will also be monitored and the Managing Authority will report on performance to the GPB and local ESIF committees.

Question 16

Section 12: Separate elements

Accepted Answer

12.1 Major projects to be implemented during programming period

Table 27: List of major projects is not applicable

12.2 Performance framework of operational programme

Table 28: Performance framework by fund and category of region (summary table).

This information can be found in Table 28.

12.3 Relevant partners involved in preparation of programme

List of Stakeholders that attended ESF Consultation event 31 March 2014

Type of organisation	Organisation
Civil Society	VCSE, Red Cross, Prince’s Trust, Workers Education Association, National Autistic Society, National Trust, NCVO, Pocklington Trust, Disabled Action Alliance, Vonne – Voluntary
Environmental partner	Climate UK, Environment Agency
Further Education	Rotherham College of Arts, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education , EMFEC
Local Enterprise Partnership	SEMLEP, Liverpool LEP, West of England LEP, Sheffield City LEP, East Riding LEP, London LEP, Thames Valley LEP, Wiltshire LEP, Staffordshire LEP, Lancashire LEP, Hertfordshire LEP, New Anglia LEP, Marches and Worcestershire LEP, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP, Cheshire and Warrington LEP, Leeds LEP, SELEP, Birmingham LEP, NELEP, GCGP LEP, Cumbria LEP, Tees Valley Unlimited LEP, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP, Enterprise M3 LEP, Gfirst LEP
Local Authority	London Council, Tees Valley Rural Community Council, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Preston City Council, Wolverhampton City Council, Norfolk County Council, Plymouth City Council, Local Government Association, Hertfordshire Council, Walsall MBC, Durham County Council, Hampshire County Council, Gloucester Rural Community Council, Suffolk County Council, Somerset County Council, Oxfordshire Rural CC, Lincolnshire County Council, Gloucester Rural Community Council, Cornwall Rural Community Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Essex Council, Greater London Authority, Black Country Consortium
Private Business	East of England Business Group, British Chambers of Commerce
Social Partners	TUC
Other	North East Finance, Northamptonshire Probation, Network for Europe, New Economy Manchester, Land Use Consultants, ECORYS, PERA Consulting, University of Hull and Humber TA Partnership, Regeneris, NHS, Birmingham Science City, UKTI, Coventry University

List of Stakeholders that responded to the formal consultation

Type of respondent	Number of responses	Respondents’ organisation
Civil Society	10	Conservation volunteers, NCVO, National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, St Mungos Broadway, Fair Play, Social Enterprise Network, SUSTRANS, TAEN, Network for Europe, Voluntary Service North West
Environmental partner	2	Natural England, Environment Agency
Further Education	2	Serco at Peterborough Council, Cornwall College
LEP	11	Tees Valley Unlimited, Humber, Lancashire, North East, SE Midlands, Cheshire and Warrington, Leeds City, Worcestershire, Liverpool, Cambridgeshire, Coast 2 Capital
Local Authority	12	GLA, London Borough of Waltham Forest, Worcestershire, Kent, Somerset, Solihull, Cornwall, Central Bedfordshire, Wakefield, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Norfolk
Opt-In	1	Education and Skills Funding Agency
Private Business	3	A4E, Winning Pitch, Disability Dynamics
Social Partners	3	TUC, Working for women’s economic development, Shared Ltd
Other	5	Public Health England, Greater Manchester Partners, HEFCE, Local Government Association, North West Universities
Chambers of Commerce, Core Cities, Growth Programme Board Member, Local Action Group, Rural Community Groups, university	0
total	49

Europe 2020: UK National Reform Programme 2017: April 2017 ↩
Europe 2020: UK National Reform Programme 2017: April 2017 ↩
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Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2017 ↩
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UK labour market: December 2017 ↩
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West Midlands, Merseyside, Inner London, Tees Valley & Durham ↩
Leicester, Nottingham, Kingston upon Hull, Thurrock. ↩
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Race in the Workplace : The Macgregor-Smith Review ↩
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Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families : White Paper 2017 ↩
HM Government, 2013, Social Justice: Transforming Lives - One year on ↩
European Commission announcement of 29 June 2022 on adoption of FAST-CARE ↩
Details of European Commission’s CARE support ↩
Russian invasion of Ukraine: UK government response - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩
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International Survey of Adult Skills 2012 ↩
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Section 1: Strategy

Programme Objectives

Priorities

Table 1 sets out in more detail the justification for the thematic objectives and investment priorities which have been selected.

Programme Architecture

Thematic Objective 8 – Employment

Analysis of need

Overall employment rate including gender differences

Unemployment

Economic inactivity

Tackling Youth unemployment

Disadvantaged groups

Ethnic minorities

Older Workers

Qualifications and Skills

Territorial variations

National policies and programmes

Use of ESF

Thematic Objective 9 - Social Exclusion and Poverty

Analysis of need

Tackling Poverty

Supporting Offenders

National policies and programmes

Use of ESF

Thematic Objective 10 - Skills

Analysis of need

Basic and lower level skills

Intermediate Technical Skills

Higher level skills

National policies and programmes

Use of ESF

Other Thematic Objectives

Selection of the objectives and priorities

Table 1: Justification for the selection of thematic objectives and investment priorities

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Selected Thematic Objective

Selected Investment Priority

Justification for selection

Financial Allocation

Table 2: Overview of the investment strategy of the operational programme

Section 2: Priority Axes

Priority Axis 1: Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment Priority 1.1: Access to employment for jobseekers and inactive people

Table 4:

Priority Axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment priority: 8i - Access to employment for job seekers and inactive people, including the long term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility.

Actions to be supported under the Investment Priority

Guiding principles for selection of operations

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Priority axis: 1 - Inclusive Labour Markets

Investment priority 1.2: Sustainable integration of young people

Table 4: Common result indicators for which a target value has been set and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective (by investment priority and category of region) (for ESF).

Priority axis: 1 Inclusive Labour Markets

Actions to be supported under the Investment Priority

Guiding principles for selection of operations

Planned use of financial instruments (where appropriate)

Planned use of major projects (where appropriate)

Table 5: Common and programme-specific output indicators

Investment Priority 1.3: Youth Employment Initiative

Table 4a: YEI result indicators and programme-specific result indicators corresponding to the specific objective