Euroscene Bytesize: September edition - Launch of the London ESFRegional Framework

Overview
The London ESF Regional Framework 2011-13 has now been launched so read the summary below and then download it from the LDA’s website as this will provide much information and context as to how the ESF Programme will roll out in London over the next few years with much activity anticipated soon after the Coalition Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
The CFO Plans will be published after the CSR with tendering rounds taking place in the final weeks of 2010 and early weeks of 2011.

News
Launch of London ESF Framework 2011-13
LVSTC ESF Partnership Portal soon to launch
CFO Procurement Timetables
Health, Work and Well-being Conference
CFO News
Skills Funding Agency (SFA) - PQQ Launch – ESF Youth Programme
National Offender Management Services (NOMS)
London Councils
Department for Work & Pensions
London Development Agency - ESF Co-financing Programme 2011-2013 Launch and information from events now available

Launch of London ESF Framework 2011-13
In preparation for the second half of the ESF London Programme, worth £423m to the capital, the ESF Regional Framework has been launched and is now available to download from the following link: http://www.lda.gov.uk/our-work/european-funds/ESF/framework/index.aspx. This sets the scene for the various Plans of the Co-Financing Organisations which in turn determine the pattern of tenders to be released over the next few months. These will finance initiatives taking place over the period to 2013 with the usual 2-year run-on to 2015.
In his foreword, the Mayor of London focuses on how ESF will support Londoners and London ’s businesses through economic hardship and into recovery. In particular, he writes: “This versatile programme supports Londoners who have never accessed education, employment or training, or whose lives have taken a wrong turn and are looking for a second chance. It helps Londoners who lose their jobs or need to improve their skills to compete in an even tougher labour market.”
He closes with an affirmation of the key leadership role of the London Skills & Employment Board in pursuing the close collaboration of the various delivery bodies to minimise overlap. The objective is integrated commissioning: “a more joined up service both for those of you who seek to access European Funds; and most importantly, for the Londoners who benefit from them.”
As with so much in the current public domain, the next steps will be significantly influenced by the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review due to be announced on 20th October. However, an important regional steer is evident through The London Statement of Skills Priority 2011/12 produced by the LDA and the LSEB:
• high level skills are critical to driving the economy
• ensuring a basic platform of employability skills
• boosting the quantity and quality of Apprenticeships in key growth areas
• improving Leadership and Management skills
• developing progression routes for low-skilled workers
• focus on sustained employment and progression outcomes.
The Framework also takes into consideration those changes that may take place in London ’s economy or new and emerging strategies:
• the new DWP Work Programme
• the proposed ‘folding in’ of the activities of the LDA into the GLA
• the development of Local Enterprise Partnerships
• developing activities and priorities that may result from the consultations on the Skills Strategy and the Further Education and Skills Funding System.

The intended attraction of the Programme is still to providers large and small. The Framework precedes warming activities through the autumn with the main tendering rounds getting underway between the end of October and the early New Year.
For more information, as it emerges, keep in touch with LVSTC.

LVSTC ESF Partnership Portal
LVSTC are please to announce the launch of its new Partnership Portal. With the prospect of application rounds starting towards the end of the year, it is a good idea to start thing about prospective partners for your application.

The portal is slightly different than those produced for earlier application rounds in that the data captured relates to the work of your organisation only and does not ask questions about specific tenders.
When a funding application round is launched, we will contact you about your interest in order to provide additional search filters to the portal.
Registration is free and you can enter your details at
www.surveymonkey.com/s/lvstc_partnership_portal_main
We will start publishing details by 5th October 2010.

CFO Procurement Timetables
For details on the expected procurement timetables for each of the 5 ESF Co-financing organisations (Skills Funding Agency, DWP, LDA, NOMS and London Councils), please visit: http://www.lda.gov.uk/our-work/european-funds/ESF/Co-financing/index.aspx. You can also download a copy of the London ESF 2011-2013 Programme Update from this webpage, which provides an outline on the type of services to be commissioned under each area of the programme.
Good Jobs; Good for Health & Good for Business
Health, Work and Well-being Conference
14 October 2010, City Hall, London SE1 2AA
The Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency and the London Health Commission are jointly hosting the Good Jobs, Good for Health & Good for Business conference. The event will be held on Thursday 14 October from 10.30am-4.30pm at City Hall.
The main objective is to facilitate exchanges, debate and networking on good health and work practices between experts in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
The event forms part of the 2010 EU Open Days, the annual get-together of experts in regional and local development. For more details on EU Open Days please visit the EU Open Days website.
The event will comprise a range of high profile speakers from the health, employment and skills fields including Pamela Chesters, the Mayor’s Advisor on Health and Youth Opportunities.
Participation on this event is free of charge and registrations must be received by the deadline of 8 October 2010.
For a more detailed programme and information on how to register please visit the London Development Agency’s news and event pages of the website.

Skills Funding Agency (SFA) - PQQ now closed –ESF Youth Programme

The Skills Funding Agency launched a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) in August for the provision of Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) youth services in England which has now closed.
Any provider who’s interested in tendering to deliver the Skills Funding Agency NEET provision in London needs to be registered on the SFA’s e-tendering portal and those respondents that met the deadline will be notified of results from 4th October 2010.

NOMS
A decision on the NOMS ESF contracts is expected in November.
London Councils
At present, there is a re-tendering round for ESF in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. Otherwise, there are no plans for new rounds until late 2011.
Department for Work & Pensions
Preparation is underway for the Work Programme with Invitations to Tender for the WP Framework now in the public domain. Tendering is expected to begin at the end of 2010 with starts in early 2011. The DWP element of the ESF London Programme will follow.
LDA ESF Co-financing Programme 2011-2013
Adult and Youth programme tendering rounds launched
The LDA has now launched its ESF Adult and Youth programme tendering round. If you are interested in applying for either of these opportunities you must register on CompeteFor via the following link www.competefor.com and complete the Pre-qualification Questionnaire relevant to the opportunity you wish to bid for.
Any queries about this tendering opportunity should be emailed to esf-inforequest@lda.gov.uk . Answers will then be made available to all potential suppliers on the LDA’s website, www.lda.gov.uk
As with previous rounds both programmes are expected to require proposals for large projects, and partnerships and consortiums are the most likely route to funding. In fact it is probable that the projects required will be fewer and larger than previous rounds, with significant amounts of funding, possibly the whole allocation of the 2011-2013 ESF funding. As with previous rounds this will require partnerships and consortiums to have financially robust lead organisations with voluntary sector organisations as delivery partners.
Information from LDA market warming event
Two highly popular events were held earlier this month to inform people about various aspects of the LDA’s work http://www.lda.gov.uk/news-and-events/events/2010/learning-skills-commissioning-event.aspx

LVSTC Partnership Portals
LVSTC will be utilizing partnership portals as soon as the details of the rounds are firmed up. We would recommend that the voluntary sector begins talking now to potential partners about project development for both programmes. Previously the portals have proved very effective in aiding partnership development and we hope to have them in place as early as possible to ensure maximum development time for prospective partners.
Below are the programmes in greater detail extracted from the LDA website:
LDA ESF Programme 2011-2013
The LDA ESF Youth and Employability programmes will provide support and activities for Londoners under the priorities of the European Social Fund (ESF) Regional Framework. The programmes aim to increase the rate and quality of economic participation of all Londoners, including disengaged youth, long-term unemployed and people in low skilled and low paid work.
ESF Youth Programme 2011-2013
Priority 1.2: Employment and skills activities targeted at young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)
The London Development Agency (through integrated commissioning with other London ESF co-financing agencies), will focus on re-engaging young Londoners (16-19) who have disengaged with education, employment and training.
Projects
Four projects, outlined below will test various methods of re-engagement.
Pan-London NEET Provision
The Pan-London NEET project aims to provide innovative and flexible solutions to tackle the problem of young people Not in Employment, Training or Education (NEET) across London . A driving factor behind this project is to reduce the high rate of churn in the NEET group (those young people who move in and out of engagement). To do this, providers will have to develop a personalised approach to meet the different needs within this cohort.
Training to Work
This employer-led project will provide bespoke training for young people aged 16-19 who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) in order to prepare them for employment within two growth sectors for London . The project will test if this approach can be used as a successful mechanism to support young people who are NEET into sustained employment.
Volunteering into Employment, Education and Training
This project aims to re-engage young people with education, employment and training through volunteering. In addition to re-engagement, this project aims to increase young people’s awareness of the benefits of volunteering, what they can offer a volunteering organisation and how volunteering can contribute to developing their employability skills, thereby improving their ability to compete within the unpredictable labour market.
Opportunities for Vulnerable Young People
This targeted project will support the re-engagement of two specific groups of very vulnerable young people who are Not in Employment, Education or Training in London . The two groups that will be targeted are teenage parents and care leavers, (who are leaving or have just left the local authority care system). These two groups face unique challenges to re-engaging with education, employment and training and require bespoke support to transition successfully to independent living.

Funding model
These four projects will all by funded through an outcome based funding model. Please note that funding for this round of ESF projects is subject to approval.

Project delivery
Black Box Commissioning
The Pan-London NEET Provision project and the Opportunities for Vulnerable Young People will use "black box" commissioning to promote innovative and flexible methods to support these young people to re-engage with education, employment and training.
Elements of black box commissioning:
• Engagement of a young person on the programme
• Aspiration raising
• IAG provision
• Skills development
• Employer engagement
• Brokerage
• Support to young people to sustain outcome
• Support to employers to sustain outcome
The project 'Volunteering into Employmnet, Education and Training' will use a more prescriptive model (i.e. volunteering) and as such, will require that providers use volunteering to re-engage young people who are NEET.
'Training to Work' will also use a specific employer-lead delivery model to promote the training and employment of young people who are NEET in two growth sectors in London .

LDA ESF Adult Employability Programme 2011-12
The LDA's ESF Adult Employability programme aims to provide a cohesive programme of support for adults, which will help move long term workless Londoners into sustained employment as well as support low paid and low skilled workers to achieve career progression.
Priority 1.1 – Adult Employability
The following specifications are expected to be funded under Priority 1.1 – Adult Employability (subject to approval):
ESF Heathrow Employability and Up-Skilling
The Heathrow Employability and Up-skilling programme will deliver an integrated and bespoke employability and up-skilling programme to ensure that London ’s workless population can access sustainable employment opportunities at Heathrow Airport .
The project will support those people who have been out-of-work for more than 12 months to access jobs in a range of occupations including drivers, loaders, ground operations, security, and passenger ground handling. BAA will be closely involved in developing the project specification and supporting its implementation.
ESF Low Carbon Employment
The project aims to develop demand-led solutions that target both unemployed individuals and long term workless clients to access sustained employment within the Low Carbon economy.
The Low Carbon economy is likely to generate significant additional jobs over the next few years and this can provide suitable employment opportunities for low and intermediate skilled Londoners to participate and progress within this growth sector.
ESF London Works
London Works aims to address the high levels of worklessness in London , by providing a package of employability and personalised support to those who have been out of work for more than 12 months.
The project will be commissioned on a sub regional basis and is likely to be delivered in Central, West and North / North East London. The project will deliver sustained employment outcomes by developing innovative and bespoke solutions to meet the range of needs of the target group and tackle barriers to sustained employment.
ESF Jobs Plus
The objective of ‘Jobs Plus’ is to help workless individuals into sustained employment for 12 months, and for approximately one third of those individuals that sustain work to progress in their careers. The LDA currently plans to demonstrate this approach and believes that the inclusion of progression within mainstream welfare to work services is the obvious next step in improving the quality of employment outcomes for individuals and an improved return on investment for the Exchequer.
Jobs Plus will support long term workless (12 months or more and not currently engaged in mainstream provision) into sustained employment and support while in work to progress in their career. This project will be geographically focused in boroughs in South London . Jobs Plus is concerned with addressing challenges facing both individuals and employers through strong engagement, planning and support.
Priority 2.1 – Basic Skills in the Workplace
The following specification is expected to be funded under Priority 2.1 – Basic Skills in the Workplace (subject to approval):
ESF Skills for Work
Skills for Work will deliver an integrated package of skills development and personalised support to low skilled and low paid workers, to achieve a Skills for Life qualification and improve career prospects. The project aims to increase the volumes of Londoners accessing basic skills, particularly numeracy. The project will deliver skills development and career progression outcomes.
The Funding Model
The projects will be funded through an outcome based payment model to achieve:
• Sustained employment measured at 12 months
• Career Progression Outcomes measured at 6 months
Funding status
LDA funding for both programs is not confirmed at this stage and all proposals are subject to approval by HM Treasury.
We anticipate further clarity over the funding position following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). The CSR will set out public spending plans for the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 and is expected to be published in October 2010.
Formal approval for LDA funding will be sought from Treasury following the CSR.

If you would like to send out information with our bi-monthly newsletter, Euroscene, thereby reaching a contact list of over 3,000 organisations, then please get in touch with Bill Burke on the numbers below.

LVSTC, Bromley Hall, 43 Gillender Street , London , E14 6RN
Tel: 0845 262 2006 or 020 7538 4309
Fax: 0845 262 2005 or 020 7005 0275