Guidance

066/21 Use of Electronic signatures within ESF Programme Grant Recipient documentation and as verification evidence from ESF participants.

Updated 5 December 2024

Date Issued	10 June 2021
Review Date	31 March 2024

1. Who should read

ESF Applicants, Grant Recipients, Co-Financing Organisations (CFOs), Greater London Authority, Intermediate Bodies, Government Internal Audit Agency.

2. Purpose

In 2020, the Managing Authority introduced COVID-19 response easements that electronic signatures can be used on project documentation; and by participants as verification that they are on an ESF project. This Action Note sets out that this use of electronic signatures as evidence will remain in place until the end of the ESF Programme.

Wet signatures, which have been used as evidence on documents since the start of the Programme, remain eligible to be used.

3. Background

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, from March 2020 the ESF Managing Authority introduced a number of easements to support Grant Recipients, CFOs and other ESF Partners to continue delivery of the ESF programme.

The primary communication channel used to publicise these easements is the European Social Fund 2014 to 2020 Programme: Questions and Answers on COVID-19 Response published on GOV.UK. This Q and A was first published in March 2020 (ESF Action Note 047/20 refers) and remains in place. The Managing Authority regularly reviews and updates the Q and A to ensure organisations in receipt of ESF funding have the most up to date information available.

Early during the pandemic, ESF Grant Recipients and ESF CFOs raised concerns about the difficulty of obtaining and using wet signatures:

• on documents when their staff and ESF partners were working remotely, including from home
• from participants as verification evidence when all contact takes place remotely

In response, the Managing Authority introduced COVID-19 easements to allow the use of electronic signatures in place of wet signatures. These easements are set out in two questions within the published COVID-19 Response Q&A.

• question 2 - which refers to a range of programme documentation; and
• question 15 – which refers to verification from participants that they are on an ESF project

These two questions from the published Q and A are copied below.

3.1 Question 2 – (updated 18/08/2020) – Many staff and partners are working from home/remote locations and we are unable to provide wet signatures for documents that require them. What arrangements are being put in place to address this issue?

We have put in place temporary contingency arrangements for the completion and processing of:

• Funding Agreements
• Memorandum of Understanding
• Funding Agreement Variations
• Memorandum of Understanding Variations
• bank details
• change of bank details forms
• claims (from quarter 1 2020, until further notice)

This contingency arrangement allows projects to use electronic signatures when completing any of the above, until further notice. For quarterly claim periods prior to Q1 2020, projects should continue to submit claims following the normal (pre COVID-19) claim processes. However, in cases where this is not possible, projects should contact the Managing Authority.

If projects have returned any of the above documents to the Managing Authority since 9 March 2020, following the existing guidance, you may want to consider contacting the Managing Authority to ensure that the documentation has been received, due to the fact that they are continuing to work remotely at this time.

The Managing Authority may request that you re-submit your documents under the new contingency process once published, as we can no longer action paper forms. (see also question 15)’

Question 15 - (published 18/08/2020) - How can my project meet the ESF programme’s requirements for ‘wet signatures’ given the restrictions on ‘face to face’ work with participants that have arisen due to COVID-19 restrictions?

Under normal circumstances, projects are required to have ‘wet’ signatures from participants, on both enrolment forms and any contact sheets, demonstrating they have received the support. The ESF Managing Authority recognises that this is not possible given current social distancing measures. From the 1st February 2020 participant verification can be provided by alternative means, such as email.

(see also question 2)’

4. Action

The Managing Authority has reviewed the electronic signature easement arrangements introduced in 2020, which are set out in Questions 2 and 15 of the COVID-19 Response Q and A published on GOV.UK and have been copied above.

You are asked to note the outcome of that review, which is that electronic signatures can continue to be used, as an alternative to wet signatures, in line with applicable ESF rules until the end of the ESF programme.

For the time being, there is no change to ESF guidance on the use of electronic signatures that Grant Recipients receive, which will continue to be issued as a COVID-19 Response. This ESF guidance will be revised during the summer to reflect that the use of electronic signatures is eligible for the remainder of the Programme. At that time Questions 2 and 15 of the COVID-19 Response Q and A will be closed.

This decision is consistent with the ‘Electronic signatures’ sub-section of the ‘ESF National Eligibility Rules and Programme Guidance’ published on GOV.UK. This reads as follows.

Electronic signatures

The use of electronic signatures on ESF documentation is permissible. Regulations make provision for signature evidence to be held electronically and for “wet” signatures to be digitised. All such documentation should be retained. For the purposes of the ESF programme an electronic signature is the electronic equivalent of a written signature.’

Written (wet) signatures continue to be eligible on documents in line with ESF guidance published since the start of the Programme.

5. Contact

If you have any questions about this Action Note please contact [email protected]