How are ESF projects delivered on the ground?
A. CFOs contract with ‘providers’ – the private, public or voluntary sectors – that deliver ESF projects. The CFOs make ESF funding available through a process of open and competitive tendering, and during 2011, are launching tendering rounds for the second phase of the programme (2011 – 2013). Details of these can be found on the England ESF website. CFOs are responsible for providing both ESF funds and match funding (where national money matches the ESF money), so providers who have been successful in obtaining money for their project don’t have to find their own match funding.
