Equal: Action 2

1
Equal Action 2

• ESF Monitoring and Evaluation Seminars
• GB Equal Support Unit
• June 2002

2
Objectives (1)

• For DPs
• familiarity with Equal programme monitoring
  requirements
• importance of DP-wide monitoring systems -
  content and timing
• importance of meeting evaluation requirements -
  activities / processes / outcomes
• make appropriate links between monitoring systems
  and evaluation.

3
Objectives (2)

• For Support Unit / DWP
• to understand issues / problems arising
• to address any support gaps
• to inform future support activities.

4
Agenda Day 1

• Monitoring requirements for Equal DPs
• Monitoring and record keeping
• finance expenditure and income
• activities
• outputs and beneficiaries
• Preparing for audits (VAT)
• ESF payments, claiming and reporting Action 2
• Evening meal

5
Agenda Day 2

• Evaluation overview / toolkit
• Working with external evaluators
• Equal programme external evaluation
• Workshops
• transnationality
• empowerment
• innovation
• business impact / soft indicators

6
Definitions

• Monitoring
• the routine collection and recording of
  information about day to day activities, outputs
  and finances to provide regular feedback on
  whether a DP is on schedule.
• Evaluation
• the process by which a DPs activities,
  achievements and impact are assessed and
  understood
• Monitoring necessary for effective evaluation

7
Why monitor?

• ESF Requirement
• Tool for evaluation
• Management tool
• planning and decision-making cycle

8
Monitoring requirements for DPs (1)

• You are required under ESF guidelines
• to monitor the approved DPA / TCA and identify
  significant changes
• to prove you have met the eligibility
  requirements of Equal in terms of finances,
  activities, and beneficiaries/outputs
• to prove that you have achieved what the DP was
  approved to do OR that you can provide evidence
  that significant changes have been agreed

9
Monitoring requirements for DPs (2)

• to handle monitoring and audit/inspection visits
• to complete your DP Profile and Advance Claim
  Form / Progress Reports and Interim Claims forms,
  Monitoring Forms, Action 2 Closure report and
  audit certificates

10
How your DP will be monitored (1)

• DP Profile and Advance Claim Form
• beginning of Action 2
• DP Progress Report and Interim Claim Forms
• monthly / quarterly / six-monthly
• Bi-annual Monitoring Form
• based on Section 13 of DPA
• submitted February and August of each year, for
  previous six months (May - Dec for 2002)

11
How your DP will be monitored (2)

• Bi-annual External Evaluation Monitoring Form
• initial contact (February 2003)
• progress report (February and August of each
  year, for previous six months)
• European Annual Monitoring Form
• based on DPA
• report on beneficiaries, expenditure, activities,
  networking
• required February for previous year

12
How your DP will be monitored (3)

• Audit certificate, Action 2 Closure Report, GSE
• annual audit certificate
• A2CR submitted within 60 days of A2 end date
• GSEs required to validate public match funding
• Significant change procedure
• report significant changes as they happen
• Support Unit visits (monitoring / support)
• annual visits - 1/2 days
• Audit/inspection visits

13
Monitoring - Systems (1)

• Standardise among DP partners
• establish common data collection / record keeping
  systems
• make sure partners are aware of ALL monitoring
  requirements, including timeframes
• Provide regular communications / updates
• tell partners what they need to do and why
• make monitoring part of day-to-day work

14
Monitoring - Systems (2)

• Keep it as simple as possible
• only collect data for which there is a need and
  which will be used
• Link to all monitoring requirements
• eg DP Profile and Advance Claims / Progress and
  Interim Claim Forms, Monitoring Forms (National /
  European), A2CR etc.
• Link to evaluation requirements
• internal and external
• Ensure that monitoring systems can meet required
  timeframes (eg interim claim periods)

15
Monitoring - Systems (3)

• Remember
• records must be kept for three years after
  receipt of final PAYMENT for PROGRAMME from EC
• lead partner / DP Ltd. is responsible for ALL ESF
  monitoring and record keeping - even for activity
  of partners and sub-contractors.
• Good practice
• Partnership working Good Practice Lessons from
  ADAPT (www.adapt.ecotec.co.uk)
• A Project Managers Guide to Interagency working
  (www.employment.ecotec.co.uk)

16
What should be monitored?

• finance
• expenditure
• income
• activities
• outcomes
• outputs / outcomes
• beneficiaries

17
Expenditure - Monitoring (1)

• Whole of DP costs - not just ESF
• ESF eligible
• Appropriate for DP objectives and activities as
  in approved DPA / TCA
• Incurred within the approved funding period for
  each Action
• Expenditure by lead partner / DP Ltd. and
  partners must be actual
• cannot include profit, notional costs, discount
  charges, lost opportunity costs

18
Expenditure - Monitoring (2)

• Sub-contracting
• main activities must be carried out by members of
  DP
• Value for money
• Virements of gt15 between main cost headings
• staff/beneficiary/other/transnational
• New items of expenditure
• Ringfenced budget lines for Action 2
• evaluation, dissemination and transnational costs
• Acceptable methodologies

19
Expenditure - Record Keeping (1)

• Audit Trail - source documentation to DP Action 2
  Closure Report
• invoices and receipts
• cash book and bank statements
• annual accounts and management accounts
• salary payroll records/time sheets
• analysis of overhead costs and of shared costs
• working papers for Action 2 Closure report
• If no audit trail, you cannot include in A2CR

20
Income - Monitoring and Record Keeping

• Income sources
• ESF
• Match funding - public / private
• Revenue

21
ESF

• Cannot vire between Actions
• Approved amount is upper limit
• Cannot exceed DP approved intervention rate (50
  or less)
• Must not be less than 25 of total of ESF and
  public match funding - concentration principle

22
Match Funding

• Two types of Match Funding
• actual
• in kind
• Two sources of Match Funding
• public
• private
• NB Need to categorise in DPA, PMFCs, Action 2
  Closure Reports and GSEs

23
Actual Match Funding

• Actual Match Funding can be
• cash
• depreciation charges
• Lead partner / DP Ltd - all match funding classed
  as Actual (common error)
• Audit trail relatively easy to maintain

24
In Kind Match Funding

• Non-cash match funding - service /product where
  actual cost does not appear in account of lead
  applicant or DP eg
• donation of paid staff (partners) / time of
  employed beneficiaries / rent for premises
  payable by match funder
• Covers ACTUAL expenditure incurred by match
  funder towards ESF eligible costs
• Reflected as expenditure items in budget
• Cannot include profit, notional costs, discount
  charges, lost opportunity costs
• Audit trail can be difficult to maintain

25
In Kind Match funding - Record Keeping

• Written evidence of agreement
• Need auditable records to show actual incurred
  cost
• staff and employed beneficiary costs - notional
  invoices, time sheets, actual salary costs
• sole trader or partners - 10 hourly rate
• non-staff materials or services - paid invoices

26
Public Match Funding

• Intervention rate - 10 of total DP eligible cost
  for each Action
• Eligible public match funders
• Eligible public match funding - clean
• Responsibilities - monitoring
• Public Match Funding Certificate/General
  Statements of Expenditure
• If in doubt, contact Support Unit

27
Private Match Funding

• No minimum intervention rate
• Eligible private match funding
• any money originating from private enterprise
• volunteer time
• No equivalent of PMFC or GSE but written evidence
  of agreement and records to demonstrate actual
  and eligible still required

28
Remember...

• An organisation cannot supply both public and
  private match funding at the same time
• Match funding can only be used once
• Change of match funder, type of match funding or
  match funding amounts is a significant change
• Formal agreements/contracts

29
Revenue

• May arise from selling products / services etc.
• When calculating ESF intervention rate
• DPA - INCLUDE
• Advance payment EXCLUDE
• Interim payments and DP Closure EXCLUDE
• If revenue raised, more match funding required

30
Activities - Monitoring (1)

• Progress towards / changes to
• aims and objectives
• equal opportunities
• innovation
• empowerment
• transnational work / partnership
• monitoring / evaluation
• dissemination and mainstreaming

31
Activities - Monitoring (2)

• National and European level networking
• Changes to membership and management of DP
• Publicity / ESF acknowledgement
• Added value
• demonstrate added value of activities (p48 EIG)
• define boundaries around DP activity
• avoid double-funded
• NB required for interim reporting / A2CR /
  national / European monitoring

32
Activities - Record Keeping (1)

• Need to keep
• Approved DPA and TCA / workplan
• Operational documents eg training plans
• Equal Opportunities Policy / Strategy
• Evaluation, dissemination and mainstreaming plans
• Publicity materials

33
Activities - Record Keeping (2)

• Agreed and formalised monitoring and reporting
  system
• Evaluation strategy
• Risk assessment strategy
• Contracts/agreements with partners,
  sub-contractors and match funders
• Minutes of partner meetings (domestic/
  transnational)

34
Outputs and Beneficiaries - Monitoring (1)

• Eligibility
• ESF and requirements of Theme (eg Themes B and I)
  
• Single sex/single race DPs - legal aspects
• Required for National / European Monitoring
  Forms, A2CR
• range of information, reporting on estimates DPA
• DWP follow up surveys

35
Outputs and Beneficiaries - Monitoring (2)

• Please notify the Support Unit if
• any decrease in DPA outputs (non beneficiary)
• more than a 15 change in number/ status of
• beneficiaries
• qualifications
• training hours

36
Beneficiaries - Record Keeping 1

• Signed enrolment form/statement of eligibility
• Individual training record
• Beneficiary allowances
• Beneficiary timesheet
• Progress and achievement records
• Destination and evaluation form
• See Annex B ESF Good Practice Guide
  www.esfnews.org.uk/docs/esfggp.pdf

37
Significant Changes

• MUST obtain agreement from Support Unit as soon
  as you wish to introduce them
• If not notified and approved, not eligible for
  Action 2 Closure
• NB Significant changes expected!

38
Monitoring and record keeping

• Remember
• take monitoring seriously!
• requirement for ALL DP partners
• standardise record keeping systems
• ensure that all monitoring and evaluation
  requirements have been met
• ensure systems can deliver information to meet
  timeframes
• ensure all partners aware of requirements