Decision details

Sean McGrath, External Funding and Investment Manager, Lancashire County Council, attended to present the report on the Lancashire ESIF Programme performance previously circulated, which the Committee considered.

It was reported that 39% of the total funds had been committed and that, given the challenging nature of the outputs, Lancashire's position should be regarded as good. In terms of ESF, most of the funding had been allocated through opt-ins.

It was highlighted that no ESF calls had been issued in Lancashire since the EU referendum result. It is understood that other areas had been prioritised, due to poorer performance.  Further clarity was awaited from DWP in regard to the prioritisation process and positioning of Lancashire. It was also unclear when the programme would run to, it was hoped that it would be at least December 2019, if not December 2020.  Again, clarity from DWP was awaited.

Two projects from Lancashire had been developed and sent to the DWP in July. These were around 'Leadership and Management for Females in STEM Industries and SMEs' and 'Apprenticeship Capacity Building'. These should have been moderated over the summer and released in September, but this had not happened. Further guidance was awaited from DWP.

Michele Lawty-Jones updated the Committee on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) Opt-in where, due to uncertainty around the SFA's future, only two thirds of the allocation had been contracted, leaving £13.7m to be allocated across ESF measures 1.1, 1.2 and 2.1.  The committee discussed the options for procuring activity for this funding.  The options included procuring activity that would begin delivery once the current SFA projects had completed (July 2018).

The Committee felt it would be useful to gather further information to gain a feel for how current projects operate, and to ensure that new activity procured was chosen in response to emerging needs and gaps.

It was therefore agreed that a report would be presented to the next Skills and Employment Board meeting for discussion and feedback to the ESIF committee on the suggested nature of activities to procure, showing headlines and timescales, with a detailed specification to be developed later. It was agreed that ethnic minority outputs could be built into the specifications.

Resolved:

1.  That a report showing the suggested nature of activities to procure, headlines and timescales would be brought to the meeting on 22 February for discussion and for feedback to the ESF committee.

2.  That ethic minority outputs would be built into the specifications