UKSPF Community Hall Energy Efficiency Grants Scheme

Eligibility

Grants are available to registered charities, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations. In applying, the organisation must provide evidence that it has adopted a Constitution and that a properly constituted committee of management has been appointed.

Organisations that are not eligible include those that are trading as a commercial business, local authorities, and organisations that are traditionally funded by a local authority or councils. Other types of organisations, including community interest companies (CICs) will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Awards will not be made to private individuals.

The Council will target this grant to those organisations that run a community hall or other similar building that provides a flexible community space available for use by communities.

Grant support will only be provided where the existing energy efficiency rating (as stated on an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)) of the community or village hall is a C rating or below.

Grant support will only be provided where the funding implements a project that will increase the EPC rating from the existing baseline performance or is demonstrated to reduce running costs. If the grant scheme is oversubscribed, applications with lower baselines or significant improvements in EPC rating will be favoured

Grant support is unlikely to be provided if the energy efficiency project includes the use of any heating system (space or water) that uses natural gas (or other fossil based fuel) as an energy source. Natural gas based systems will be considered where they can be shown to be the only viable option.

Grants will not normally be awarded for projects designed purely for places of worship (they are exempt from EPC requirements) unless for a considerable proportion of time those spaces are used in the same manner as a community or village hall.

The Council must be satisfied that the applicant has the necessary expertise and resources to see the project through to successful completion.

Grants will not be made in respect of completed projects/work, or in lieu of expenditure to which applicants are already committed.

In considering any application, the Council will have regard to existing facilities/projects of a similar nature designed to meet the same needs.

Membership of the organisation making the application should be open to all, with no application for membership being refused on anything other than reasonable grounds.

Grants will not normally be awarded where applications are made for the same project or service within 3 years of a previous award being made for the same project or service.

Eligible Activities

This fund is specifically designed to reduce the running costs by addressing the energy efficiency of buildings used as community and village halls. The fund is available to assist with the installation of measures to improve the energy efficiency of the fabric of a building and the energy efficiency of methods of providing light, space heating and water heating to the building that will reduce running costs.

It is encouraged to address deficiencies in the energy efficiency of the fabric of the building first. Building fabric changes may include:

• Maximising airtightness
• Increasing levels of insulation
• cavity wall insulation
• solid wall insulation (internal or external)
• roof space insulation
• flat or pitched roof insulation
• underfloor insulation
• solid floor insulation
• room-in-roof insulation

Grants for non-fabric first initiatives will be considered in circumstances where building fabric enhancements are not possible/practicable or have been completed. Such measures may include:

• Heat pump (these may not be suitable for village halls or community centres where space heating is not required constantly, so please seek advice from installers)
• Solar panels (water or photovoltaic)
• Replacement boilers (non-natural gas unless shown this is the best most viable option)
• Electric water heaters
• Electric or other non-fossil fuel heating systems

Grants are not available to fund an organisation’s running costs.

Eligible Applications

Applications should be completed in line with the accompanying online application guidance.

All completed applications accompanied by the required supporting documentation (as outlined in the online application form), received before the publicised deadline, will be considered. Applications received after this date may not be considered.

Applications will not be accepted from organisations that have previously failed to provide adequate monitoring data and who have been notified that they are ineligible.

Funding Conditions

The funding must be spent within 12 months of the award. (though the project may be completed after this date).

The Council encourages all applicants to raise funding through as many sources as possible. Consideration will be given to applications where it is demonstrated that a Council grant will help to attract or unlock significant additional funding from other sources.

Evidence must be provided that all relevant policies and practices are in place, as set out in the guidance document before a grant is recommended.

Grants awarded may be subject to certain conditions which must be satisfied before payment is made. The applicant must indicate acceptance of such conditions when any offer of a grant is made.

It will be a condition of funding that the successful organisation mentions MVDC and the Government Levelling Up logo as a funder in their publicity material.

To ensure the grants awarded are adding value to our communities, recipient organisations will be required to provide a progress/end of project report detailing the outcomes and outputs that have been achieved.

Organisations are expected to use the grant received for the purpose outlined in their grant application. Recipients of grants should inform the Council of any problems with completing the project as early as possible. The Council would normally expect repayment of the grant in full if the project is not completed.

Equality and Diversity

The Council is committed to the provision of equal opportunities, both within the activities of Mole Valley District Council and in the community. We encourage applications from all groups of people in Mole Valley and all applications will be considered against the same assessment framework.

Organisations that are making a grant application must have ‘due regard’ to the three aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty, as set out in the Equality Act 2010:

1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race and ethnicity, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage and civil partnership) and those who do not
3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics

Taking steps to meet the needs of people with certain protected characteristics where these are different from the needs of other people

Encouraging people with certain protected characteristics to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low

Applicants are expected to consider whether there are any equality and diversity implications when making a grant application and any negative impact must be stated. The Council may conduct an Equality Impact Assessment in relation to the community and village halls recommended for grants and where relevant this assessment will accompany the proposal submitted to the Executive Head of Service for Planning and Environment, the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Wellbeing and Section 151 Officer for decision making purposes.

Support for Applicants

Officers will be available to provide non-technical advice and guidance to applicants before an application is submitted. Applicants must undertake their own work to establish their current energy efficiency and the most appropriate and impactful energy efficiency measure for their circumstances.

Applicants will be encouraged to allow sufficient time to complete their application and to make a submission before the deadline to ensure that a complete application, with all the required supporting documents, is submitted. Potential applicants can request pre- application advice if they are unsure as to whether their organisation or project would be eligible for a grant.

Officers may provide additional support with completing an application.

Determination of Grant Awards

Grant applications will be assessed for eligibility by Officers and scoring criteria will be used to rank applications. The increase in energy efficiency will be used to prioritise applications if oversubscribed.

The value of previous grants awarded by this Council will be taken into consideration when determining the outcome of grant applications.

All grant awards will be decided by the Executive Head of Service for Planning and the Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing and the Section 151 Officer.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application in accordance with paragraph 1.5.

The decision will be final. There is a complaint process as set out in section 10. Whilst this process can look at how the grant was determined it is not able to amend the result.

Payment of Grant Awards

Payment of this grant will be made to successful organisations on or before the 12 July 2024.

Payment will only be made to the designated bank account of the successful organisation,

Complaints

The Council operates a corporate complaints procedure. If there are any complaints regarding the Council’s application of this policy, then they may be made and dealt with in accordance with the corporate complaints process.