Co-financing has to adhere to the rules of open and competitive tendering, for this reason the individual funders cannot answer individual questions. If you have a question please contact your local LMG contact (see launch dates calendar for contact details). A selection of frequently asked questions are shown below.

I missed the Co-financing launch. Is there any way I would be able to see the presentation slides?

Yes. Click here for the presentation slides.

Will there be just ONE prospectus for all the activity EEDA and LSC want to support?

Yes. The Regional Co-financing prospectus will cover all of the EEDA activity and all of the regional LSC activity. It will also contain information about the regional projects Jobcentre Plus are looking to support in their forthcoming prospectus. The regional prospectus will be launched in each county at the local launches shown on the back of this leaflet. A summary of the regional prospectus will be available from the 3rd September in hard copy and the full prospectus will be available on the Skills Forum website from the 6th September.

Why is there a regional prospectus?

EEDA, the six LSC’s and Jobcentre Plus realise that some co-financed activity is best delivered regionally. The funding partners are hoping that tenderers will work together in the production of quality regional projects.

What about activity that is only local?

Both the LSC and Jobcentre Plus ( as well as Bedfordshire and Essex County Councils) will also be producing local (county based) prospectuses. You can find out when these will be launched on the back of this leaflet.

Will regional projects have to cover all 6 counties?

All three partner organisations would encourage cross boundary working. However, we realise this may be difficult for some tenderers. Please read the regional prospectus carefully to see which projects MUST include all 6 counties.

When and where will the Jobcentre Plus activity be advertised?

Jobcentre Plus will be producing two prospectuses, one that will be launched at the dates on the back of this leaflet covering the six districts and the regional activity. This will be available on 31st August 2004 at - www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, (follow the links to Partners, ESF and then East of England.) The second prospectus will be launched in mid November. A description of the regional Jobcentre Plus activity is included in the regional LSC / EEDA prospectus for information.

Where can I get more information on the regional prospectus?

More information can be found on the Skills Forum website www.skillsforum.org.uk including links to the funding organisations and their application forms, contact details for the local management groups and the dates of the launches.

When is the deadline for applications?

The deadline to receive regional applications for EEDA, Regional LSC and Adult Skills Pilot activities is 5pm on Friday 12th November 2004. The closing date for regional applications for Jobcentre Plus is 5pm on Friday 29th October 2004.

You will need to send your application to the address shown in the regional prospectus on page 74. This deadline is after that detailed in the local prospectuses to allow applicants more time to network and develop regional projects.

The only application form downloadable from your website appears to be the 'Initial Application Form'. Yet both this and the 'Guidelines' refer to the need to use the 'Full Application ' process for projects over £250k.

The application process for EEDA requires that projects with EEDA funding of more than £250,000 complete two application forms, hence the reference to this document. The timetable for the application process is set out on page 75 of the Regional Prospectus. This prospectus can be downloaded from the Skills Forum web site.

The timetable shown in the hard copy prospectus, which I received this week, clearly shows a continuous process from receipt of tenders on 12th November to decision announced by end January 05. There is no allowance in the stated process for a 'two-stage' application and initial assessment procedure. Indeed I would imagine it would prove quite stretching for both EEDA and applicants to fit a two-stage process in within the timescale up tp 12th November.

Please refer to page 75 of the Regional Prospectus, we are aware of the tight time frames but are putting resources in place to ensure that the deadlines are met. The hardcopy document referred to here is the introductory leaflet produced as guidance for applicants and not the prospectus. It should also be noted that it is only the Initial Application which is required by the 12th November 2004.

Would it not be more efficient to require tenderers for projects over £250k to submit a Full Application at the outset?

The two stage process is used to allow applicants who are successful at the first stage review to address any comments\changes recommended by the panel in the full application stage. Only applicants who are recommended for support at first stage will be asked to complete a full application form.

Your application forms, being originally designed for a bidding process, rather than tendering, asks aplicants to explain what would happen if EEDA funding were not granted, or were granted at a lower level. Surely this is not relevant in a tendering process? You have stated what you want delivered and applicants are responding to that invitation. The need for the project has, no doubt, already been established by EEDA as evidenced by its inclusion in the prospectus.

Our processes, based on this documentation, have been vetted by Go-East and although they may differ somewhat from other Co-Financing organisations they conform to our single appraisal programme guidance (SPAG) adopted from DTI guidelines. We would encourage applicants to answer all of the questions on the application form, including the options section. The options section provides the applicant the opportunity to consider and evidence that the option proposed in their application is the best available to deliver the desired outcomes of the project.

Can you clarify what do you mean by partnerships?

Co-financing Organisations wish to encourage collaboration at regional level in the form of existing or newly formed consortia in order to maximise the local delivery and impact of project activities.
Consortia must work in an integrated way with full engagement by all partners. One partner must act as the lead organisation and be a legal entity. The lead partner must have the capacity and experience to ensure quality and will be wholly responsible for the management of the project including the funding.

Do I need to meet all the specifications for the activity I am interested with?

Co-financing Organisations will only approve projects that meet the Priority Activity specifications detailed in Section 3. If one or more specifications could be not covered in your application, you must justify why your proposal can not meet all the specifications.

How can I find suitable partners to join to deliver regional activities?

You can contact your local LMG or the LMG in the area you are looking for to identify a partner. Alternatively you can advertise your search by downloading and completing the partner search template on this website and send it back in an electronic format to EEDA once completed. We will put our details against the activity (ies) you are interested in.

The regional prospectus notes that a consortium or a partnership could be appropriate for delivery of most of the projects. What type of organizations would you like to see in the consortia or partnerships?

The appropriate membership of partnerships or consortia are for bidders/applicants to decide. It will depend on the way applicants wish to deliver the project and the nature of the project. Projects that involve the development of networks or include strategic objectives should include partners with strategic functions; where projects have a sector focus the appropriate sector skills councils (SSCs) would be important contributors.

EEDA Project 10 is split into three elements. Do you want three separate bids or would one single bid covering all three elements be acceptable?

We will accept either or the various other possible permutations. Cross-sector applications where consortia/partnerships argue synergy can be achieved by assembling the sub-projects into a bigger project are acceptable.

Can applicants/bidders propose additional and/or alternative activity to that specified within project specifications?

Project specifications have been developed in response to our understanding of evidenced need derived from LMI and experience in the field. Thus, proposals for alternative activity would not be appropriate. We welcome proposals for additional work of a type where applicants consider it can be done within the specified budget. For example, project EEDA 04 is likely to develop a large database of information about training delivered. Additional work could be proposed to analyse this data for feeding back to providers to inform their course planning.

Length of project - Within the frequently asked questions (page 8) it states that projects are scheduled to run between Jan 2005 and Jul 2007. This is a 31 month period, where as my understanding from previous ESF projects is that they are for 24 months, with the exception of capacity building, which can be 36 months. We are working with other partners in the region looking to submit an application which involves a professional exam sat in June each year. A 31 month project would enable candidates to be entered for exam in June 2005, June 2006 and June 2007, thus benefiting from three sittings of the exam. A 24 month project however drawn would only enable two exam sittings. Our preference in drawing together an application would be for maximum flexibility, hence a 31 month project. We would welcome your views.

The National specification for ESF projects state that a project should not last more than 24 months and 36 months for a capacity building project. European Commission guidelines allow a 36 months project delivery for both categories. EEDA has been advised that projects of a non-capacity building type can run from January 04 until July 07 and we are content to receive applications for projects providing delivery throughout the whole of this time period.


Following on from the previous question, in order to enter candidates for the June 2005 exam we would need to commence the training in early January. When your prospectus states January 2005 does it mean the first of the month and on signing a contract at a later date you can backdate the commencement date to 1st January 2005 in terms of claiming for activity. In raising this question I appreciate that any delivery prior to the signing of a contract is a risk of the organisation delivering training.

If applicants start their project before their offer letter is sent it is at their own risk. EEDA will not backdate any expenditure incurred prior the date of contract approval. Those are the rules. However, EEDA wants projects designed in a sensible way to suit the market and we will take the exam timetable and similar issues into account if they are highlighted and explained as part of the tender. It may be useful for applicants to examine their exposure to risk over the course of the application and contracting process: page 75 and 6 of the regional prospectus explains that a project between £250,000 and £500,000 has to pass through two stages of appraisal. Progression through the first stage is notified on 14 December 2004. Only exceptionally will more than one application per project be progressed at this stage. Passing successfully through the second stage of appraisal produces an approval (see p 76 of the regional prospectus) and the latest date for notification of this is 25 January 2005 (some projects will be notified on 18 January and we will endeavour to place those projects requiring early notification in this earlier tranche). Thereafter the applicant has to pass through pre contract checks to ensure that they are capable of carrying out the project in compliance with ESF regulations and that realistic time frames and outputs are in place. Then the offer letter is sent. It is clear that exposure to risk of not receiving the contract resolves as the appraisal and contracting process proceeds.

On project 18b is EEDA is looking for 660 women to receive at least 30 hours of training each?

It is not necessary that all beneficiaries must have a 30 hours training course. We are looking for 660 in total training interventions on differing types of courses some of which may be 30 hours+ duration. This project is designed to be flexible and meet the needs of the individuals engaged. I need to stress though that when we asses value for money we will have to compare the numbers of course including the 30 hour courses.