Official Launch of the 2014 to 2020 European Regional Development Fund Programme

Dear Colleague,

I am pleased to announce the official launch of the England 2014 to 2020 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme. This programme will provide funds of €3.6 billion - £2.6 billion at current exchange rates – to support local growth across the whole of England. The main priorities of the programme are supporting research and development, small and medium-sized enterprises and a low carbon economy.  There is also support for information and communications technology, climate change adaptation, environmental protection, and specific transport schemes in Cornwall. 

An initial round of calls for project applications, launched in late March, has yielded over 470 outline applications for funding totalling £992 million ERDF that are currently being assessed. Successful applications will be invited to submit full applications soon.

The European Commission have now formally adopted the fund’s operational programme – the agreement governing how the fund is spent.  This is a significant milestone which enables DCLG to enter into formal funding agreements once full applications have been appraised, and get the fund delivering growth locally.

A second round of around 90 calls for project applications totalling a further £442 million ERDF have now been published on the GOV.UK website.

This European Regional Development Fund programme has been developed and is being delivered in partnership with local areas.  The operational programme itself reflects input from the 39 Local Enterprise Partnership areas about their local economic needs and opportunities.  And there is a partner committee in each area which provides local advice on how potential projects fit with local needs and to advise generally on the programme. This is the first time European Regional Development funds are to be targeted at Local Enterprise Partnership areas marking a major shift to more localised funding allocations.

Organisations seeking funding support can find out more about programme priorities and apply for investment at www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding. The full England European Regional Development Fund 2014 - 2020 Operational Programme document is also available via this page.

JAMES WHARTON MP
 

Look out for more information on the launch of the ERDF programme in a new ESIF Programme Bulletin due out tomorrow.