European Structural and Investment Funding (ESIF)

AHSN ESIF/ LEP knowledge sharing webinar

14 May 2015

ESIF and the NHS – Matching Health with Growth

• The process• The gaps• Old v New

• Plenty of discussion points…

• https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds

Eligibility

• “Potential applicant organisations include, but are not limited to:

Local Authorities; Statutory and non-statutory public funded organisations/bodies; Higher and Further Education Institutions; Voluntary/community organisations; Private sector companies; Registered charities; Not for Profit organisations.”

Published calls

• Some of earliest calls now closed but 112 remain open• 34 relate to R & I providing up to £205m of funding (so over

£400m for R & I projects) • Compare levels of funding to overall LEP pots – how much of

funding is being spent initially and how much saved for later?• Real range in scope of R & I projects expected, e.g.

Brighton, Bucks TV with £500k to spend, Manchester with £19m to match

• ERDF projects often referencing minimum size of grant of £500k (so minimum project size £1m) and time period of three years

• Projects starting usually within c3months following approval

The two stages

1 - Applications will be subject to a Gateway Assessment undertaken by Managing Authority under the following criteria:• Applicant eligibility; • Activity and expenditure eligibility; and • The fit with the ERDF OP and the call.

2 - Proposals that pass the GA move into Core Assessment which consists of the following: • Strategic fit;• Value for money;• Management & control;• Deliverability; • Procurement / tendering; and • State Aid compliance.

Gateway Assessment

• REGISTER!• 2 month

deadline from call advertised

• On-line application form

• MA confirms eligibility etc

• Local ESIF Committee recommends which projects should be sifted for next stage

Core Assessment

• 2 months to hear back about success of initial application

• Further 2 months to assemble full application bid

Start of Project?

• Final decisions made by MA on projects to be funded

• Time needed to finalise contracts with partner(s)

• Due diligence on private sector partner(s)

What is important?

• You - and any NHS partners - register• No appeals process!• Flat rate for overheads – 15% of direct staff costs• Retrospective funding possible from moment you submit

the full application, but this is at your own risk!• For capital bids, the paperwork (lease agreements,

donation of land, planning permission etc) must be in place before the grant agreement is signed

• Applications have word limits but can use photos, diagrams etc – give them the ammunition to make a decision (they will be seeing 100s of these)

What is important?

• “It is the grant recipient’s responsibility to ensure that the rules are strictly adhered to both during the project selection process and after approval.”

• “based on the existing experience of projects we strongly recommend there is a dedicated 100% project manager and dedicated 100% admin resource as a minimum.”

• Applicants can focus on one or more indicative activities if appropriate for the project. There isn’t a maximum of indicative actions that projects might choose per project; however, if multiple indicative activities are selected, care must be taken to ensure that the project retains a focus.

What is new?

• Role of the Local ESIF committees• More emphasis on explaining which partners you are using

and why, and that they understand the full process/audits etc

• Need to be explicit about Quality Assurance in the bid – who in the lead organisation will check the claims/outputs etc?

• Can match capital against revenue and vice versa

What is missing?

• OP still not signed!• The output guidance – eg what does ‘supporting

enterprises’ mean?• Decent IT registration system – may be able to use Word

document instead• LEPs not working across borders quite as envisaged

What is coming?

• National Opt In bodies finalising agreements• Each OIO will launch its own tendering/bidding round later

this year (DWP, Big Lottery, SFA)• DWP and SFA will match ESF money with programme

funding, BLF will use cash• Expected calls launched at several stages between June –

October 2015• Two stages as with others but the OIO runs the application

process• Decisions made by OIO but with advice from LEP ESIF

Committee

Match-funding

• Usually 50%, though can differ slightly• Match funding must be available from the outset• It may come from the applicants themselves (and any

delivery partners’ resources), or from other organisations in the public or private sector

• ‘Contributions in kind’ are ineligible as match funding, except for the donation of land and buildings (max of %10)

• Match funding from small and medium sized enterprises is allowed, provided it does not count as revenue to the grant recipient

Match-funding

• Only the lead applicant or a named delivery partner can provide match funding (via a cash contribution or staff time)

• Where a lead applicant receives a donation of cash from a 3rd party (and if these funds are eligible) then this becomes the lead partner’s match funding

• If a lead applicant is offered free/pro bono / in kind support (for business support/consultancy services for example) this is not eligible as match, even if the free support is being offered by a formal delivery partner

Eligibility

• Potential applicant organisations include, but are not limited to:

Local Authorities; Statutory and non-statutory public funded organisations/bodies; Higher and Further Education Institutions; Voluntary/community organisations; Private sector companies; Registered charities; Nor for Profit organisations.

Call specificationLocal context“This call for projects is for capital projects based in Greater Manchester which will aid Greater Manchester in developing technologies in the priorities identified above. There will be a later call for revenue projects looking at the commercialisation of these technologies.

Applications should ensure that Greater Manchester continues to develop its influence in these and related areas, and in particular projects which address these five priority areas: Increasing entrepreneurship and business growth Improve the productivity of existing science base Expand and accelerate the commercialisation of research Improve the profile of Greater Manchester science Improve Greater Manchester’s Science and Technology skills base1

Applications should be led by or have close links to local Higher Education Institutions and have strong private sector partner involvement and investment.

Specific areas of focus are Advanced Materials (including graphene) and Health Innovation (including e-health, stratified medicine and cancer research) as these have been identified as key areas of local strength for which there is global demand.”

Call specification• Call Requirements An indicative budget of £18.905 million (£15 million capital and £3.905 million revenue) has been allocated to this call. This is intended as a guide and may be reviewed; All applications are competitive. Proposals can only contain activities which are eligible for European Regional Development Fund; Proposals should be for a minimum of £500,000 European Regional Development Fund; Applicants will need to have eligible match funding for the balance of costs which must be from a source other than the European Union Projects should be capable of providing coverage of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership area; All procurement must demonstrate compliance with European Union regulations; Applicants must demonstrate compliance with State Aid law; and All expenditure and activities will be subject to rigorous audit and non-compliance may lead to financial penalty.

Call specification• Required deliverablesC1 Number of enterprises receiving supportC2 Number of enterprises receiving grantsC4 Number of enterprises receiving non-financial supportC5 Number of new enterprises supportedC6 Private investment matching public support to enterprises (grants)C26 Number of enterprises cooperating with research entitiesC28 Number of enterprises supported to introduce new to the market productsC29 Number of enterprises supported to introduce new to the firm productsP1 Number of researchers working in improved research or innovation facilitiesP2 Public or commercial buildings built or renovated

Questions/Comments/Concerns

• How are relations with Universities re ESIF?• Have Local Authorities shared plans for investing?• Have individual NHS Trusts expressed an interest in match funding?• Have LEPs given any indications about future calls and strategy?

Areas for future cooperation

External guests including:• David Taylor, Head of Regeneration, UHB 12.30pm, 15th June 2015•Kevin Richardson, Local Growth Advisor, HEFCE 12.30pm, 15th July 2015Let us have your thoughts on panel members

Skills and employmentSocial Inclusion• Michael.wood@nhsconfed.org