Deadline: 30-Apr-21
Thurrock Council is seeking bids from organisations wishing to deliver activity as part of the UK Community Renewal Fund.
Thurrock Council have been designated as the lead authority for Thurrock, which means they are responsible for:
- Issuing the invitation to bid
- Receiving bids
- Selecting bids that will be sent to the government for consideration, up to a maximum value of £3m for all bids combined
- Paying grants
- Managing the performance of projects.
Priority Places
- To ensure the UK Community Renewal Fund funding reaches the most in need, the government has identified 100 priority places for investment based on an index of economic resilience across Great Britain.
- Thurrock is not identified as a priority place for this programme however are still eligible to submit a bid for funding.
- Thurrock Council will submit one shortlist of projects up to a maximum of £3m.
Applicants may choose for their proposed project to operate either:
- Within one ward area
- Across multiple ward areas
- Across the whole of Thurrock.
Local Priorities
- In selecting the bids that will be forwarded to the government for consideration, Thurrock Council will prioritise the bids that have the greatest potential to deliver against key local growth priorities.
- Thurrock Council seeks bids that demonstrate alignment with local strategic plans such as the Backing Thurrock Economic Development Strategy and South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) Recovery and Renewal Plan and do not duplicate or conflict with other national or local provision.
Types of Projects Supported
Projects must deliver activity that aligns with the Community Renewal Fund prospectus. Applications must deliver against at least one of the 4 investment priorities, which are:
- Investment in skills
- Investment in supporting local business
- Investment in communities and place
- Supporting people into employment.
Funding Information
- There is no minimum size of bid.
- To maximise project impact and deliverability, however, larger projects with a value of £500,000 or more are strongly encouraged.
Funding Criteria
- The funding available is 90% revenue, so projects should be exclusively or predominantly revenue-based.
- Funding will not be available to support projects focused on construction, buying land or the purchase of large pieces of equipment.
- Whilst there could be up to £3m available to support projects across Thurrock, only those bids that meet an 80% assessment threshold set by the government can be considered for shortlisting and submission to the government.
- Funding will be for 2021/22 only.
- The government will announce the outcome of their assessment from late July 2021 and activity must finish and be paid for by 31 March 2022.
- The invitation to bidders contains further information on the aims of the fund and the priorities supported.
Types of Bid they are looking for
- Investment priorities
- Projects must deliver activity that is line with the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus and align with one or more of these investment priorities:
- Investment in skills
- Investment for local business
- Investment in communities and place
- Supporting people into employment.
- Projects must deliver activity that is line with the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus and align with one or more of these investment priorities:
There are no financial allocations to these priorities.
Projects should also be able to demonstrate the extent of contribution to net-zero carbon objectives or wider environmental considerations. (This is not applicable to interventions focused on supporting people into employment).
Eligibility Criteria
- Legally constituted organisations that can receive public funds can apply for UK Community Renewal Funds.
- Individuals cannot apply.
- Project applicants could include, but are not limited to: private, charitable, voluntary, and community sector organisations/consortiums, universities, colleges, and local authorities.
How Bids will be Assessed
- Bids will be assessed against the criteria set out in the guidance. The assessment will focus on:
- The gateway criteria for the Community Renewal Fund – bids that fail to meet these criteria are ineligible
- The extent to which they meet the objectives of the Community Renewal Fund
- The extent to which they support delivery or regional or local priorities
- Projects will be assessed against:
- Strategic fit
- Deliverability
- Effectiveness
- Efficiency.
Only those bids that most closely meet the criteria, and the minimum 80% assessment threshold set by government, can be shortlisted and submitted to the government for consideration.
The government has made clear that it will prioritise projects in certain parts of the UK. Thurrock is not one of those areas but all parts of the UK are welcome to apply.
For more information, visit https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/community-renewal-fund/call-for-proposals