Project Selection

Tenders are assessed against the set criteria by a panel comprising LSCi staff and wherever possible an external partner. The external partner invited to join the assessment panel will have knowledge/experience of the activities/target groups outlined in the Tender Specification and will not be involved in Tenders seeking funding under that Tender Specification.

The information required in the standard proposal will be assessed against standard objective criteria. Fields that determine the selection of Tenders are labelled as ‘Scored’. The following requested information corresponds to this grouping.

  • Rationale for project
  • Activity focus and partnership arrangements
  • Activity management
  • Added value and value for moneyi
  • Cross cutting themes

Once tenders have been assessed, a ranked list of tenders will be produced and sorted into 3 categories:

  • Fully fits Tender Specification
  • Partially fits Tender Specification
  • Fails to fit Tender Specification

The final category will not be considered to have met the quality threshold and will be rejected at this stage.

A panel comprising Lancashire LSC senior managers will then consider the tenders within the first two categories. The aim of this stage is to ensure that the tenders selected will:

  • Strategically fit the relevant Tender Specification
  • Deliver the outputsi and outcomes that are required for the Tender Specification
  • Support and complement other activities and initiatives in Lancashire rather than cut across and duplicate existing provision
  • Provide reasonable geographical coverage, avoiding unnecessary duplication
  • Clearly provide added value with the additionality of the provision clearly evident and delivering extra new learners

In addition, this group will also:

  • Consider the past performance of the applicanti, if they have previously delivered ESFi co-finance activity for LSC Lancashire
  • Undertake a risk assessment regarding the potential level of funding being awarded to the applicant in terms of delivering the overall Co-finance Plan

Recommendations will then be reviewed by the LID Steering Group and then forwarded to Lancashire LSC's Board for endorsement. Membership details of the LID Steering Group can be found in LSC Lancashire’s Co-finance Plan for 2004-06.

Please note that tenders are not guaranteed to receive funding at the level applied for. This will be dependent upon the fit of the tender to the relevant programme specification.

Appraisal
For each section of the form the LSC have specified if the section will be scored and where applicable indicated the maximum score available. Each section will be assessed and/or scored on the basis or how well it meets the requirements as outlined in the guidance. Each section has a minimum quality threshold (minimum score). Tenders that fail the minimum quality threshold in 3 or more of the sections will not be considered for approval.

Each section (and where relevant sub-sections ie i, ii), iii) etc) of the tender may be expanded to a maximum of a single A4 page, completed using Arial 10 point. The appraisers will not consider text that extends beyond this limit or is not in the correct font type or size.

Please be aware that failure to fully complete the Tender Form will result in your tender not being put forward to the Appraisal Panels.

On conclusion of the appraisal process, LSC Lancashire will contact all applicants. Applicants will be notified in writing on 22 October 2004 of successful Tenders and unsuccessful applicants will be given feedback on why their Tender was unsuccessful. In the interests of openness and transparency summary details of successful and unsuccessful Tenders will be published on LSC Lancashire’s website: www.lsc.gov.uk/lancashire and that of GONWi, www.eurofundingnw.org.uk