Eligibility

Applicanti Eligibilityi
Any organisation either public or private which is legally formed, except sole traders, can apply for ESFi. To be eligible to apply for ESF applicants must,

  • Be a legally constituted organisation or group (individuals can not apply for ESF)
  • Be located in or serve in an eligible geographical area
  • Provide a service to an eligible target group
  • Contribute to programme aims, objectives and strategy
  • Demonstrate additionality of activity
  • Demonstrate value for money

Project Eligibility
If you are to be successful and the project approved for ESF, it is essential that the project meets the various eligibility criteria for the priority and measure under which it is to be approved. The priorities and measures are set out in the ESF guidance notes, which accompany the application forms. At the application stage you need to consider how the project will,

  • Meet the needs of the issues identified in the RDPi for Objective 3i
    (You can get this document from the website)
  • Meet the needs of the region or target group

If in doubt, please refer to the ESF guidance notes or contact North West Network.

Application Eligibility
Before your submitted application is entered into the selection process, you must ensure that the following guidelines are adhered to. Your application will be automatically rejected if it does not conform to all the following requirements,

  • The Interactive Application Form (on floppy disk) and four hard paper copies must reach your Regional Contact by the deadline issued by Government Office. No extensions will be given to this deadline
  • No draft applications will be accepted. The disk and hard copies must be the final validated version of the application. The validation code, version number and audit code must be consistent throughout the application and they must match those on the disk
  • Signed and stamped Public Match Fundingi Certificates (or letters of intent) from all public sector organisations (including the applicant) must be enclosed with the application
  • Signed and stamped Promoters Declarations for Racial or Sexual Discrimination must be provided (if applicable)
  • A full breakdown of staff, beneficiary and other costs must be provided within section 7 of the application form. Please ensure that all these costs are eligible under ESF guidelines

If any of the above are not included in your application, it will be rejected immediately. If you have any queries then please contact North West Network.