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Bradford - Europe
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Background
The European Union provides financial support to its Member States in line with EU policy objectives. Regional and cohesion policy is aimed at economic development and social inclusion and financial support comes through the Structural Funds.
The Structural Funds consist of:
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), intended to help reduce imbalances between regions of the Union
- European Social Fund (ESF), the main channel of EU social policy. It provides financial assistance for vocational training, retraining and job-creation schemes
- The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), which finances the EU's common rural development policy
- The European Fisheries Fund (EFF), which finances the EU's common fisheries policy.
Programmes last for a seven year period. The current cycle runs from 2007 - 2013.
Yorkshire and the Humber region is eligible for funding from ERDF, ESF and EAFRD. Parts of the region may also benefit from grants under the European Fisheries Fund (EFF).
ERDF
The new programme is different to previous ERDF programmes:
- There is less money available to the region
- Larger and fewer projects will be supported
- Projects will contract directly with Yorkshire Forward
- Projects must have match funding
- In general, grant requests should be a minimum of 1 million ERDF
- Activity is much more targeted at Social Enterprise and supporting organisations to become enterprising
- Ineligible activity includes training, jobs brokerage, advice and guidance, generic capacity building
- The deadline for capital support has passed (30 June 2008)
In the new programme, Priority 1 focuses on innovation, research and development, Priority 2 covers business support and Priority 3, Sustainable Communities.
Priority 3 is targeted at the 10% most disadvantaged super output areas. Super output areas are below ward level, so now new areas are eligible for funding.
What scope is there for Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) involvement in Bradford district?
A partnership bid has been submitted, called "Enterprising Bradford", for 8 million and was developed in partnership with CVSs and other voluntary groups in Bradford, through the Priority 3 (P3) working group.
There will be contracting opportunities for VCS groups. For opportunities under this bid there would be no need to find match funding as this has been built in (LEGI and Bradford Council funding). Groups should be aware that generic capacity building with groups is not eligible - instead, supporting groups to be more enterprising or sustaining existing enterprise would be an option.
Possible opportunities:
- Enterprise facilitation e.g. grassroots development of business ideas/ start-ups with people in disadvantaged areas. There are already 7 different models of enterprise facilitation working across Bradford and LEGI match funding will be used to expand the programme to Allerton and rural areas of the district
- Employer facing jobs brokerage e.g. diagnostics of workforce development i.e. not providing training, but working out what is needed instead.
- Social Enterprise support - how to increase or develop social enterprise opportunities (lead on this is Linda Widdop at Business Link Yorkshire)
- ICT strategies
- DIVA database development
There are opportunities for voluntary and community groups to tender together.
If you are interested in contracting opportunities through the Enterprising Bradford bid then email Jasvinder Gill jasvinder.gill@bradford.gov.uk to receive a copy of the bid.
It is also recommended that groups who are interesting in submitting their own application to the ERDF programme get a copy of the Enterprising Bradford bid. It is important that work is not duplicated and that new bids add value to what's already being delivered. Submitting an expression of interest form is the first step. A Yorkshire Forward member of staff will then be assigned to your application. Documents and further information can be downloaded from the Yorkshire Forward website at www.yorkshire-forward.com/ERDF
Although match funding is agreed for the Enterprising Bradford bid there are no guarantees of match funding for further bids.
If you would like to discuss a possible ERDF bid, contact Janet Hulse (01274 431358) at Bradford Council, or Carl Howard at Yorkshire Forward Europe Team (0113 394 5752).
ESF
There are two main priorities:
- extending employment opportunities
- developing a skilled and adaptable workforce
All work with individuals should be funded with ESF - most ESF has been tendered for already through the co-financing bodies such as the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Voluntary and community groups may also have opportunities to access small grants of ESF funding through the ESF Community grants programme. Grants of up to 12,000 will be available once the programme is established. Information about the programme will be uploaded to the latest news section www.bfunded.org.uk and the LSC website at http://www.lsc.gov.uk/regions/YorkshireHumber/esf/ when available.
EAFRD
Under the Rural Development Programme for England, Yorkshire Forward has been working with partners in the region to design programmes of support through which businesses and communities can access funding.
Leader
Leader is a community led approach to rural development, focussing primarily on basic services for rural communities, rural culture and heritage, village development and renewal.
Pennine Prospects has been successful in reaching stage two of a bid for funds to support communities in rural areas of the South Pennines including the Bradford District. There will be approximately 300,000 available each year from 2008 - 2013 through this funding known as Leader.
Areas eligible for funds are Ilkley, Addingham, Silsden, Steeton, Eastburn, Laycock, Oakworth, Haworth, Crossroads, Stanbury, Oxenhope, Leeming, Denholme, Cullingworth, Wilsden and parts of Harden.
Further information about the Leader bid and activities are available from Ruth Hair at Pennine Prospects, tel: 07528 151911, email Ruth.hair@pennineprospects.co.uk
Business support
Businesses can access the Rural Enterprise Investment Programme, a package of support for rural businesses wanting to start up or expand, and needing to access over 25,000 of public funding to take their businesses forward. Further information can be found on Yorkshire Forward's website at, http://tinyurl.com/5eayl3
There is also a Rural Business Start Up Programme that is part of the support that accessible via Business Link Yorkshire, for new enterprises and young businesses (less than one years old). Further information can be found on Yorkshire Forward's website at, http://tinyurl.com/5fvpy9
Also available is LandSkills, the new RDPE programme in Yorkshire and Humber for the development of the technical skills of the regions agricultural, horticultural and forestry sectors. Further information can be found on Yorkshire Forward's website at, http://tinyurl.com/6lqpzm
EU Transnational programmes
The EU funds a number of other programmes to support transnational projects and exchanges. These programmes cover all EU policy areas. In general you will need to work with at least two other partners from other EU Member States. Some programmes and agencies operate a partner search facility which can match your project idea with a potential partner. Further information can be found on the YorkshireEurope website at, http://www.yorkshireurope.be/EU_Funding.asp
Information and advice
Yorkshireurope
Calls for proposals for transnational programmes are regularly listed on their website at http://www.yorkshireurope.be/EU_Funding.asp you can also sign up to receive regular email updates. Sign up on their website, email benito@yorkshire.be or call 00 32 2 735 3408
Europa Media
Information on individual transnational programmes such as Culture 2007 and Daphne is available on the Europa Media website at http://www.2007-2013.eu/by_scope.php
EUCLID
EUCLID provides European & international information, research and consultancy services to the cultural sector. Website: http://www.euclid.info/
Other Help
Further help is available from local support organisations and agencies.
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