EEDA - East of England Development Agency

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European Social Fund (ESF)

The European Social Fund (ESF) provides the employment element of the Competitiveness and Employment objective of the European Structural Funds programme. It was set up to help reduce differences in living standards between the regions of the European Union (EU) by:

• reducing unemployment
• improving and developing the skills of employed people
• investing in industrial or rural areas which are in decline.

The East of England has been awarded an allocation of £174 million for the period 2007-13 as part of the England and Gibraltar ESF programme.

EEDA's 20011-13 Co-financing Plan had set out the employability and workforce development programme that the organisation expected to deliver over the next three years. However, following the Government’s decision to abolish all Regional Development Agencies by March 2012, EEDA will only deliver a reduced programme portfolio of approximately £5.8 million during 2011.

As with previous and current projects, this ESF programme will fund activity which address the employment and skills challenges in the East of England, focusing on extending employment opportunities to those not in work, developing a skilled and adaptable workforce for the needs of the region's businesses, and responding effectively to economic shocks.

Following conclusion of open and competitive tendering processes, EEDA have awarded contracts for the following three projects.

• Response to Redundancy (R2R) 2011 - The purpose of this project is to continue EEDA's current 'Response to Redundancy' programme to offer support to individuals facing redundancy but who are still in employment and who are not sufficiently supported by their employer. In particular, the project is aimed at small companies and supply chains who lack the financial reserves to enable them to support individuals facing redundancy. The contract has been awarded to The Consultancy Home Counties Ltd.
• Low Carbon Skills - The purpose of this project is to support 500 unemployed and/or economically inactive individuals by preparing them for jobs in emerging low carbon sectors and industries, opening up entry and progression routes and stimulating providers to respond to the needs of employers. Two contracts have been awarded for this project: Cambridgeshire County Council and Bedford College.
• Improving Capabilities in Sectors - The purpose of this project is to continue to support the key sectors supported in the current ESF-funded ‘Beyond 2010’ programme with a greater emphasis on support to export sectors and sectors driving current and future growth. The contract has been awarded to Essex County Council.

EEDA is one of a number of CFOs in the East of England.  The other CFOs are the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), the Department of Work and Pensions (through Job Centre Plus), Luton Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council and the National Offender Management Service(NOMS).

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