4 Administrative structure
26. The system for managing and administering ESF
in the UK is very complex. Although the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) has overall responsibility for policy on ESF within
the UK, most of the administrative tasks are performed by other
departments and bodies. As regards policy, the European Social
Fund Division, which is part of the Department's Joint International
Unit with the Department for Education and Skills, takes the lead
responsibility on ESF.[30]
In very broad terms, within the context of the EU, the Joint
International Unit seeks to place the UK at its most advantageous
position within the EU. For example, it may seek to minimise the
UK's net contributions to the EU budget by constraining the growth
in the ESF budget-line and consequently the overall EU budget.[31]
In addition to its overall policy responsibility, DWP is also
responsible for managing Objective 3 in England (and Gibraltar)
and the Equal Initiative in Great Britain.[32]
However, while the DWP is heavily involved at these higher levels
of policy on ESF, the responsibility on the ground for the administration
of the ESF lies elsewhere. On a day to day basis, the responsibility
for administering ESF and about 84% of the ESF Objective 3 budget
is delegated to Government Offices within England, [33]
which fall under the departmental responsibility of the Office
of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), and to the devolved administrations.[34]
In Scotland and Wales, the Scottish Executive and Welsh European
Funding Office (an executive agency of the Welsh Assembly Government)
are responsible for the implementation of Structural Fund programmes
and making ESF payments to projects within Objectives 1, 2 and
3 in their respective countries. In Northern Ireland, while the
devolved arrangements are suspended, the Northern Ireland Office
is responsible for the implementation of Structural Fund programmes.[35]
27. In England, Government Offices administer the
ESF on behalf of the Government in its capacity as managing authority
for the Fund in the UK. Although the details may vary slightly
from region to region and depending upon which Objective is being
considered, the core responsibilities of each Government Office
within England are the same. The Government Office puts in place
a regional management structure for the Fund, which includes the
key decision-making bodies (the Regional Committee for Objective
3, or the Programme Monitoring Committee, for Objective 1 or 2).
The Government Offices chair these committees and provide the
secretariat function for managing the project selection and monitoring
process, including taking decisions, issuing grant letters, granting
claims, monitoring expenditure and inspecting projects.[36]
Ms Henderson (Government office , South West) said that "over
and above all this" Government Offices also make sure, with
their regional partners, that the programmes have a strategic
focus and are benefiting the region.[37]
The Regional Development Plan (RDP) identifies the activities
that are to be supported at the regional level.[38]
To the extent that other bodies undertake the administrative functions,
the DWP takes a back seat in those Objective 1 regions and 2 areas
where ESF activity supports ERDF projects. For example, within
Objective 1 and 2 areas of England ODPM is the lead department
for regional affairs and regional Structural Funds programmes,
even when the ESF is involved.[39]
28. The primary responsibility for co-ordination
of structural funds lies with the UK Structural Funds Steering
Group, which is chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI). The DTI is the co-ordinating Department for Structural
Fund policy within the UK.[40]
The DWP holds UK liaison meetings on ESF matters with the devolved
administrations and attends networking meetings with Government
Offices. This scattering of the responsibility for policy and
administration between the various Government Departments and
devolved bodies inevitably constrains the extent to which DWP,
acting alone, can implement changes to the way in which ESF is
administered. For example, the Minister told us that it would
be wrong for the DWP to make any judgements about the decisions
by the devolved administrations.[41]
Our recommendations seek to reflect this reality. We concentrate
on Objective 3 (England) funding and Equal initiative since this
falls within the responsibility of the DWP. Wherever possible
we make comparisons with the experience elsewhere.
Role of mainstream sector and
voluntary and community sector
29. A large proportion of ESF grant is channelled
through mainstream training and employment bodies, such as colleges
of further education, local authorities, Connexions Partnerships,
Business Link operators, Regional Development Agencies, Higher
Education institutions, trade unions, private companies and other
mainstream providers. However, during our inquiry we also heard
about the important role played by the Community and Voluntary
Sector (C&VS), especially in connecting with hard-to-reach
groups. For example, on a visit to Newham, East London, we found
that a project successfully attracted women who, for one reason
or another, felt generally excluded from mainstream education
/training services. In Edinburgh, we visited a similar project
that provided skills training to hardtoreach people
from minority ethnic groups. Ms Flanagan (Chair-TSEN) illustrated
the distinctive contributions of the mainstream and the C&VS.
She said:
"I have just come from awarding ceremonies
at the Arsenal to young people who were all part of a young people's
work-based training programme; they do not use any ESF money,
they have a great time, they are doing sports and leisure delivery
in that setting, they are achieving their NVQs, they spend about
18 months in that project, and that is great, that is a government
programme that is working. But, equally, we have a programme
very similar to that, in another part of London, working with
people with quite entrenched difficulties, who may need to spend
two years and not actually achieve NVQ2, or 3, in that time, and
they are the ones who are not going to suit government programmes."[42]
30. The role of the C&VS organisations was also
illustrated by Mr Pascoe (LSC) who told us
"A lot of this money is actually going into
organisations that may be working in the community that can get
it, perhaps young people who opt out of education, who are not
going to come to the mainstream programmes. They are just not
going to come to a FE institution; somebody has to go out there,
get them, engage them, build their confidence, give them some
basic skills in order to get them to a point where they will then
come into the mainstream."[43]
31. Compared with other EU countries, the C&V
sector in the UK has greater direct access to European Funds.
[44] We are aware of
the threat that the C&VS sector could become over-professionalised
with the loss that that entails to the sense of community and
motivation of the volunteers. However, we see nothing wrong in
the community and voluntary sector adopting a more systematic
approach if it improves efficiency and effectiveness. As one project
provider in Seville told us, the methods used for their ESF supported
projects, such as the need to demonstrate added value and performance
against targets, were also adopted when dealing with their other
work since they saw the benefits of the approach.
32. ESF is involved in jobs, training and not just
countering social exclusion. As Mr Cragg (LSC-Birmingham and Solihull)
explained ESF Objective 3 is
"going towards addressing issues like basic
skills in the workplace, qualifying those who, although in work,
are not qualified and do not have transferable skills, and making
therefore a wider economic contribution in terms of key sectors
of employment and key occupational areas where people are not
adequately skilled."[45]
33. We welcome the involvement of a diversity of
organisations that this remit brings. We would not like to see
ESF restricted to jobs and training only for the enterprise sector.
30 In terms of organisation, the unit reflects the
link between the skills agenda and employability, which is mirrored
in the ESF area. See Q179 Back
31
Q219 Back
32
DWP's specific tasks in this area involve programme delivery,
monitoring and liaising with other departments (e.g. with Home
Office). The DWP also provides the accounting officer for ESF. Back
33
Government Offices perform the various tasks of separate Whitehall
departments. In this sense they are Whitehall departments in miniature. Back
34
ODPM also has responsibility for managing Objectives 1 and 2 in
England. Back
35
Further details are available in Ev 90, including the arrangements
or managing transitional arrangement in Highlands and Island and
Northern Ireland. Back
36
The Monitoring Committees represent the range of partners who
help to deliver ESF In England. Objective 3 includes not only
the European Commission, regional Government Offices and co-financing
organisations but also trade unions, employers, Higher Education
and Further Education organisations, local authorities and v&c
groups.QQ78 and 177 Back
37
Q78 Back
38
A Regional Development Plan expresses what the national employment
plan means in a particular region, by describing the economic
conditions in the region, such as, unemployment and sparsity of
population and deriving a set of regional priorities around specified
themes. The analysis leads to conclusions about the various activities
that might be carried out within the already pre-set policy fields
within the programme. See QQ79 and 83 Back
39
Q179 Back
40
The Steering Group includes DTI and other departments, devolved
administrations and Government Offices. Back
41
Q210 Back
42
Q151 Back
43
Q48 Back
44
Q130 Back
45
Q49 Back
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