2007-2013 Programmes : ERDF Priority 3 - Urban Regeneration
The aim of the Priority is to increase the contributions of the most disadvantaged urban communities to Lisbon goals by supporting their regeneration.
By concentrating actions on sustainable development in the urban areas of greatest need the best use will be made of the limited funding available to make the greatest impacts on exclusion and poverty and help contribute to the Lisbon Agenda. Consequently, the Priority will increase the contributions of the most disadvantaged urban communities and will work in tandem with ESF Priority 1.
It will be a key criteria for successful sponsors to be able to demonstrate that ERDF Priority 3 projects are delivered with the support and active involvement of the local community and an appropriate range of partners. As a result, emphasis will be made on supporting projects that integrate together a range of activities to support urban regeneration.
Linking urban areas of need with areas of opportunity: It is important to invest in the social and economic infrastructure required to allow people living in disadvantaged communities to take advantage of training and employment opportunities elsewhere. ERDF funding can make key contributions in this area by supporting developments that empower individuals to gain access to such opportunities. Eligible activities include:
- Support for locally-based job brokerage schemes that aim to match disadvantaged individuals with employment opportunities
- Support for refurbishment and enhancement of locally-based training/learning and e-skills centres
- Supporting safe transport hubs to link areas of need with those of opportunity
- Support for investment in increased local access to ICT facilities within communities
Improving the potential capacity of urban areas to develop: To encourage enterprise formation and development and sustain existing SMEs within the most disadvantaged communities, additional specialised enterprise support will be funded. This will, in part, require improvements to the physical environment of some communities, though investments will be limited to small-scale infrastructure, such as affordable workspace for community and private enterprises. Eligible activities include:
- Support for the refurbishment of existing business support and incubator facilities and workspace to make them suitable for new or established SMEs (especially those that employ 'green design' principles)
- Support for improvements to incubator and business support facilities for social enterprises
- Support for initiatives to encourage low carbon employment sites and premises, including conversion of existing incubator and other workspace facilities
- Support for small-scale conversion and adaptation to industrial sites and business centres/facilities that offer employment or training opportunities to people living in targeted areas (especially those that employ 'green design' principles)
- Support to encourage communities to contribute to sustainable development goals through the application of renewable energy technologies for community energy needs, such as small-scale renewable energy production for local use, and the 'greening' of community regeneration construction projects
Delivery
Individual projects will be eligible, though the emphasis will be on projects that integrate several of the eligible activities. For the first two years of the Programme a share of funding from ERDF Priority 3 will be set aside to fund projects that are part of integrated packages of support put forward by Community Planning Partnerships
Funding allocations
The Annual Funding Allocation is approximately £10m
The Total Funding Allocation is approximately £70.01m
The Maximum Grant Intervention Rate is 40%
Spatial Targeting
Under ERDF Priority 3 a level of spatial targeting has been implemented. Areas will be eligible based on an annually reviewed and published list of local authorities meeting two criteria: the 10 authorities with the biggest share of the worst 15 per cent of deprived neighbourhoods and; the 7 authorities with the worst incidence of people not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET).
The following local authority areas are currently eligible for support under ERDF Priority 3:
- Clackmannanshire
- Dundee
- East Ayrshire
- Edinburgh
- Fife
- Glasgow
- Inverclyde
- North Ayrshire
- North Lanarkshire
- Renfrewshire
- South Lanarkshire
- West Dunbartonshire
- West Lothian
