European funding

European Union - European Regional Development Fund

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) are the main European Funds which make up the ESIF programme. The programme provides funds to help local areas grow in a smart, sustainable and inclusive way. It aims to support the North East Strategic Economic Plan for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP) area. The area is made up of 7 local authority areas, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Steps to Employment

Steps to Employment is a project that offers help to people who are not working and need support to learn new skills, build confidence and take small steps towards employment / self employment. North Tyneside Council is the Accountable Body working with a range of local Charities and business to develop a bespoke plan that will look at developing soft skills, hard skills and help with getting a job, with support continuing for up to 6 months.  Funding for the project comes from the European Social Fund (ESF) and North of Tyne Combined Authority.  More information is available from www.stepsto.co.uk

ERDF

The fund provides 50% (in Tyne & Wear and Northumberland) towards revenue or capital funding to support investment in innovation, businesses, low carbon and climate change projects and aims to create jobs in the region.

The North East's indicative allocation of ERDF is £227.3m and covers five key areas;

  • Research & Innovation
  • SME Competitiveness
  • Supporting a Shift Towards a Low Carbon Economy
  • Climate Change adaptation
  • Community led local development
  • In addition to the main fund, a separate fund has been created for Sustainable Urban Development to support the following key challenges;
  • Sustainable energy and sustainable transport
  • Sustainable infrastructure investments

ESF

ESF provides 50% towards revenue projects which offer training to the unemployed and employed.

The North East's indicative allocation of ESF is £200.4m. Within Tyne & Wear and Northumberland there are two priority axes

Priority Axis 1: Inclusive Labour Markets

Priority Axis 2: Skills for Growth

How do I apply?

Calls are issued on a regular basis by MHCLG and DWP and can be found on the GOV.UK website. Applicants must be a legally constituted body.

Application process

For open calls, applying is a 2 stage process, with an initial outline application assessing eligibility and value for money, followed by a more detailed full application. Applicants must source a minimum of 50% match funding.

Support is available

Support and guidance on preparing applications, and details on the process is available, see North East Technical Assistance Project.

New calls for projects

For more information visit GOV.UK.

Contact us

Judith Nunn
Project Officer (Technical Assistance)
Business & Economic Development
North Tyneside Council
Cobalt Business Park
North Tyneside
NE27 0BY

Telephone: 0191 6436402
Email: judith.nunn@northtyneside.gov.uk

Business Energy Saving Team (BEST)

A fully-funded energy efficiency audit to help your business save energy and money.

BEST is a new fully-funded energy efficiency service to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in North Tyneside, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland and Sunderland generate savings. 

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by local councils, the service consists of an independent fully-funded energy efficiency audit, designed to help businesses identify ways to save energy in day to day operations, thereby saving money and helping to reduce their carbon-footprint.

BEST is open for applications. For more information contact david.cunningham@northtyneside.gov.uk at North Tyneside Council or visit www.best-ne.co.uk.

Killingworth Sustainable Retrofit Project

The ERDF fund has enabled the Killingworth Sustainable Retrofit Project to go ahead, it is a combination of refurbishment and replacement of the existing office accommodation, workshops, welfare and other facilities on the Killingworth Site, ensuring it ‘future proofs’ its operations, with energy efficiency and functionality as the key principles using a range of energy efficient systems, alongside energy generation and energy storage/distribution solutions to support a progressive move to an electric powered operational fleet.

The core philosophy and key output of the Depot Project is the plan to adopt, create and integrate a smart building and ‘intelligent” mini grid of innovative technology as part of a whole place solution approach. The Sustainable Urban Development funding will specifically enable the adoption of the following low carbon, energy, efficiency and renewable energy works:

  • Battery storage in conjunction with both roof top and car port solar PV arrays
  • Building heat supply via air source heat pump technologies to Block A, Block B, Block E, Block G and the new workshops
  • Other efficient heating systems in support of the above and will involve the replacement of old inefficient heating systems with modern energy efficient boilers and heating plant.
  • Rooftop photo-voltaic arrays to Blocks A, B, E, G and the new workshops o Solar vehicle ports to areas of staff & visitor parking and fleet parking areas
  • Electric vehicle(fleet) charging points (as part of solar car ports and wider infrastructure)
  • Internal and external energy-efficient LED lighting o Infrastructure to support integrated energy network to allow optimum efficiency, generation, storage and distribution. This involves the installation of site wide below ground duct work to connect the energy generation systems e.g. solar PV to the battery storage and energy distribution network across the site
  • Intelligent electrical circuit design, Smart sub-metering and BMS systems which will holistically manage all of the energy systems to a single integrated hub.

In addition to the above the fabric of the existing buildings will be improved to ensure thermal and insulation benefits are fully realised as part of the refurbishment programme. – this involves the installation of secondary glazing and construction of internal insulated stud walling within Block A. Water saving technologies and systems will also be integrated into the project including rainwater harvesting.

For more information contact ian.lillie@northtyneside.gov.uk.