Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has regulations in place to limit top-sliced management fees for European Social Fund funding by lead contractors to sub-contractors.
Management fees are a matter between lead contractors and sub-contractors. For European Social Fund (ESF) contracts procured by the Skills Funding Agency, the ESF and 2015/2016 match funding rules state that “You must publish your supply-chain fees and charges policy on your website before entering into any subcontracting agreements for the 2015 to 2016 funding year.” This must include the typical percentage range of fees a contractor retains to manage subcontractors, and how this range is calculated.