Fuller Working Lives

Call to run a project to address the skills needs of employed people in the D2N2 LEP area.

Details

This call seeks to support employees tackle their health and wellbeing issues and seeks to encourage the older workforce to stay in employment for a fuller working life.Types of activity that can be supported include, but are not limited to:

• Addressing wider participation issues by increasing the number of employed people with multiple barriers gaining higher level skills in subjects which will help them to progress in employment and increase their earnings.
• Supporting residents in work who may have barriers preventing them from raising their skills levels, including, those who consider themselves to have a disability, those with learning disabilities, those from ethnic minorities and those who are in a single adult household with dependent children. Assessment will be made of the skills and abilities that are needed to enable them to compete for higher level jobs. Up-skilling can be achieved through professional and technical education, including degree apprenticeships and/or the academic pathways.
• Integration of health support with employment and skills activity to deliver enhanced health, wellbeing and economic outcomes;
• Improved leadership and management within SMEs in relation to workforce wellbeing
• Targeting LEP priority sectors and high employment sectors with the 50+ labour market;
• Addressing the basic skills needs of employed 50+ people, particularly in SMEs and Micro businesses;
• Supporting businesses workforce planning, including conducting age audits (use of the ACAS age audit tool) with a specific focus on skills/digital/training needs analysis, and designing workplace solutions to support the older workforce;
• Promoting intergenerational working, activities could include mentoring, promoting diversity, sharing ideas, and supporting learning of new technology;
• Working with individuals to plan and develop mid-life career reviews including provision of quality information, advice and guidance, to support and encourage progression in employment;
• Increasing the skills levels of employed 50+ people from the existing level to the next level up, to encourage progression in employment;
• Increasing the number of people with technical and job specific skills, particularly at level 3 and above and into higher and advanced level apprenticeships, to support business growth, supporting SMEs to access the apprenticeship programme to utilise the apprenticeship levy in addressing the upskilling or retraining of older workers;
• Increasing the skills levels of employed 50+ women to encourage progression in employment help address the gender employment and wage gap.

Applicants are encouraged to design added value, collaborative projects that do not duplicate existing provision.

For more information, download the call specification.

Location

The project must cover the D2N2 LEP area.

Value

Approximately £1,000,000 of ESF is available.

Deadlines

Full application deadline: 10 December 2019.

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected]. This address should not be used to request technical support.

Published 17 September 2019 Contents