Hull CLLD Application Specification

Title: Provision to deliver Hull’s Community Led Local Development Strategy (Round 1)

Context / Background

Hull City Council and Hull CLLD LAG Board invite applications to deliver Hull’s CLLD Strategy. This Application process will be facilitated by Humber Learning Consortium (HLC), Hull CLLD Programme Management Organisation. Hull CLLD Assessment Panel (LAG sub-group) will assess and recommend applications.

The overall purpose of CLLD is that residents in our CLLD area will have equal opportunities to achieve good employment, create and grow businesses and improve their quality of life by having a meaningful influence on the systems and organisations that support them. This will lead to changes to address the real barriers to success in jobs and enterprise and provide inclusive, sustainable solutions that work for both our businesses and our communities. All applications will need to ensure that they do not duplicate existing activities and meet the priorities within The Hull CLLD Strategy, as well as the priorities and requirements of Priority Axis 8 of the European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme and Priority Axis 1 of the European Social Fund Operational Programme. A strategic fit assessment of all applications will be conducted against these priorities, and this may affect whether your application will proceed.

The Hull CLLD area comprises those parts of the City of Hull Local Authority area that fall into the 20% most deprived Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in England as measured by the Indices of Deprivation 2010.

Stage 1 of CLLD involved community consultation in the 20% most deprived areas of the city, looking at barriers to employment. The results from the consultation events formed the production of the Hull CLLD Strategy.

CLLD is made up of:

  • Priority Axis 8 of the European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme (Promoting Social Inclusion and Combating Poverty and Discrimination) – Investment Priority 9d.
  • Priority Axis 1 of the European Social Fund Operational Programme (Inclusive Labour Markets) – Investment Priority 1.5.

The total programme expenditure available for Hull’s CLLD is £7,536,574, which includes £4,788,936 of European Funding, requiring match funding of £2,747,638.

The EU funding is provided by two Managing Authorities – Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). HLC will require monthly claims to be completed. Once claims are confirmed as correct, payment will be made by The Lead Accountable body, Hull City Council, within XX days.

For CLLD Applications that have been approved, the Government has confirmed that it will guarantee EU funding for structural and investment fund projects signed before the UK’s departure from the EU, even when these projects continue after the UK has left the EU, where projects meet UK priorities and value for money criteria.

A Local Action Group Board (LAG Board) was established by the Council at Stage 1 CLLD and this board will continue throughout the implementation stage (Stage 2). The LAG Board will oversee the delivery of the CLLD Programme – its overall role will be to hold the programme to account and ensure it is delivered effectively through a due and fair process and delivers output and outcome targets.

The LAG Board is an unincorporated body, with a Partnership Agreement in place with Hull City Council, who will act as the Accountable Body to:

  • Provide overall financial management of the programme
  • Account for and claim management and administration costs
  • Ensure that robust procedures are in place to ensure that any expenditure is eligible

The LAG Board is made up of representatives from the Public, Private and Voluntary and Community sectors, local residents and representatives from specific target groups. No public authority or single interest group will have more than 49% of voting rights at decision making level and at least 50% of the voting rights on the LAG Board are held by non-public sector partners.

Linking in to the LAG Board, involvement of a wider group of CLLD stakeholders will be facilitated via four Hub areas (Wider LAG). These will operate at community level, bringing together expertise from the local community to work together to develop community led projects. These projects must ensure that CLLD targets those individuals that are most in need, and encourages participation from those individuals and groups that do not readily participate. The Hub areas are groups of stakeholders in the four local CLLD areas, rather than physical hubs based in specific buildings.

The map of the 20% most deprived wards (Appendix 1) shows four distinct areas which have been grouped together as CLLD Hub Areas:

To ensure that there is a link to the LAG Board, a community organisation representative will sit on the LAG Board, along with a resident from each Hub area, which will provide a two-way participatory approach. Details for the Hub area lead organisations on the LAG Board are given below.

Area / Hub Organisations / Population Numbers
West Hull and Central / Goodwin Development Trust / 48,535
Bransholme / Alpha Education Community Trust / 22,193
North Hull and Orchard Park / Unity in the Community / 19,528
East Hull / Probe Hull Ltd / 44,335
All CLLD Areas (All Hubs) / 134,591
Hull total population / 261,100
  1. CLLD Objectives

Hull’s CLLD Strategy has set out three overarching objectives for European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) to be delivered by the end of the programme.

  • To make it easier for people from the Hull CLLD area to access local economic opportunities (a job or business) by 2022
  • To create more local opportunities (jobs and businesses) by 2022
  • To increase digital skills and take up of online opportunities by 2022.

These objectives will be delivered through a programme of activities falling into the following five priority actions:

  • PA1 – Targeted training in key work-related skills (ESF)
  • PA2 – Making it easier to find and access work (ESF)
  • PA3 – Growing integrated community hubs (ERDF and ESF)
  • PA4 – Supporting local and community businesses (ERDF and ESF)
  • PA5 – Joined up support to increase household incomes (ESF)

Priority Actions:

Priority Action 1: Targeted training in key work-related skills (ESF).

Rationale – The CLLD areas suffer from a low level of qualifications and recognised skills, while there are employers seeking to recruit. Training in specific skills with a focus, linked as closely as possible to identified employment opportunities or to progressions towards such opportunities, will help encourage take up. Local provision of such training is important to overcome reluctance to travel to train. A variety of routes, types and methods of training are needed, including informal settings, development of social skills and use of volunteering routes towards employability.

Examples of activities:

  • Local Information, Advice and Guidance services to identify people’s existing skills and key gaps
  • Education and training in specific job roles with identified local opportunities, leading to expected job opportunities or progression onto further learning pathways
  • Informal training to develop soft skills, confidence and life skills
  • Education and training in digital skills, supported by ‘Digital Buddy’ schemes and local volunteering programmes with a training element

Priority Action 2: Making it easier to find and access work (ESF)

Rationale – Many people in the CLLD area lack awareness and understanding of employment opportunities and how to access them, including through online routes. Some also lack social capital and networks to help access opportunities, such as connections with people and organisations that can inform them about opportunities. Some employers are unsure of the pool of potential employees available locally. Often, recruitment is online or via CV, focusing primarily on qualifications and/or work history without reference to other qualities and skills. Many people from the CLLD communities lack work experience or appropriate qualifications, so are at a disadvantage with this type of recruitment. New approaches to supporting recruitment from the local community are needed to overcome these barriers.

Examples of activities:

  • Dedicated work finder/employer liaison and work experience brokerage service
  • Support for CV writing, applying for jobs online etc
  • Local jobs fairs or recruitment events
  • Support to address specific barriers to accessing work, e.g.:
  • Transport links
  • Access to childcare
  • Equipment
  • Recognition of prior knowledge or qualifications

Priority Action 3: Growing Integrated Community Hubs (ERDF and ESF)

Rationale – Consultation showed that there is a strong local identity within the communities of Hull, with people much more likely to get involved in provision that is provided within the community, in venues that people are comfortable with, and that offer a variety of services and activities. The high proportion of economically inactive people in the CLLD area indicates that there is a need for intensive local engagement and support to enable and encourage people to engage in activity. Community hub buildings, along with engagement, are vital to the successful delivery of all the other priority actions.

Examples of activities:

  • Community engagement and capacity building activity (ESF)
  • Provision of learning spaces with affordable internet access, printing facilities, support and IT device loans (ESF)
  • Creation and expansion of space for community businesses (ERDF)

Integration and alignment:

  • Community hub buildings will act as a central resource, bringing together and providing access to a range of activities and services from one location
  • Hubs will need to ensure good mechanisms for referring clients to other services and hubs where appropriate.

Priority Action 4: Supporting local and community businesses (ERDF and ESF)

Rationale: Hull has a low business base for its population, and this is particularly so in the CLLD areas. In order to create more opportunities for local people, there is a need to support local businesses to survive and grow to employ more people, support the creation of new local businesses and support the creation of community businesses/social enterprises that can provide employment while addressing local needs. Consultation suggested that local businesses were relatively unlikely to access mainstream business support measures, so targeted, tailored local measures were seen as vital.

Examples of activities:

  • Supporting online presence and internet sales for local businesses (ERDF)
  • Supporting self-employment (ESF)
  • Helping community businesses to start and grow, to provide local services such as personal social care, gardening/landscaping and building maintenance (ERDF)
  • Providing incubation for local cultural and creative businesses (ERDF)
  • Supporting business networks and forums (ERDF)

Integration and alignment:

  • The provision will need to avoid duplication and integrate with wider business support provision co-ordinated through the Humber LEP’s Business Growth Hub (website:
  • Where possible, employment opportunities should be offered to recipients of training supported through the CLLD programme
  • Support for social enterprises should be aligned with the wider support provided by Social Enterprise Yorkshire & the Humber (website:

Priority Action 5: Joined up support to increase household incomes (ESF)

Rationale: A key feature of the CLLD areas is the low level of household income. Increasing income into and local spend in the local area is essential to its development. Given low wages locally, employment in itself may not be sufficient to lift households out of poverty. Consultation highlighted the multiple issues faced by some families, who may have responsibilities for caring for children, elderly or disabled family members, and for individuals with multiple barriers such as mental health issues, drugs/alcohol misuse, or a disability. Difficulties in managing money and benefits can act as a significant barrier to moving into work in such circumstances. There is also concern that changes to the benefits system to Universal Credit will increase the need for household budgeting skills, and to provide support to ensure that ‘work pays’ as a route out of poverty. Experience with programmes has shown the need for joined-up support as the household level to help address such multiple barriers.

Examples of activities:

  • Help to manage money, including impact of welfare reform and ensure ‘work pays’ targeted at families in poverty and individuals with multiple needs
  • Support to access online services to manage money, access affordable credit and save money
  • Integrated help for families with health and caring needs to remove barriers and move towards employment.
  1. Application Requirements

Funds Available

The total programme expenditure available for Hull’s CLLD is £7,536,574 which includes £4,788,936 of European Funding requiring match funding of £2,747,638. It is expected that there will be 3 rounds of Hull’s CLLD project funding, and this is the 1st round.

The funding allocation for this first round of Hull CLLD is limited to £3m (including match).

  • £2,550,000 for large awards
  • £450,000 for small grants

Applicants are strongly advised to submit a measured project proposal that reflects the need for a fair level of resourcing across the 4 Hub Areas in Hull and the funding limits within each Priority Action (see table below).

Year 1 - £3m Funding Allocation (including match)
Priority Axis / % / Large Awards / Small Grants / TOTAL per PA
PA1 / 24.7 / £629,850 / £111,150 / £741,000
PA2 / 12.6 / £321,300 / £56,700 / £378,000
PA3 / 25.6 / £652,800 / £115,200 / £768,000
PA4 / 24.5 / £624,750 / £110,250 / £735,000
PA5 / 12.6 / £321.300 / £56,700 / £378,000
£2,550,000 / £450,000 / £3,000,000

The Local Action Group (LAG) does not expect to fund projects that take up the majority / all of a funding allocation and it reserves the right to ask an applicant to scale back a project proposal before entering into a funding agreement.

There has been significant interest in Hull CLLD funding and you may find it useful to refer to the Expressions of Interest analysis on the programme webpage

Size of Grants Available

The following details the minimum (large awards) and maximum (small awards) thresholds for the awards (NB The LAG Board reserve the right to increase and decrease these thresholds in exceptional circumstances where appropriate) ;

Large Awards ;

Priority Axis / Proposed Min. Grant
PA1 / £100k
PA2 / £50k
PA3 / £100k
PA4 / £100k
PA5 / £50k

Small Awards ;

Priority Axis / Proposed Max. Pilot Grant (£)
PA1 / £30,000
PA2 / £15,000
PA3 / £30,000
PA4 / £30,000
PA5 / £15,000

Outputs and Results

Total CLLD Outputs and Results for the whole programme (not just round 1) are contained within the table in the Application, and applicants will be expected to deliver an appropriate proportion of these in relation to the funds applied for. For more information on the definitions of these outputs and results (please see ESIF Guidance links below) and HLC FAQs at

NB: In addition to the ESF/ERDF outputs, the CLLD Strategy included an objective to increase digital skills and take up of online opportunities, supporting 1,000 people – this is not set out within the Output Table within the Application, but will still need to be delivered.

Completing the Application Form

Applicants must complete all sections of the application form, and also submit Financial Accounts or other Financial information that can confirm your viability to receive these grants. The form and financial information should be submitted electronically by e mailing it to by 4pm on 2nd May 2018. Late applications will not be accepted.

Word limits are advisory, however we would not expect this to be exceeded by more than 10% of the defined limit. Those applying for small awards only need to complete upto 500 words for Question 2. Diagrams or tables may be included.

An applicant’s response to a particular question must be contained within that question’s answer box. The LAG Board will only consider responses provided against each question and will not look for extra information in another question’s answer box when evaluating responses.

In order to ensure that CLLD funds are not at risk due to an organisation’s financial viability, a financial assessment on all organisations will be conducted. For organisations who have operated for longer than a year, please send last full years audited accounts. For organisations who do not have last full years accounts please send; Profit and Loss, balance sheet, cashflow forecast and narrative to support your application.

No part of completing this application shall constitute a contract or other binding agreement, and applicants are not entitled to claim any costs or expenses they may incur during this application from Hull City Council.

Communicating with HLC

Applicants are able to contact HLC for technical guidance re CLLD, The Application Form completion or ESIF requirements during this tender, however, we are unable to offer advice on qualitative aspects of your application entry. Please contact HLC by e mail using the following e mail address , allowing 3 working days for us to respond to queries. Technical queries and responses will be added to the frequently asked questions as appropriate, and we would encourage applicants to check this before sending any queries (See Annexes and links below). Please do not contact Hull City Council or The LAG Board.

Guidance Documents

Below are links to a number of ESIF rules and guidance documents. Applicants are strongly advised to read these documents to ensure their proposals are eligible. If a project isnot eligible they will not be successful. N.B. The links were current at the time this guide was produced (16th March 2018). Because ESIF guidance changes periodically, applicants should always verify that the documents they are relying on are the most up-to-date versions.

ESF

ESF National Eligibility Rules

ESF Data Requirements – Eligibility & Results

ESF Outputs & Results Indicator Definitions

ESF Document Retention

ERDF

ERDF National Eligibility Rules

ERDF Eligibility Guidance

ERDF Output Indicator Definitions

ERDF Document Retention

ERDF & ESF

Cross-Cutting Themes / Horizontal Principles