Northampton Borough Council Partnership Fund 2018-19

Northampton Borough Council Partnership Fund 2018-19 Grant Scheme Guidance Notes

The Partnership Fund

1. Northampton Borough Council’s Partnership Fund is designed to bring partnership between the Council and the Northampton Voluntary and Community Sector to life for the betterment of local communities. Please note that the minimum amount of grant applied for from the Partnership Fund must be at least £3,000 and the maximum £15,000

2. The completed application form (in paper copy) for Partnership Fund Grant, together with enclosures, should be returned as soon as possible and no later than 12pm (midday) on Friday 2 March 2018 to:

Vicki Rockall Partnerships and Communities Manager Northampton Borough Council The Guildhall St Giles Square Northampton NN1 1DE

Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be considered

Training, help and advice with your application

3. If you would like assistance with your application, applying for a DBS check, developing policies and procedures or accessing training, please contact Matthew Toresen at Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire on 01604 637522 or by email at [email protected]

4. Northampton Borough Council will be hosting a Showcase Event celebrating organisations awarded funding in 2017/18 and what the Partnership Fund Grant Scheme supported. The event will be held at the Guildhall on Monday 29th January 2018, from 3.30 – 5.30pm and will highlight the fantastic projects and organisations that Northampton Borough Council fund. In attendance will be more than 20 local organisations. It will be a market place style event, with a training session running for the 2018/19 grant process. The training session will include more information on the Partnership grant process for 2018/19 and will commence at 4pm in the Court Room.

1 Please book, for the training session via the Community Safety & Engagement Team, by emailing [email protected] or on 01604 838592.

5. Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire will also provide an application form checking service. To access this service please book via Matthew Toresen at [email protected] Criteria for assessing the grant application

6. You need to meet the essential criteria listed in paragraph 7 and include all relevant information related to your application in the form. We cannot consider information relevant to your application if it has not been included with this form.

7. In order to be accepted for consideration, your application must:

a. Reach us at the Council by the deadline of 12.00 hours (midday) on Friday 2 March 2018 in paper copy. Please note that electronic submissions cannot be accepted. b. Include a copy of your organisation’s Audited Accounts (or Independently Examined Accounts), Equal Opportunity Policy, Complaints Procedures, Constitution (if applicable), Terms of References or Memorandum and Articles of Association (if applicable), Certificates of Employer Insurance (if applicable) and Third Party Liability Insurance. c. Demonstrate that your Trustees/Management Committee adopts all of the above documents. d. Be signed and dated by the Chair of your organisation or their nominated representative.

8. When being considered for funding, applicants must meet both organisational and activity criteria. This will be demonstrated on the Partnership Grant Application Form, which should be signed and dated by the Chair or their nominated representative. If any changes occur to your organisation after you send in your application, you must notify Northampton Borough Council of these changes.

Organisational criteria

9. Your organisation must:

a. Be properly constituted, have a Board of Trustees / Management Committee of at least three members. b. Be independent from any statutory authority; non-party political; and not support projects that exclusively serve religious purposes. c. Be a registered Charity, an unincorporated voluntary or community group or registered charitable company limited by guarantee, or Social Enterprise (Social Enterprises and Community Interest Companies (CICs) are only eligible to apply for a grant if they operate on a wholly not-for-profit basis.

2 d. Have a bank or building society account in its name for the deposit of project funds with at least two authorised and unrelated signatories. e. Demonstrate a reserves policy of at least one month operating costs f. In cases where the service / activity involves children, young people or vulnerable people, there need to be DBS checks for all personnel who will be in direct contact with children or vulnerable adults (including, for example, management committee members, staff and volunteers). In these cases, the organisation must have its own Child Protection Policy or Vulnerable Adult Policy as appropriate. These policies should explain how you will ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults you work with will be kept safe. You must also show in your application that your policy will be put into practice. g. Have statements of policy on staff training (if applicable) and volunteer involvement (if applicable).

Activity criteria 10. Your application must demonstrate how your activity contributes to one or more of the following priorities and outcomes for funding.

Northampton Alive  A vibrant successful town for now and the future

Safer Communities  Making you feel safe and secure

Housing for Everyone  Helping those that need it to have a safe and secure home

Protecting Our Environment  A clean and attractive town for residents and visitors

Love Northampton  Enhancing leisure activities for local people and encouraging participation

Working Hard and Spending your Money Wisely  Delivering quality modern services

3 In addition, your application must:

a. Demonstrate that your activity is addressing a gap in local service provision and that it will be able to meet it or develop good practice by increasing participation. b. Demonstrate willingness to WORK IN PARTNERSHIP and build links with Northampton Borough Council and other partner organisations (for example, by sharing resources, learning, and good practice). c. Provide the activity (to which the application relates) to the people and communities of Northampton. d. Outline the numbers of people who will benefit from the activity (adults, children & young people, vulnerable adults). e. Describe what client or customer records will be kept by the organisation. f. Describe how the organisation will provide feedback to service users and / or other people as appropriate (such as parents, carers etc). g. Demonstrate the benefit of its activity and how it promotes respect and understanding between communities in Northampton. h. Have a realistic project budget or, if appropriate, a clearly explained budget for the activity. i. Demonstrate the sustainability of the activity e.g. through a fundraising plan or activities to raise income. Grants cannot be provided to fund services where it would be reasonable to charge to the user for the service provided. j. If appropriate, demonstrate how the activity will meet the Public Sector Duties requirements of the Equality Act 2010 k. Have a system to monitor the activity and evaluate its outcomes.

Making an application

11. The application form asks for information about your organisation, your activity, and your activity budget.

12. You will need to ensure that all items we ask for are submitted with the form. A list of these items is in the checklist at the end of the application form. You should keep a copy of the form for your own records.

13. Completed applications must be returned in paper copy to Northampton Borough Council at the address printed on the application form. Please note that all applications and attachments must be received at the Guildhall by 12.00 (midday) on Friday 2 March 2018. We will not accept any application received after this time.

14. We will aim to let you know of our decision by the end of April 2018.

15. If you have any queries regarding the application form or guidance please e-mail them to: [email protected]

Completing the application form

4 16. The following information is provided to help you complete this form. Please read the information carefully. Make sure that you complete the entire form. Please ensure your application is submitted by the deadline in paper copy, together with all supporting information. Late and/or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

17. If you run out of space continue on a blank sheet of paper. Clearly mark the question being answered and the organisation’s name.

18. Be as clear and specific as possible when answering questions as this will help the people assessing your application better understand what you are trying to achieve.

19. Applicants need to be able to demonstrate that they will be able to deliver the activity as specified in the application.

Section 1. Contact details

20. The contact person on the application form must be at least 18 years old. Please note that the signatory of the Declaration in Section 6 should not be the same person as the contact person in Section 1.

Section 3. About the activity for which you request a grant

21. Applications must show how they contribute towards Northampton Borough Councils Corporate Plan. Please see paragraph 10 for a list of our priorities and outcomes.

22. It will be helpful if you can refer to any evidence showing that there is a need and demand for your activity.

23. You may be asked to provide evidence of numbers of service users such as a copy of a register, records from the previous year or waiting list. Service users are the users of your organisation’s services. Sometimes they are referred to as project beneficiaries or as clients or customers. For new services or projects estimated numbers can be submitted but must be based on evidence of need.

24. Equality – The Council is committed to ensuring that everyone is fairly and equally treated, and we expect organisations we fund to show the same commitment. From October 2010, Northampton Borough Council is obliged to work to general duties under the Equality Act 2010. Furthermore the Council and any organisations the Council funds must comply with the Public Sector Duties contained within the Act when carrying out a public function. The Council and voluntary and community organisations funded by the Council providing public functions must in providing services have due regard to the need to:

 Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;  Advance equality of opportunity between different groups; and  Foster good relations between different groups. This means having due regard in particular to the need to tackle prejudice and promote understanding.

25. The legislation outlines the following ‘protected characteristics’ of groups of people: age, disability, transgender, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership.

5 26. Further guidance on the legislation is provided on Northampton Borough Council’s website as follows: www.northampton.gov.uk/equality.

Section 4. Grant requested

27. You should put here how much your activity is going to cost and how much grant you need from the Partnership Fund. You should give as much detail as you can. It will be helpful if you can supply any quotes or an explanation of how you have calculated your costs. You may be asked to supply more evidence of your costs when your application is assessed.

28. The Partnership Fund is primarily intended for the delivery of services and projects. You should therefore be able to demonstrate how other sources of funding will contribute to support and running costs for the service or organisation. Where it is reasonable to charge the user for some or all of the service you should demonstrate how this income will contribute to funding the service.

29. The minimum amount of grant applied for from the Partnership Fund must be at least £3,000 and the maximum £15,000. For advice on other sources of funding for voluntary and community organisations please contact Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire.

Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire 15 St Giles Street, Northampton NN1 1JA. Telephone: 01604 637522. Email: [email protected]

30. Please note that your organisation must be able to demonstrate that it has a minimum of one month reserves for a 12 month grant, set aside for any agreement with the Borough Council funded through the Partnership Fund. Please note the Partnership Fund cannot be used to provide for reserves.

31. Awards under the Partnership Fund Programme will be made annually in advance and there is no allowance for inflation.

Section 5. Documents and accounts

32. Please ensure that you submit all the documents you are asked to. These are as follows:

a. A copy of audited accounts and annual report b. Bank statements covering the last three months c. A copy of the Equal Opportunity Policy; your application should show your commitment to equality principles and, unless there are good reasons, be open to all who want to be involved in your project. d. A copy of your organisation’s Complaints Procedures e. A copy of your organisation’s Constitution (if applicable) f. A copy of your organisation’s Terms of Reference or Articles of Association (if applicable)

6 g. A copy of your organisation’s current certificate of employer insurance if you are employing staff and your organisation’s current certificate of public liability insurance covering a minimum of £2 million. It is your organisation’s responsibility to ensure that it has adequate insurance in place. This should include cover for any assets it buys or events and activities it runs using a grant from us. We may ask to look at these policies at any time. If your insurance cover is provided by another organisation, for example through a group scheme, you must provide their name and address h. A copy of certificates of building/contents insurance (if applicable) i. If your service/activity involves children, young people or vulnerable people you are required to verify that CRB/DBS checks will have been made by the date that funding for the project is due to commence by signing the Declaration on the application form. You are also required to submit the following policies for your organisation: Child Protection Policy and Vulnerable Adult Policy.

Section 6. Declaration

33. The Signatory to the application form should be the chair, secretary, treasurer, chief executive or director of the organisation. The signatory must be at least 18 years old.

34. Please note that the signatory of the Declaration must not be the same person as the main contact for the application (required in Section 1 of the form). What Happens Next

35. A paper copy of the application form and other documents can be submitted by the deadline of 12.00 (midday) on Friday 2 March 2018. Electronic (e-mailed) versions of the application form will not be accepted nor will any submitted after the closing date.

36. Applications will be assessed by the Community Enabling Funding Advisory Panel (CEFAP). CEFAP is made up of Northampton Borough councillors, officers and representatives from the voluntary and community sector. Assessments will be carried out during March/April 2018.

37. Applications will be assessed on written information contained within your application form and CEFAP will receive advice from officers of Northampton Borough Council.

38. Once all applications have been assessed all organisations that submitted an application will receive a notification of the decision. If you are unsuccessful we will tell you the main reasons why. There is no appeals process.

39. If, for any reason, you need to withdraw your application, your main contact on your application should notify us in writing.

7 Monitoring

40. If successful you will be required to enter into a formal Service Level Agreement (SLA) for delivery of specified services set out in your application form. Your application form constitutes the basis of your agreement with Northampton Borough Council and is subject to monitoring and evaluation.

41. The SLA will allow Northampton Borough Council to account for the funds we provide to your organisation, and to monitor the performance targets that you stated in your application. Therefore, no funding grants will be issued without a signed SLA.

42. The Council reserves the right to protect public funds and recover the grant, in whole or part, where the Council at its sole discretion considers it is not used for the purpose and services agreed. In addition, where the Organisation breaches this Agreement and the Council considers in the circumstances it is right and proper to recover the grant.

43. During the project lifetime you should keep detailed financial records of how the grant is spent and keep copies of all evidence of project expenditure.

44. If an award is made you must take part in a formal review of progress at 6 and 12 monthly intervals. CEFAP will consider monitoring data .Additional monitoring meetings and or project visits may take place at the discretion of the Borough Council having given the organisation 30 days notice. Compact Code of Conduct

45. Northampton Borough Council is a signatory to the Northamptonshire Compact Code of Conduct and undertakes to ensure that all aspects of the Partnership Fund are administered with respect to the Compact.