South Lanarkshire Council launched the 2020/2021 Town Centre Fund in mid-September 2020. The closing date for applications is October 19th and only one application can be received per town centre, although this can cover multiple projects from different groups and organisations.
Strathaven and Glassford Community Council will be coordinating applications on behalf of groups and organisations and asks that in the first instance a one page summary of the project and how it fits the criteria within the guidelines is sent to strathavencommcouncil@gmail.com no later than 5pm on Monday October 5th. All documents required to support an application should be sent to the same email address no later than 5pm on Wednesday October 14th to enable them to be submitted online prior to the October 19th deadline.
The funds are designed to assist a lead organisation to apply for town centre capital only projects. Applications can consist of multiple partners and multiple sub projects within the same town centre on a single application, however one partner requires to be identified as the lead organisation with 1 contact and a single bank account for payment. For this purpose Strathaven and Glassford Community Council has been identified as the lead organisation.
The application should demonstrate how each individual sub project is delivered and their relevance to the town centre.
Only one application will be accepted per town. If more than one application is received both will be returned with an instruction to agree priorities and combine all sub projects agreed on one application.
Ongoing revenue projects or elements of projects cannot be funded.
The funds cover the following town centres of South Lanarkshire; East Kilbride; Hamilton; Rutherglen; Cambuslang; Blantyre; Larkhall; Lanark; Carluke; Strathaven; Bothwell; Uddingston; Stonehouse; Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood; Lesmahagow; Law; Biggar; Forth; Douglas; Ashgill; Carnwath; Coalburn; Kirkfieldbank
Funding for 100% of the project is acceptable however groups are encouraged to source additional funding. The use of other funding sources as part of the plan will receive additional scoring points for the project.By submitting your information and/or application to the town centre application process you agree to South Lanarkshire Council and partners to retain your personal data on their database in order to process your application. SLC will use the information you give to help it assess your application and administer any grant it awards you. It may also publish this information on its website or use it to analyse for its own and/or funding partner’s research. SLC may give copies of this information and it also may consult with others when assessing applications, when monitoring grants and evaluating our programs. SLC may also share information with other organisations providing match funding.
The South Lanarkshire Town Centre Fund is a local capital fund and is time limited. Please see the timescales enclosed for reference. The total value of the fund is in the range of £ 500k
Eligible communities are shown on maps provided at the following links
The minimum value per application is £50k, this can be made up from a series of projects. Priority will be given to projects under £100k
The projects should be highlighted in an agreed Town Strategy that has been subject to community consultation.
All applications must be on line only and is available via the following link;
https://www.slccommunitybenefitfunds.co.uk/Account/LogIn
In the event that a community cannot identify a suitable location within the Local Development Plan designated town centre boundary, sequential planning measures will be applied to town centre impact by peripheral projects. The Town Centre First Principle below will also be used to measure peripheral projects.
Ongoing Revenue costs
Grants will only be provided to organisations that can demonstrate they have a viable plan to fund any ongoing revenue and maintenance costs associated with any capital works and that this has been approved by the applicant organisations governing body or management committee. Revenue cannot be applied for in this fund
Eligibility
Scotland’s Town Partnership (STP) define a town as a settlement with a population of over 1,000 residents. The Scottish Government used this definition when allocating the funds to local authorities. Towns selected below are based on the National Records of Scotland (NRS) data used by the Scottish Government when allocating funds to Local Authorities. This identifies the 22 settlements below that fall within this description.
East Kilbride; Hamilton; Rutherglen; Cambuslang; Blantyre; Larkhall; Lanark; Carluke; Strathaven; Bothwell; Uddingston; Stonehouse; Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood; Lesmahagow; Law; Biggar; Forth; Douglas; Ashgill; Carnwath; Coalburn; Kirkfieldbank
While applications can consist of multiple partners and multiple projects within the same town centre, the application and project plan should demonstrate how each individual sub-project is delivered and will in its own right benefit the town centre it serves.
All sub project elements within applications will be reviewed and may be funded even when the total project is not. It is important that each sub project can stand alone within the application.
Required Project Measures/Outcomes
The aim of the Town Centre Fund is to stimulate and support place-based economic investments which encourage town centre’s to diversify and flourish, creating footfall through local improvements and partnerships. Specifically, this fund will contribute to transformative investments which drive local economic activities and re-purpose town centre’s to become more diverse, successful and sustainable.
Key assessment criteria is that the application must achieve at least 1 of the outcomes below. The more outcomes it achieves the higher the score and the % of funds that can be made available to support the project.
Grants can be awarded to support a wide range of capital investments which deliver against the themes of the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Action Plan. This could include repurposing buildings and improving access and infrastructure. The Town Centre Action Plan Themes are:
- Town centre living – creating more opportunities for town centre living; bringing people into the town centre who will use its shops and services.
- Vibrant local economies – creating a supportive business environment including the involvement of Business Improvement Districts and other local partnerships
- Enterprising communities – social enterprise, services, arts and events and, community empowerment and community-based activities which increase the health, wealth and wellbeing of town centre ’s
- Accessible public services – creating and accessing public facilities and services, supported by economic, service and transport hubs
- Digital towns – exploiting digital technology and promoting Wi-fi infrastructure to enable access to information, data analytics, marketing opportunities, branding, and communication with the wider world.
- Proactive planning – land reform and supporting the creation of sustainable, low-carbon and connected places which promote natural and cultural assets, designed in partnership with local communities and key stakeholdersWhere possible all applications must;
- Build on achievements already made.
- Compliment and add value to existing work or work underway.
- Be directly linked to an existing Town Centre Plan and support its ambitions.
- Help support town centre living, involvement of Business Improvement Districts, regeneratingbuildings and suites and delivering community facilities
Each project within the application must give consideration to the following
- Be able to spend all funds requested.
- Of sufficient scale to have impact
- Be based on community engagement
- Deliver transformational change for the town
- Align with existing plans and strategies Demonstrate it is in line with guidance and policyrequired
- Does not include any additional revenue implications for the council
- Deliverable within the timescales shown
- Project Outputs/impacts The scoring for the Town Centre Fund phase 2 is based on achieving a number of the following outputs/impacts linked to the outcomes above, this has to be directly linked to the project and scoring will reflect the number of outcomes achieved.When completing the application please add all outputs/ impacts your project will achieve including the planned number. This list is not exhaustive and if you have other outputs that you feel are beneficial to your community please list them. The more outputs the project supports the higher the project will score.
Measurable Outputs / Impacts list
- No. of community and recreational facilities supported
- Area of business space created SQM
- Areas of housing space created SQM
- No. of new services and facilities established, and key existing services maintained
- No. of individuals starting or returning to work as a result of services/facilities provided
- No. of new visitor attractions
- No. of people assisted into volunteering or work
- No. of buildings improve/renovated
- No. of under-employed assisted
- No. of people with accessibility difficulties (geographically disadvantaged) assisted
- No. of new/innovative methods of adding value to local products
- No. of new town centre business markets access supported
- No. of diversified enterprises/new businesses developed in town centre
- Increase in town centre companies turnover as a result of works undertaken
- No. of town centre jobs created or safeguarded
- No. of new or additional visitors attracted to town centre
- No. of town centre supporting groups formed
- No of individuals retained in, or attracted to move into the town centre
- No. of individuals trained, gaining new skills or re-skilled
- No. of individuals accessing services and facilities
- No. of sites of natural heritage interest with interpretation introduced, access improved, etc
- Increased visitor numbers
- No. of economically active parents benefiting from childcare initiatives
- No. of projects mainstreamed as a result of activity
Supporting information on the Town Centre Action Plan can be obtained from the link below
https://www.gov.scot/publications/town-centre-action-plan-scottish-government-response/
Who can apply for the funds?
Formally Constituted Community groups, associations or organisations with a proven bank account, and established links to the town centre being applied for.There can be only 1 application per town. More than 1 organisation may be involved in the application and different organisations may be responsible for the sub projects within the application and it is encouraged that differing groups with projects come together to apply. Within the application 1 Lead partner must be identified with a single contact for all elements of the project put forward. All correspondence and payments will be addressed to the main contact.Multiple applications from a single town will result in all being returned with an instruction to re submit an agreed single application. This is non-negotiable and multiple applications may result in no funding being allocated to a town if the re application exceeds the timescales shown.
To apply organisations must have
- A written constitution or set of rules.
- An equal opportunities policy or statement.
- At least three unrelated people on their governing body or management committee.
- A bank account that requires two signatories.
All applications will require
A project plan as an attachment including;
o Project and subproject description
o An assurance that all land/property is already secured/ or can be secured within the timeframe.
o Indicative programme of works.
o If the application has multiple partners and multiple projects within the same town centre, the application should demonstrate how each individual partner is involved
o If sub projects are included a plan for delivery of each sub project is required
o Match funding in place where appropriate
o Project design where appropriate
o An explanation of your organisation will procure any works
o An outline of how any ongoing maintenance will be funded and to ensure sustainability of the project
o Explanation of partners roles and responsibilities
o Links to the National Town centre Action Plan
o Links to local Community Action Plans and, if available, community consultation.
o Background evidence of need
o Evidence of how the project will help deliver transformational change to the town centre
o Evidence of the organisations ability experience and suitability to manage and deliver the project
o Evidence that all statutory planning permissions have been considered and are being processed (Planning permission, building warrant, listed building consent etc.)
o Three quotations/estimates for all subprojects and or works
This document should be completed highlighting where the relevant information required above is located. The completed document added to the additional documents section within the application. If this is not included the application will be rejected. WITHOUT THIS DOCUMENT THE APPLICATION WILL BE REJECTED.
Match Funding
Funding for 100% is acceptable. Bidders are encouraged to add match where possible.
The general conditions of grant cover all funds included in the list above and proof of compliance will be required before any funds will be provided.
- All awards are conditional on the applicant securing the relevant statutory consents and permissions.
- All match funding must be confirmed in writing in a manner acceptable to audit standards prior to any work commencing
- The elements of the work within a project that the fund will pay for cannot start prior to town centre funding being awarded.
- Awards are not available retrospectively for work started or completed.
- The costs can be for part of a project
- Applicants must not restrict access to the project from an equal opportunities perspective or promote specific political or religious purposes.
Application timeline
Enquiry Form open – 16th September 2020
Applications open – 21st September 2020
Application deadline – 19th October 2020
Awards made – 30th November 2020
Project start – 1st December 2020
Grant fully spent and evidenced – 31st March 2022
There is a limit to funding available and not all applications will be successful. If your application is unsuccessful SLC will tell you why.
This page contains a summary from the Information Pack provided by South Lanarkshire Council. For the full information pack click the link below. There is also a ‘frequently asked questions’ document below for you to download.
Strathaven and Glassford Community Council 