VONNE

European Social Fund support

VONNE has a programme of advice, support and practical help to VCS organisations interested in securing ESF resources to deliver skills and employability activities. VONNE will be supported by New Skills Consulting. Support will be available till the end of March 2012.

What is the European Social Fund?

Background
The European Social Fund (ESF) is one of 2 European Union (EU) ‘Structural Funds’ designed to reduce regional economic disparities across the EU.

Aim
ESF aims to reduce differences in prosperity and living standards across the EU. In other words, the ESF is used to promote economic and social cohesion.

Strategic Approach
The ESF is the major tool for implementing the EU’s 2020 Strategy for Growth and Jobs which seeks to provide EU citizens with better skills and better job prospects.

Targeting
ESF funding is available throughout the EU but the majority of funding is targeted at regions with the poorest economic performance.

The England ESF Programme
Identifies the over-arching priorities for skills and employment across England, and details the ESF allocations to each region. These are based on regional employment and skills need e.g. the number of people not in work and who do not have good qualifications.

The North East ESF Programme
This details the specific employment and skills priorities for the region, linked to the Regional Economic Strategy and Regional Employability Framework, within the over-arching framework established by the England ESF Programme.
Read more about the North East ESF programme and what it will fund

How much is available?
£120m of ESF is available to the North East during the period 2010-13.

How is ESF managed in the North East?
Government Office North East has overall responsibility for the management of the ESF Programme in the region. However ESF resources are managed and administered by three co-financing organisations (CFO’s) – The Skills Funding Agency, Department of Work and Pensions, and the National Offender Management Service.
Each CFO procures activity following an open and competitive tendering process by issuing invitations to tender for specific activities. In some cases, CFO’s have adopted a prime contractor model, awarding resources to large organisations which sub-contract delivery to a range of smaller providers.

The North East ESF Programme

Activities funded by the ESF programme must be focused on the Regional Employability Framework (REF) which provides a coordinated approach to the delivery of employability and skills support. The North East ESF Programme comprises 2 main strands or ‘priorities’, each providing funding for different types of activities.