European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund: monitoring and evaluation strategy

The purpose of monitoring and evaluation

Robust monitoring and evaluation of programmes is essential for effective programme and project management, and the 2014-2020 programmes’ emphasis on demonstrating outcomes underlines the importance of these functions.

This plan has been informed in part by how well the methodology of the monitoring and evaluation plan from the previous 2007-2013 programme performed in terms of contributing to the achievement of objectives. In particular:

• the monitoring and reporting focused to a greater extent on financial performance, with less attention on results and significant over or under- performance in relation to specific indicators
• the evaluations were not sufficiently robustly shaped and scoped to inform programme changes, and in some cases not well enough researched to inform the 2014 programme

The lessons learned from previous evaluations have provided the platform to design, develop and reshape the 2014-2020 programme to meet the EU2020 targets. These are grounded in robust assessment of needs, and designed to encourage and achieve specific results in those areas.

Building on this, Monitoring and Evaluation for ERDF and ESF in Scotland will serve two distinct and complementary purposes:

• regular monitoring will inform programme management and progress towards targets, in particular seeking to assess whether targets remain achievable, and whether the funding is being spent on activity which is likely to deliver against those targets. This will inform formal reporting to the European Commission, internal monitoring and reports to the Programme Monitoring Committee
• evaluation will support a longer-term view, with an emphasis on assessing the significant changes to the way in which European Structural and Investment Funds are managed in Scotland (partnership, strategic interventions, a focus on fewer areas of activity); and support decisions on future programmes and their design as well as monitor spend by sector

Evaluation

Programme evaluations will be driven by two major factors: regulatory requirements and the needs identified by the Managing Authority (MA), as outlined in Part 6 (Evaluation Focus and Timetable).

The relevant regulations are:

• 1303/2013: Articles 54  (General Provisions), 55 (Ex-ante evaluation), 56 (Evaluation during the programming period), 57 (Ex-post evaluation) and 114 (Evaluation)
• 1304/2013: Article 19 (6) (Monitoring and evaluation, Youth Employment Initiative)

The evaluations outlined in Part 6 will be carried out in line with the following overarching principles:

• proportionate - the scale of monitoring and evaluation activity on different parts of the programme need to be appropriate to the size of the different elements within the programme
• diverse - different techniques will need to be deployed for monitoring and evaluating various aspects of the programme. Therefore a one-size-fits all approach will not be appropriate
• timely - ensure the monitoring and evaluation activity is undertaken at the right time in order to inform programme managers/Ministers/stakeholders of the impact and effectiveness of the programme
• targeted - linked in with the need for the monitoring and evaluation activity to be proportionate. It is also essential that the information collected allows us to determine whether the programme is delivering on the policy priorities. The more clearly defined the strategic objectives of the programme are, the easier it will be to focus on whether these objectives are being achieved

To ensure that these evaluations result in findings which the MA can act upon to strengthen the effectiveness of the programmes, monitoring and evaluation may include aspects such as:

• performance – whether projects are individually and collectively delivering the outcomes and results sought, and whether this is proportionate to the amount of funding being awarded and spent. This type of assessment will significantly inform and underpin any changes in programming or project selection
• studies into the effectiveness of approaches to delivering the same outcomes – this would enable projects to be reshaped as well as inform future projects, to deliver better outcomes and results
• externalities – assessing whether factors out of the control of the ESIF programmes (e.g. macro-economic or funding landscape) are having an impact on their ability to deliver. If the planned outcomes are positively affected, then  ESIF is effectively being displaced
• counterfactuals – to assess whether the outcomes might have been delivered anyway or by some other means than ESIF, which may suggest that a change in programme direction is required

In the event that programmes are not fulfilling expectations, the MA will undertake corrective measures. However, if programmes are progressing better than planned, the MA will have the opportunity to re-evaluate and potentially re-asses support required to enhance programme outcomes.

An essential element of Scotland’s approach to evaluation is the desire to continually develop and enhance our monitoring processes.

Monitoring

The MA is responsible for the monitoring and reporting against approved targets in the Operational Programme. This is informed by the regulatory requirements, internal reporting and agreement with the Programme Monitoring Committee.

The relevant regulations are:

• 1303/2013: Articles 22 (Performance Framework), 47-49 and 110 (Monitoring Committee), 50 and 111 (Implementation Reports), 51 (Annual Review Meeting), 52 (Partnership Agreement Progress Report) and 112 (Transmission of financial data)

Data for this will be based on data submitted through EUMIS and collated through the EUMIS Report Manager. In addition to this ERDF result progress will be complemented by national statistics, using the latest published statistics in line with the Operational Programme.