Regional Competitiveness and Employment Programme for Yorkshire and the Humber

5th May 2008

Call for proposals under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Programme for Yorkshire and the Humber

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

1. The Priority Prospectus attached at Annex 1 identify activities that will deliver the region’s ERDF Operational Programme.

This has been agreed by the Yorkshire and the Humber ERDF Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC) on 18 April 2008.

This Priority Prospectus will be open for bids until 31 March 2009, when a revised version will be issued.

2. Partners are invited to submit an enquiry form (attached) if they would like to deliver any of the activities identified using ERDF towards the costs.

This call for proposals is on a rolling basis, although you are encouraged to make early contact as funds are limited.

In the event that particular Priorities become over-committed, the PMC may decide to close this call for proposals early.

3. However, there are two areas where Yorkshire Forward believe that there is likely to be significant overbidding, and in order to ensure that the proposals offering the best value are approved the submission of enquiry forms for these activities is time limited. These are as follows:

Yorkshire Forward is particularly interested in pulling together local deliverers in order to form a regional social enterprise growth programme with local delivery. Enquires relating to this activity should be submitted by 31 May 2008, when all proposals will be considered together for potential synergies and economies of scale.
Capital funding in Priority 3 is very limited. In order to ensure fairness in distribution of resources in the region, as well as maximum benefit from the funding for deprived communities, stand-alone capital proposals not forming part of wider strategic packaged bids will need to be considered alongside one another. All enquiries under this activity should be submitted by 30 June 2008, when all proposals will be considered together and judged for the best value for money in terms of delivery of the Programme’s objectives.

4. The process for applying for ERDF is outlined below.

5. Enquiry forms must only be submitted in the format specified, and submitted to the following e-mail address.

You will be contacted within 1 working day with the name of the Yorkshire Forward officer who will deal with your enquiry.

This stage of the process is informal, and you may decide to proceed with an application for funding despite the advice given at enquiry stage.

You should be aware that if you submit an Outline Business Plan application without making an initial enquiry, it is likely that it will be rejected, as correct completion of the application requires a level of technical help that can only be offered if Yorkshire Forward are aware of your proposal.