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Guidance

European Social Fund: eligibility documents

Eligibility documents for the 2014 to 2020 European Social Fund.

Updates to this page

From:
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (2018 to 2021) and Department for Work and Pensions
Published:
19 September 2019
Last updated:
14 December 2023
Show all updates

  1. The ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance has been updated to include a section on Retrospection.

  2. New paragraph has been added, before 'Staff Training' section. Figure changed three times in surrounding paragraphs, from £1000 to £1500.

  3. Revised Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance - updated to include costs to fund support for children of ESF participants, as part of a wider holistic package of support, to help tackle issues which are deemed as a barrier to work for the adult participant and forms part of their journey towards work.

  4. Replaced section 8.1 of the ESF Data Evidence Requirements – Eligibility and results guidance, to reflect change of guidance for EU EEA Swiss Citizens.

  5. The ESF Data Evidence Requirements – Eligibility and results has been published, the revisions cover Afghan arrivals.

  6. The ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance has been updated. Additional bullet points have been added to the Direct Staff Costs section and the Premises section. Minor amendments have been made to the Croatian Citizens section and the Ineligible Expenditure Section.

  7. Published the ESF Data Evidence Requirements: eligibility and results document HTML format. The ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance has been updated to include additional costs which are not eligible for ESF support.

  8. The Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance has been amended to set out the new participant eligibility criteria for ESF support which will apply from 1 January 2021 to align with the new Immigration Rules that come into force on 1 January 2021. A minor change has also been made to the Participant Allowance section to include the an additional paragraph on small incentive/bonus payments or gifts.

  9. A new ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance for has been added. The Managing Authority has updated and combined the ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance to create one document.

  10. A new annex (annex 4, page 73) has been added to the `ESF Data Evidence Requirements’ guidance explaining how the Home Office’s online employer checking system on `Right to work in the UK’ can be used in the context of ESF basic eligibility checks. The guidance advises on the limited range of ways in which this may be used for the checking the rights of certain people to live and work in the UK where they hold a biometric residence permit, a biometric residence card or status issued under the EU Settlement Scheme. The guidance is now labelled version 4, dated October 2019.

  11. First published.

Documents

ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance

HTML

ESF Data Evidence Requirements – Eligibility and results

HTML

Details

The European Structural and Investment Funds Growth programme is funding for projects that create jobs and supports local growth.

The funds include:

  • the European Social Fund
  • the European Regional Development Fund
  • part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development helps with:

  • improving the environment
  • improving farming and forestry competitiveness
  • supporting rural businesses to grow and expand, improve knowledge and skills and get started

Read more information about the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

The ESF programme continues to invest in projects after the transition period ended on 31 December 2020. All funding must finish by the end of 2023.

Read more on the European Structural and Investment Funds.

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