1. Post-Brexit funding: Replacing the European Social Fund

2. Future ESF
Steering Group formed in February, led by ERSA and NCVO, includes:
Learning & Work Institute, Big Lottery Fund, LGA, Locality, LEPs, AELP, AoC, GUAC, UK Youth, Lloyds bank and others.
A wider campaign group has also been developed to champion the cause.
Key messages:
Leaving the EU is an opportunity to improve on the ESF to reduce bureaucracy and duplication while pushing more funding to the frontline.
The successor fund should invest to tackle skills gaps and low productivity as part of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy
The new fund should be led by partnerships developing community-driven solutions for greater social cohesion
Re-shaping investment today to deliver savings in the long-term.

3. UK Shared Prosperity Fund - key design principles
Ensure that it delivers interventions that reflect the link between health, wellbeing and employment services
Ensure ease of access for providers of all sizes and sectors
Be developed and delivered through multi-agency and multi-sectoral community partnerships, which could be commissioned around place
Incorporate the principles of additionality and complementarity, to ensure the investment is delivering impact, not plugging gaps in provision
Foster innovation, bringing in new actors and finding new approaches to tackle entrenched problems
Include a mix of long term funding and short term trials, for stability and flexibility
Involve a quicker process to identify need and allocate funds, providing an earlier return on investment and impact on communities

4. Our campaigning so far
11 May 2017

5. Our campaigning so far Letters | 11 May 2017 | Online
Learning and Work Institute
NCVO
ERSA
National Federation of Women’s Institutes
Association of Colleges
Association of Employment and Learning Providers
HoLEX
National Enterprise Network
Pluss
Wheatsheaf Trust
Groundwork
Careers England
WEA
Campaign for Learning
Institute for Employability Professionals
Unlock
Give Us A Chance Consortium
St Mungos

6. Our campaigning so far
Galvanising support across the sector and civil society during the General Election and beyond.
BREXIT BRITAIN MUST NOT LOSE £2.4 BILLION INVESTMENT IN PEOPLE
bit.ly/futureESF
220 sign ups to date

7. Our campaigning so far
Letter to the Prime Minster - Over 100 organisations signed up
Dear Prime Minister
We were delighted to see the Conservative manifesto commit to the creation of a Shared Prosperity Fund, specifically designed to reduce inequalities between communities across the UK. With the UK poised to exit the European Union in 2019, safeguarding the vital investment in education, training and employment support which European Social Funds (ESF) currently provides will be crucial. 
Between 2007 and 2013, the UK received €4.47bn of ESF funding, which, when matched by national co-funding, brought the total spend on ESF projects to €8.6 billion. This helped more than 5.5 million people who would not otherwise have been supported to find work, improve their skills, and engage in their communities. 
Leaving the EU provides us with the opportunity to design a world-leading initiative to replace the investment made through ESF and help tackle the social injustices set out in your manifesto. This new initiative will be able to help more people than ever before, engage with communities more effectively and get more money to the frontline. This will support the UK to reach its post-Brexit potential and contribute to a more productive and inclusive economy.
We believe the development of the new Shared Prosperity Fund should be driven by some core principles, including:
Creating a shared society. The Fund should aim to address social divisions by helping people who need extra support back to work, encouraging social cohesion, and boosting inclusive growth.
Focus on people. Services should be designed around people, rather than people fitting into services. Support should be holistic in nature and cater for people with complex and multiple needs.
Locally driven. The Fund should be locally driven, with priorities being set by the local areas and organisations that understand community needs best.
Value for money. Cutting bureaucracy and ensuring that appropriate commissioning approaches are used will ensure as much funding as possible is channelled to the frontline.
Innovation and evidence. The fund should help to develop innovative ways of tackling entrenched social problems and robustly and proportionately evaluate what works best.
To get this right, we want to work with you. It is important that the Shared Prosperity Fund is a shared endeavour. We all stand ready to work with you on this. We understand that a consultation, led by your Communities Secretary, will launch in a few months’ time. Prior to this, we ask that you establish a cross-government Ministerial committee on the Shared Prosperity Fund, to understand its impact across key departments and ensure its success. It is also vital that key employment, skills and civil society stakeholders are engaged now and throughout this process as we set a new path leaving the EU.  
We have a once in a generation chance to ensure that everyone can share in our future. We look forward to working with your government towards this goal.

8. Identify partners for a Scottish campaign
Employment Support Scotland
The ERSA Scottish network, Employment Support Scotland, is keen to establish and/or support a similar Scottish campaign on ESF. NCVO have engaged with SCVO to back this. Going forward, we want to:
Identify partners for a Scottish campaign
Agree who the campaign is targeting: Scottish, UK or both governments?
Agree how to mobilise support

9. Our questions for you
What have you picked up recently around replacing European Social Fund?
What should Employment Support Scotland’s approach be for making the case to the Scottish Government?