Community Assets

The aim of Community Assets is community empowerment. It will do this by facilitating the transfer of genuine assets from local authorities to the third sector for their use as community resources.

2. What outcomes is BIG seeking to achieve through this programme?

In the shorter term, Community Assets will bring about the following outcomes:

Local third sector organisations have greater security and independence, and are better able to meet the needs of the communities they serve.
Communities have more access to better facilities that respond to their needs.
There is more effective partnership working between local authorities and the third sector.

3. What do you mean by ‘transfer’?

We will fund the refurbishment costs of projects that are transferred to a third sector organisation through either a leasehold interest or freehold transfer. We expect leasehold interest transfers to be for a minimum of 20 years.

4. What can grant awards be used for?

Capital grants can be awarded for the refurbishment of local authority-owned buildings and facilities.

5. What is the definition of a “community asset”?

Community assets are community facilities that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of groups; these are likely to be multi-purpose. Assets will generally be buildings. They must be sustainable in the long term. Once the asset is transferred, it may be used for its original purpose, or for other purposes.

6. What grant size was available under this programme?

For projects involving the transfer of a single asset, we will make grants from £150,000 to £1 million. Where the project involves the transfer of two or more assets to the same partner we will consider funding projects up to £2 million.

7. Who is eligible to apply?

We asked to see applications from strong partnerships between local authorities and third sector organisations. The initial application had to be completed by the local authority (that owns the asset) or a third sector organisation (if the local authority is prepared to transfer the asset to them). In all cases, we required both parties endorse the application.

8. Which organisation will act as grant recipient?

Only a local authority or the third sector organisation can act as grant recipient. We expect all assets to be transferred to the third sector. We made it clear that we will not fund the transfer of assets to:

individuals
for profit organisations (except social enterprises)
statutory bodies, including other local authorities, schools, parish or town councils
organisations in poor financial health more than one third sector organisation.ased.

9. When was the programme open for applications and how will the process work?

Application materials were made available in September 2007. The deadline for applications was 2pm on the 15 November 2007. As for the process, there will be a single bidding round for all applications. Following a completeness and eligibility check, we will tell applicants if they are to proceed to full assessment by 18 January 2008. We will tell applicants by 31 March 2008 whether they have been awarded you an in-principle grant. If our in-principle grant offer is accepted, we will send further guidance on how to develop the required capital delivery plan. This plan is required within 6 months. Within four months of receiving the capital delivery plan we will confirm that the project can continue.

10. Will projects receive support in developing their proposals?

BIG will seek to appoint an external contractor to provide support to grant holders for the six-month period that successful applicants will have to work up a detailed proposal.

11. Do applicants have to have other sources of funding to support the project?

No, applicants do not have to find any other sources of funding for their refurbishment projects. However, we did say that a contribution from other sources (financially or in-kind), including from your organisation, demonstrates a commitment to the project and its ongoing sustainability.

12. What sustainable development issues do projects need to consider?

Capital grants are available for refurbishment projects, which meet sustainability construction criteria, for example:

Energy – reducing energy consumption, being more energy efficient and using renewable energy and alternative technology
Materials – choosing, using, re-using and recycling materials during design, manufacture, construction and maintenance to reduce resource requirements
Waste – producing less waste and recycling more
Pollution – producing less toxicity, water, noise and spatial pollution.

13. Did applicants have to have an equal opportunities policy?

Yes, both partner organisations were required to have an equal opportunities policy to ensure that the asset and activities taking place within it will be managed in an appropriate way. This should guide the way the project develops and how stakeholders are involved. The policy will not however affect the capital works on the project.

14. Was there any regional allocation to the funding pot?

No. Over the whole life of this programme we expect to give money where it is most needed and achieve a reasonable spread of projects across the country.

15. Will you fund new build or change of use?

No, we will not fund new build projects as part of this programme. Extensions or conversions, where they are necessary to make the asset fit for purpose, may be funded. We can support the change of use of an asset, provided that this is permissible within planning guidelines.

16. What do we mean by a third sector organisation?

We use the Treasury definition of third sector organisations: Non-governmental organisations which are value-driven and which principally reinvest their surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives. It includes voluntary and community organisations, charities, social enterprises, cooperatives and mutuals.

17. How should the partnership work?

We want this programme to contribute to better partnership working between local authorities and the third sector. The project for funding should have been identified and agreed as suitable by both partners. The needs of the wider community should be paramount. As part of the application process we required an agreement signed by both parties that should cover the purpose of the partnership and the roles and responsibilities of both parties.

18. How long before transfer happens?

We recognise that the process of asset transfer can take some time. However, if we are to commit funding to a project, we will need to see clear evidence that the transfer will go ahead. Within six months of BIG committing the grant, applicants should aim to have at least an ‘agreement to lease’ in place. We require that the third sector partner has security of tenure of the asset no more than six months after the date that appears on the certificate of practical completion. The transfer of asset cannot happen before the decision on grants has been made.

19. Who does the refurbishment?

The recipient of the grant – either the local authority or the third sector organisation will be responsible for managing the refurbishment. Partnerships should be aware that third sector organisations may need to pay VAT on the refurbishment. Local authorities are exempt from VAT.

20. Was revenue funding eligible to be included in grants under this programme?

No, the funding available under this programme was for capital only. The guidance notes state what is eligible as ‘capital’ funding. This includes, for example, surveyors and lawyers fees directly associated with the capital project.

21. How many awards do you expect to make?

We expect to make between 40 and 60 awards. The Community Assets programme is designed to demonstrate what can be achieved through asset transfer. There is a limited amount of funding available and BIG has been asked to commit this quickly. We will not be able to fund every project. We expect the majority of the funding to go to areas assets have already been identified for transfer and partnerships are already strong.

22. Did Asset have to be vacant in order to qualify for funding?

No. The asset can currently be in use.

23. What do we mean by ‘genuine’ asset?

Genuine assets will generate operational, financial and other benefits for the third sector organisation without significant liabilities over a longer term.

24. Will you fund applications from third sector organisations that all ready have a lease in place?

Yes. However, the lease – between the local authority and third sector organisation -must be near expiry, i.e. the lease only has a few years to run. If this situation applies to your project, you must clearly demonstrate that the Community Assets grant will empower the third sector organisation to negotiate and secure:

A longer lease of more than 20 years, or
The freehold of the asset

25. Can the transfer of the asset happen before the decision on grants has been made?

No, we will not consider applications for projects that plan to complete transfer of the asset (freehold or leasehold of 20 years or more) before our grant offer letter has been formally accepted and returned to us. There are no guarantees for funding, so if negotiation is under way or in train at the point of application, projects should hold off transfer until receiving our in-principle decision in March 2008, in the knowledge that they may or may not be successful in receiving an in-principle grant offer.

26. If we are successful with our application, when can asset transfer happen?

Asset transfer can take place before the refurbishment work begins or after practical completion but it cannot happen during the refurbishment.

27. When is the deadline for asset transfer?

The asset must be transferred to the chosen third sector organisation no later than six months after the date of the certificate of practical completion.

28.What do we mean by partnership agreement?

By this we mean a formal agreement that, at the very least, defines the roles and responsibilities of each partner. More information on what else can be included in a partnership agreement can be found in our ‘Working in partnership: a sourcebook’ available on www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.

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