ERDF Programme 2007-13

The West Midlands ERDF Programme will provide £270million of investment to create jobs and assist small and medium-sized enterprises from now until 2013.

The Programme will contribute towards closing the region’s £10 billion output gap. More specifically, the Programme aims to assist 22,441 businesses to improve their performance, create 10,519 jobs and 2,495 new businesses and support the reduction of regional carbon emissions. 3,288 of those businesses assisted within the region will also engage in new collaborations with the region’s knowledge base.

The Programme is focused on five priority areas of activity:

• Priority 1 – Promoting Innovation and Research & Development

• Priority 2 – Stimulating Enterprise Development

• Priority 3 – Achieving Sustainable Urban Development

• Priority 4 – Developing Inter–Regional Activity

• Priority 5 – Technical Assistance

Working together with regional partners and other Programme stakeholders, Advantage West Midlands (AWM), are responsible for management of the Programme. This new role for AWM will provide a greater alignment between ERDF and domestic funds providing an improved co-ordination of investments. The aim is to ensure that the administration of funding is as efficient and simple as possible for applicants and beneficiaries.

A partnership-based Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC) will oversee progress and performance. Partnership-based working groups will agree and commission activity in accordance with the Programme’s objectives.

The Programme’s operations will be governed by a series of Delivery Plans (or Investment Frameworks), agreed in partnership. These Delivery Plans will set out what’s to be done and by when to ensure a successful Programme outcome.

With limited resource compared to previous European Programmes speculative applications for ERDF outside of the above selection processes are not encouraged. Projects will be identified and funded through a suitable mixture of open bidding, limited bidding and non-competitive selection as laid out in each Delivery Plan.