ESIF Local Implemention Plan ITT FD140915

The Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership is inviting submissions for the LEP ESIF Local Implementation Plan (LIP) which will set out how the LEP and Local ESIF Sub-Committee wishes to manage the strategic focus, scale and scope of ESIF activity through opt-ins (co-financing with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Skills Funding Agency and Big Lottery), calls for projects and the associated financial allocations and deliverables.

The LIP will be both a planning and a programme management tool. Later activity in 2017-2018 will focus on the planning aspect (drawing heavily from the Cheshire and Warrington ESIF strategy and Strategic Economic Plan as it is refreshed). Proposed activity in 2016 will have an increased emphasis on proposed calls for projects and expected outputs as the programme rolls out and it becomes possible to supplement the Plan with data drawn from project applications, approvals and actual performance in 2015 to chart the delivery of the ESIF. It will also be important to show how ESIF delivery contributes to the delivery of the Strategic Economic Plan for Cheshire and Warrington and the National Operational Programmes for ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), ESF (European Social) Fund and EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development). To do this it will be necessary to make a limited number of updates to the Cheshire and Warrington ESIF including the re-introduction of priority axis 2 (ICT and Broadband) and the re-allocation of outputs attributed to the Cheshire and Warrington ESIF by Government.

The LIP aims to guide European Structural and Investment Funds investment in Cheshire and Warrington over the full period from 2015 to 2020+.

Additional information: The LEP Cheshire and Warrington LEP is seeking to appoint a suitably experienced and qualified partner to develop a LIP that sets out how the ESIF will be delivered to meet our SEP priorities.

The Plan will be a three year plan primarily capturing information from activity in 2015, information provided by Government, partners and the LEP and a forward plan of activities, financial profiles, charts and outputs. This will include updating the ESIF Strategy primarily through updating the terminology to align the ESIF with the National European Operational Programmes and reintroducing broadband activity, updated Government targets and specifying certain rural activity.

The LIP should set out priority projects, interventions and future calls for the ESIF programme during 2015-2018, and be updated as and when required to reflect updates to the ESIF such that the LIP and ESIF Strategy support each other and establish a clear alignment with the SEP.