European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) UPDATE
This is the latest update providing you with the latest news about the Cheshire and
Warrington ERDF Programme!
We can breathe a sigh of relief! The ERDF Operational Programme (OP) was signed off by
the government and the European Commission on 24th June 2015. We, the LEP are now
working with the managing authority, Department for Communities and Local Government
(DCLG), dealing with all the paperwork and then we can go ahead with our Cheshire and
Warrington ESIF Launch Event in late 2015 / early 2016.
Here at the LEP we have also been working hard drafting the next round of calls for projects
and they have just been released on 3rd August 2015.
The challenge of the Logusnet system beat us all in the end and the application process was
changed. Due to some applicants experiencing problems with the LOGASnet system a Word
version of the application form was made available and DCLG decided to accept Word
versions as a temporary measure. This has now become the “norm” and those of you
wishing to apply either at stage 1, or at stage 2 can now use the paper based Word
Application Forms. The links are here:
For OUTLINE (Stage 1) applications:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-fundsoutline-application
For FULL (Stage 2) applications:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-fullapplication
It is understood that everyone bidding for Cheshire and Warrington ERDF grant from the
March calls submitted their applications on time. By now they have also received
notifications of their success or failure in the first round. If you haven’t please get in touch
and we will look into it for you.
Cheshire and Warrington has released 3 further calls for projects on 3rd August 15,
you can see them here:
https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds
The first was under Priority 1 – Innovation.
This call is the second call under P1 and is looking for projects that would help to increase
investment in research and innovation by small and medium sized enterprises and increase
the number of small and medium sized enterprises engaged in knowledge exchange,
collaborative and contract research and innovation with research institutions, public
institutions or large enterprises in order to help them bring new products and processes to
market. This time the call is for capital projects. Please remember though – all capital
projects still need to have a revenue element. We don’t get many outputs from a capital
project they all come from the revenue side of the project. With £8m allocated, we expect a
lot of eligible outputs!
This call for projects closes on 25th September 2015.
The second call was under Priority 3 – SME Competitiveness.
As in March the August call is still looking to increase entrepreneurship, particularly in areas
with low levels of enterprise activity and amongst under-represented groups and increase
the growth capacity of small and medium sized enterprises. Again, this call is for capital
projects with revenue support, but for “grow on space” for businesses and there is another
£8m allocated.
This call for projects closes on 25th September 2015.
The third call was under Priority 4 – Promoting the Low Carbon Economy in all Sectors.
This is the first call for priority 4 projects. The 2 strands are very general due to the ongoing
work producing the ESIF Low Carbon Action Plan, which won’t be complete until 3rd
September. However we felt we needed to commence delivery so have chosen to release a
call with 2 elements: Low Carbon Innovation and Low Carbon Business Support.
This call for projects closes on 25th September 2015.
When we have further information for you we will update this page but we cannot stress
enough the importance of reading all the available guidance provided. Applicants are
advised to read details on the selection and assessment of projects and the guidance and
requirements on key areas of the funds. Any successful applicant will need to comply with
these.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-fundsprogramme-guidance
The latest draft version of the European Regional Development Fund Operational
Programme is also available to refer to on the Gov.uk website:
https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds
Projects wanting to deliver in Cheshire and Warrington LEP area need to keep up to date
with our ESIF Strategy:
http://www.871candwep.co.uk/resources/european-structural-and-investment-fundsstrategy-for-2014-to-2020/
Projects also have to align with the Cheshire and Warrington Strategic Economic Plan and
assist in our determination to deliver our 3 priorities or one of the Enabling Programmes:
http://www.871candwep.co.uk/resources/strategic-economic-plan-and-growth-plan-forcheshire-and-warrington/
Be aware though that all activity will need to be eligible ERDF activity. Some activity is not!
E.g. you won’t get ERDF money to build a motorway or a housing estate! Here at the LEP
we strongly advise you to have early conversations with us so we are aware of your potential
bids and we can work with you every step of the way.
If your outline application is successful, DCLG will contact you and ask you to make a full
application. There are numerous steps before this can be done but that is being finalised at
the moment. I will explain the background in the next ERDF News Bulletin and will outline
the procedures we as a LEP have to go through.
UPDATE on March 2015 Calls
The first ERDF calls for the 2014 – 2020 ERDF Operational Programme saw several
projects going through to second stage. A few were rejected mainly because the call
information was not adhered to. E.g. Please note when a call states it is for a revenue
support project, don’t include capital expenditure and vice versa. Ensure you are clear on
whether the project has to cover the whole Cheshire and Warrington LEP area or if it can
just focus on one area / sector.
Those that were approved to second stage are busy working up their detailed application
and we shall let you know in the next bulletin the successful applicants. If you would like to
view the second stage application form and annexes they can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-fullapplication
Meanwhile, if you have any further questions then please do get in touch with me at
jane.baker@871candwep.co.uk and I will endeavor to help you or direct you to the correct
person to work with you.
Once Again Good Luck with your ERDF journey