European Social Fund in England

European Social Fund – Support for In-Work Training

The Support for In-Work Training study examines the nature and effectiveness of ESF’s Priority 2 and Priority 5 support for improving the skills of employees, especially those who need support to sustain their employment and help them advance at work. It focuses on the quality of ESF provision and its effects on systems and structures. For example, it identifies:

• how employees, the companies they work for and others are benefitting from ESF support
• how the ESF support adds value to companies’ own investment in training and to UK government training programmes
• how effective ESF support is in addressing the employees’ and companies’ skills needs
• the extent to which the ESF support provided is commensurate with the priorities identified in the ESF programme and regional ESF frameworks; and
• how ESF has supported skills training in sectors that are traditionally weak at training and has targeted groups that are least likely to receive training
• findings of the study intended to inform delivery in the second half of the programme period.

Methodology

The research design is predominantly a qualitative case study focused approach, informed by MI and stakeholder consultations. It is a three stage approach comprising of the following:

Stage 1 – Project Inception – including document and data review, stakeholder interviews, sample development and preparation for fieldwork;

Stage 2 – Case Study Fieldwork – with 30 Competitiveness Priority 2 and 10 Convergence Priority 5 projects; and

Stage 3 – Analysis, Reporting and Dissemination – analysis of findings, final report production and dissemination of findings.

The research design involves interviews and a number of case studies of projects that are training employees.

When did the research take place?

Interviews took place in October and November 2009. A small pilot study took place in October 2009 to test the questionnaire and the data collection methods. Findings from the study were published on 20 July 2010.

Where can I find more information?

Information about GHK Research and Consulting can be found here: www.ghkint.com