CLOSED:Hertfordshire Opportunities Hub – ‘Connecting Employers with Education’ (OC17S20P1739)

Call to run a project to provide an independent, impartial advisory service which will target small and medium size employers (SME) within the county boundary of Hertfordshire and support them to engage effectively with education.

This call is now closed. Please do not submit an application for this call. The information provided on this page is for reference purposes only.

Details

Ensuring our workforce has the right skills to encourage future economic growth lies at the heart of delivering the vision set out in the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) which has defined the following vision: ‘By 2030, Hertfordshire will be among the UK’s leading economies, helping to realise the full economic potential of the assets and opportunities within the Golden Triangle’. Skills for growth will be an important element in achieving this vision with over 50% of Hertfordshire businesses being knowledge intensive.

Within this context, the LEP is committed to improve productivity across Hertfordshire by creating a skilled and motivated workforce which can adapt to meet current and future business needs.

A lack of commitment from SMEs towards up-skilling their employees particularly those with lower skills levels is impacting on local growth so the aspiration is to work with businesses, Higher Education (HE), Further Education (FE) and other training providers to improve the skills of both the existing workforce and the future labour market ensuring a better matching of skills to business needs in order to sustain economic growth.

The successful applicant(s) will provide an independent, impartial advisory service which will target small and medium size employers (SME) within the county boundary of Hertfordshire and support them to engage effectively with education.

This project will put employers at the heart of inspiring and informing young people about the opportunities in the workplace, and ensuring employers are connecting with education to ensure young people develop some of the key skills that employers are looking for.

For more information, download the call specification.

Location

The project must cover the Hertfordshire LEP area.

Value

Approximately £500,000 of ESF is available.

Deadlines

Full application deadline: 20 May 2020

Completion date

Projects must be completed no later than 3 years and 6 months after the proposed project start date, however the ESF Managing Authority reserves the right to vary the maximum duration in exceptional circumstances. All ESF Projects must be completed by 31st December 2023. Project costs cannot be incurred beyond this date.

Full Application Submission

To apply for funding under this call you will need to complete and submit your Full Application via the ECLAIMS IT System.

Please note: the ECLAIMS IT System can only be access from within the UK.

Full Applications submitted in the ECLAIMS IT System after the call closing date shown above and on the call specification will not be appraised.

If you do not already have access to the ECLAIMS IT system, please request an ‘ECLAIMS External Access Form’ by emailing E.CLAIMSSUPPORT@dwp.gov.uk

You will need to request an External Access Form for each person in your organisation who requires access.

It is your responsibility to ensure you request and activate your ECLAIMS access in sufficient time. We strongly advise that you obtain and activate your ECLAIMS access at least 2 weeks prior to the advertised call closure date, if not sooner.

You are also advised to read the details in the call specification in order to produce an application that complies with the requirements and meets the needs set out in the ESF Operational Programme. All this information, the related guidance and the European Social Fund Operational Programme can be found from our homepage.

The published ESF Online Full Application Guidance also provides step-by-step advice on how to complete your Full Application using the ECLAIMS IT system. ESF Online Full Application Guidance.

Technical Support

If you encounter any technical difficulties completing or submitting your Full Application via the ECLAIMS IT system, please send an email to E.CLAIMSSUPPORT@dwp.gov.uk

The technical support operating hours are Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm and it is your responsibility to ensure you seek and technical advice in sufficient time to complete and submit your Full Application before the published call closure date.

The Managing Authority reserves the right to reject applications which are incomplete or not submitted in a timely and compliant way.

Contact details

If you have any questions about the Call Specification or ESF Online Full Application Guidance, please contact esf.2014-2020@dwp.gov.uk. This address should not be used to request technical support.

Published 26 February 2020
Last updated 21 May 2020 + show all updates
  1. Hertfordshire Opportunities Hub – ‘Connecting Employers with Education’ (OC17S20P1739) project is now closed.

  2. First published.