Discretionary Grants Application and Criteria s1
Discretionary Grants Guidelines and Criteria 17 October 2011
Discretionary Grants
Guidelines and Criteria
2011 - 2012
Document Reference
Document Ref No: / SPRGL003Document Title: / Discretionary Grant Guidelines & Criteria
Version No: / V0.4
Date: / October 2011
Author: / ACTING SENIOR MANAGER: SI & M
Document Approval
/ Name / Signature / Date /Compiled by: / Acting Senior Manager: SI & M
Recommended by: / Chief Executive Officer
Approved by: / Board/EXCO
Table of Contents
Discretionary Grants Guidelines 5
1 Introduction 5
2 Purpose 5
3 What is a Discretionary Grant? 6
4 Who may apply for Discretionary Grants? 6
5 How to Apply 6
6 When to Apply? 7
7 Scarce & Critical Skills within SASSETA 7
8 Discretionary Grant Funding Criteria 7
9 Funding Windows (SEE Annexure B) 9
10 Special Projects 9
11 Standard Operating Procedures 10
12 DG Process Flow 11
13 Monitoring and Reporting 12
Definition Of Acronyms
SDLA / Skills Development Levies ActSDA / Skills Development Act
SETA / Sector Education & Training Authority
NSF / National Skills Fund
SARS / South African Revenue Services
HRDS / Human Resources Development Strategy
JIPSA / Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition
ASGISA / Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA
NSDS / National Skills Development Strategy
SSP / Sector Skills plan
SASSETA / Safety & Security Sector Education and Training Authority
SMME / Small Medium and Micro Enterprise
SLA / Service Level Agreement
DOL / Department of Labour
ETQA / Education and Training Quality Assurance
DG / Discretionary Grants
NSDS / National Skills Development Strategy
SAQA / South African Qualification Authority
NQF / National Qualification Authority
ESDA / Employment and Skills Development Agency
ISOE / Institute of Sectoral and Occupational Excellence
NGO / Non Governmental Organisation
CBO / Community Based Organisation
NLPE / Non Levy-Paying Enterprises
Discretionary Grants Guidelines
1 Introduction
The objectives of the Skills Development Act Number 97 of 1998, as amended are generally aimed at up skilling the previously disadvantaged and thereby create opportunities for South Africa to compete on a global basis with other countries in the world.
The SETAs were specifically established to implement the provisions of both the Skills Development Act No 97 of 1998 as well as the Skills Development Levies Act Number 9 of 1999. The breakdown in terms of the levies collected by SARS is as follows:
· 20% is allocated to the NSF.
· 10% is allocated to SETAs for administrative purposes.
· 50% is allocated for mandatory grants.
· 20% is allocated for discretionary grants.
2 Purpose
The purpose of Discretionary Grants is to encourage employers and stakeholders to contribute towards the achievement of the objectives of the Human Resources Development Strategy (HRDS), the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS), Scarce and Critical Skills, ASGISA, JIPSA and the SASSETA Sector Skills Plan (SSP). Discretionary Grants are available to applicants who in the opinion and approval of SASSETA engage in skills development practices that will lead to the achievement of these objectives and targets. For information regarding all sources of the Discretionary Funds refer to the Discretionary Grants Policy of SASSETA.
Due to the limited funding, SASSETA has carefully developed these guidelines to provide wide information regarding the management of the disbursement of these funds. The criteria are fairly elaborated and seek to clarify qualifying applicants of all the necessary requirements before approval or commencement of the projects. Take note of the nature of the grant cycles and further be informed that no retrospective funding will be considered.
In terms of SASSETAs Discretionary Grant allocation policy, Chambers are allocated funds according to the need of the SASSETA to meet the transformation and development imperatives as well as the goals of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS).
SASSETA will always be guided by the Service Level Agreement, Scarce & Critical Skills, National Skills Development Strategy and the Sector Skills Plan in the allocation of these funds. The SETA would reserve 10% of the total budget of the discretionary grant, for monitoring and evaluation
3 What is a Discretionary Grant?
In terms of the Skills Development Regulation published under GN R713 in GG 27801 of 18 July 2005, as amended, a Discretionary Grant is a grant paid to applicants at the discretion of SASSETA, for Skills Development Projects, linked to scarce and critical skills, in the Safety and Security Sector. Availability of projects and grants is subject to board discretion and may be reduced, withdrawn or cancelled, upon informing the industry of SASSETAs intention to do so.
4 Who may apply for Discretionary Grants?
A Discretionary Grant may be paid to the following applicants:
· Employers within the jurisdiction of SASSETA who are up-to-date with the levy payments - including those exempted in terms of the SDLA - .
§ Discretionary grants are available to employers, training providers and workers and
the unemployed `
· Accredited Education and Training Providers and emerging training providers within the SASSETA sector.
· Associations or organizations that meet the criteria for the payment of such a grant.
· An employer, if the employer has submitted an application for a discretionary grant in the form determined by the SETA for inter alia, but not limited to the following nationals skills priority areas:
- Adult Education and Training.
- HIV/AIDS awareness training.
- Learnership involving 18.2 and 18.1
- Achieving equity targets, including special programmes aimed at people with disabilities.
· A lead employer contemplated in Regulation 3 (4) of the learnership regulations 2001, if the lead employer has submitted an application for a discretionary grant to fund its administration costs, in the form determined by SASSETA.
· If the employer has submitted an application for a discretionary grant in the form determined by the SETA for learning programmes registered in terms of regulation 2 of the learnership regulations 2001 by other SETA.
5 When to Apply?
Applications for Discretionary Grants must be made and approved by SASSETA before any training or other activity related to the skills development project applied for can commence. The Discretionary Grant applications must be submitted to SASSETA office by the date specified in the Request for Proposals. Furthermore it is required that DG applications be submitted not later than 3 months after end of the financial year in respect of which the application is made.
6 Scarce & Critical Skills within SASSETA
Scares Skills refers to those occupations in which there is a scarcity of qualified and experienced people, currently or anticipated in the future, either (a) because such skilled people are not available or (b) they are available but do not meet employment criteria.
Critical Skills on the other hand, in keeping with international trends refer to specific key or generic and “top up“ skills within an occupation. In the SA context there are two groups namely (generic skills, including (SAQA-NQF terminology) critical cross-field outcomes. This would include cognitive skills (problem solving, learning to learn) language and literacy skills, ICT skills and working in teams. In the second instance (b) particular occupationally specific “top-up” skills required for performance within that occupation to fill skills gap that might have arise as a result of changing technology or new forms of work organization.
7 Funding Windows
A funding window is announced when Requests for Proposals are called for.
8 Special Projects
Over and above the projects as indicated above SASSETA will receive and evaluate special projects that relate to critical skills from the applicants falling within the SASSETA scope of coverage. Such project would be funded from the 10% portion of the discretionary grants that would have been approved by the Board at the beginning of the financial year.
9 Discretionary Grant Funding Criteria
· A Discretionary Grant is made available to stakeholders of the Safety and Security Sector for initiatives that advance the goals and objectives of the Sector Skills Plan (SSP), objectives of the NSDS III and interventions as laid down in SDA Grant Regulations.
· The employer must be up to date with levy contributions unless exempt from paying levies, in which case proof of exemption must be submitted.
· Application proposals should be submitted according to the format and
guidelines provided by SASSETA
· It is important that the proposal reflects a clear plan of how the project will be implemented.
· Application forms must be complete and all attachments must be appended as
required.
· The employer agrees to a workplace vetting process by SASSETA.
In the case of learning programmes, the SASSETA reserves the right to conduct a verification exercise to determine that all requirements are in place to deliver these programmes (equipment, subject matter experts, training provider accreditation, etc), before progressing the application to the Discretionary Grant Evaluation Committee.
· In the case of Learnerships, the application for the grant must address both the business need and scarce and critical skills within the SASSETA industry. Service Providers must include endorsement letters from participating employers for workplace learning.
· Employers shall sign a service level agreement with the provider approved by SASSETA
· The employer shall obtain from each learner a written commitment to complete the learning program failing which the learner may be held responsible for the cost per learner incurred by the SETA.
· The employer shall submit a written undertaking to employ 50% of all 18.2 learners that completes a SETA funded learning programme.
· The employer shall ensure accredited provider contracted to deliver the training:
§ is accredited by the relevant SETA, Umaluzi or CHE to deliver the applicable qualification
§ is registered with the department of Higher Education and Training and / or Umalusi should the provider be contracted to deliver a full qualification or a Learnership.
§ provides detailed analysis of the cost per learner
· The SASSETA reserves the right to allocate grants proportionately in line with the capacity of the organisation to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of grants
Kindly note that the NSDS beneficiary targets apply:
§ 84% black
§ 54% women
§ 4% people with disabilities
Each project shall meet at least ONE of the targets referred to above.
Where discretionary grant funding is allocated, the procurement shall be conducted according to the PFMA and Treasury Regulations specifically as contemplated in Section 16A Supply Chain Management (SCM).
Evaluation of Proposals
The SASSETA Discretionary Grants Evaluation Committee (DGEC) shall ensure that a valid, fair and transparent process is developed, established and implemented to evaluate the applications against the criteria. The DGEC shall make a recommendation to the Discretionary Grants Committee, who will approve / decline the application(s) against the criteria and within the approved budget.
Applications will be evaluated on the basis of:
§ Compliance with the NSDS 111 key developmental and transformative imperatives
§ Meeting the NSDS 111 goals,
§ Alignment with SASSETA’s Sector Skills Plan (SSP)
§ Soundness of the proposed intervention including the capacity of the provider to deliver,
§ Full outline explaining the reasonable cost per learner
§ Full compliance with the Discretionary Grant Guidelines as well as with each of the pre-determined criteria, and
§ Current Discretionary Grant Projects at SASSETA as well as other SETA’s and/or clients
§ Prior Discretionary Grant allocations at SASSETA as well as other SETA’s and/or clients
§ Prior Discretionary Grant implementation history at SASSETA as well as other SETA’s and/or clients .
10 Guidelines: Applying for DG funding
§ The project should be linked to SASSETA’s SSP, NSDS111 key developmental and transformative imperatives and goals as well as your organisation company’s / organisation’s WSP
§ Ensure that you are familiar with the NSDS111 document of the Department of
Higher Education
§ Companies owned by Youth, Women and People with Disabilities are encouraged to submit applications for Discretionary Grants
§ SASSETA Employers focusing on / or involved with vulnerable groups such as the youth, women and people with disabilities in all provinces are encouraged to submit applications for Discretionary Grants
§ SASSETA Employers located in rural areas in all provinces are encouraged to submit applications for Discretionary Grants
11 How to Apply
Relevant forms are available on SASSETA’s website: www.sasseta.org.za. Once Requests for Proposals are called for.
Applicants should submit their Discretionary Grant application/s using, where appropriate, the following prescribed SASSETA forms.
§ The 2011-12 Discretionary Grant Guidelines
§ Discretionary Grant Application Form for Employers
§ The Provider Application form for accredited training providers wishing to offer training in partnership with a SASSETA member employer.
§
Completing the DG Application
§ Complete the prescribed DG application form available on the website.
www.sasseta.org.za.
§ Each application should respond to the advertisement.
§ Ensure that each relevant field in the application is completed
§ Application should include a valid tax clearance as well as a cancelled bank Cheque.
§ Should the employer not be the provider it has to submit provider application documents of the three selected. The Employer application makes provision for a process how to select the preferred provider for submission to the Discretionary Grants Evaluation Committee (DGEC) for a decision.
§ Each application to be signed off by the employer and a labour representative –
meaning that it should go through the WSP process at work
§ Incomplete applications would be disqualified
12 Monitoring and Reporting
SASSETA has its standard project management methodology which will be utilized to ensure proper monitoring and reporting on progress for all the projects that have been approved.
Monthly reports would be expected from all the projects without exception. Care will be taken also to ensure that proper Project Closure reports are developed for all finished projects. It should also be noted that regular site visits will be conducted by the SETA employees to verify some of the information that would have been submitted by the different project managers.