Guidance

Appendix A: grant application instructions

Published 23 May 2022

Applies to England and Wales

1. General information

These instructions, together with the Local Supported Employment (LSE) Initiative Local Authority Guidance document (“Guidance”) and all other information and documents to which they refer, are designed to ensure that each completed Grant Application Template: Local Supported Employment (“LSE Grant Application”) is given equal and fair consideration. It is important, therefore, that you provide all the information asked for in the format and order specified.

This document contains the information and instructions local authorities (LAs) need to submit a completed LSE grant application.

Please read the information and instructions carefully as non-compliance with the instructions may result in the disqualification of your Grant Application from this exercise. LAs need to ensure that they have read all the documentation contained within this pack thoroughly so that questions or clarifications are not raised unnecessarily.

Terms defined in the Guidance and/or the Grant Funding Conditions for Local Supported Employment (set out in Appendix A to the Guidance) shall have the same meaning in these instructions.

2. Administration of the LSE Grant Application

The Local Supported Employment (LSE) Initiative Grant Application process opens on 14 April 2022 and you have until 5pm 26 May 2022 to email your Grant Application to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

LSE Grant Applications received will then be sifted in accordance with the Selection Criteria set out below initially before being passed through to the panel for checking against the Selection Criteria, assessment, scoring, allocation of additional points (if applicable) and ranking on the basis of specific characteristics. Once DWP has decided to which Grant Applicants LSE Grants will be awarded the DWP LSE team will then write to LA contacts (using the contact details provided) to inform them of the result and issue completed Grant Funding Agreements to successful LAs.

3. Costs and expenses

DWP will not reimburse any travel and subsistence expenses incurred by LAs in connection with any LSE Grant Application.

4. Question clarification

A question-and-answer log will be held by the programme following the launch to manage and monitor all questions raised to provide a consistent response to enquiries. The question-and-answer log will be published on a weekly basis. Questions must be submitted by Friday 13 May 2022, after which a final version of the log will be circulated.

It will be distributed to all LAs who subscribe to the log. Therefore, please indicate if you would like to subscribe to the log by sending an email to DWP with the subject heading ‘Question and Answer Log Subscription’. All questions will be anonymised.

Subject always to the DWP’s obligations under FOIA, EIR and any other applicable legislation, should there be anything in your clarification question in which you feel is sensitive to your LA, please identify this when raising the question and we will consider whether it should be omitted from the published log. DWP will consider the sensitivity of the clarification question and if it considers the clarification question is sensitive it will give the LA the opportunity to either retract the clarification question without receiving an answer or confirm that the clarification question is not sensitive (in which case the response will be circulated to all subscribing LAs). If DWP considers a clarification question to be sensitive and that providing a response only to the relevant LA would not favour or dis-favour any LA nor distort competition, then it may respond only to that LA.

5. Acceptance and return of grant applications

Completed Grant Application Templates and Profiles Templates once submitted, will remain unopened until the deadline for receipt has passed and then they will be opened, checked against the Selection Criteria, assessed, scored, allocated additional points (if applicable) and ranked on the basis of specific characteristics in accordance with the procedures detailed in this Appendix A. Grant Applications will undergo an initial compliance check to ensure that all information requested has been received. In the event that a Grant Application received from an LA does not contain all of the required information, that Grant Application will be rejected and will no longer be considered for LSE Grant Funding.

6. Data security

Please be aware of sensitive information that you may wish to include in your Grant Application. Use anonymised information if you are referring to a specific example, please do not include any personal data. Do note, the Local Supported Employment Initiative is subject to standard FOIA requests.

7. Grant Application Timetable

Set out below is the proposed “Grant Application Timetable”. This is intended as a guide and, whilst DWP does not intend to deviate significantly from it, there may be occasions (for example around obtaining Ministerial approval) where the Grant Application Timetable will be subject to change.

Activity	Date
Launch of LSE Grant Application exercise	14 April 2022
Grant Application Deadline	5pm 26 May 2022
Grant Application evaluation	30 May 2022 to 10 June 2022
LAs to whom LSE Grants are awarded informed	July 2022
Initial LSE workshops*	August 2022

*Note: Location and dates of initial workshops to be confirmed once the LAs to whom LSE Grants are to be awarded are known.

8. Grant Application completion

Grant Application Template

In this section You/Your refers to the Grant Applicant.

You should answer all questions using the templates provided, presenting them in the same sequence and using the same references. Please ensure all answers are self-contained with no cross-referencing. Only information entered into the appropriate answer boxes (which may be extended as necessary but should not exceed any applicable maximum word count) will be taken into consideration for the purposes of evaluating the grant application.

Responses must not exceed the pre-set margins and space allocation. DWP has applied a maximum word count on your response to some or all questions. These limits are provided in the Grant Application Template and any response in excess of these allocations will be disregarded and will not be evaluated.

Bullets, tables, simple graphs and charts in support of your responses are all permitted. Responses must be presented using Arial font size 12 (English/Welsh language and black typeface) this includes instances where information may be tabulated as part of the response. The only exception permitted is for illustrative screen shots, graphs and charts (if these have been specifically requested by DWP), which should be presented within the allocated word limit for the question they are relevant to and must not be embedded separately as this information will be disregarded.

Grant Application Templates must be completed using Microsoft Word. Files submitted in Microsoft Project, Excel format or PDF will not be accepted.

All acronyms and abbreviations, if used, must be fully explained.

LAs must complete the Grant Application Template in full. Any additional supporting documents submitted will not be assessed.

Grant Application Template Completion On Behalf Of A Cluster

Where a Grant Application is being made on behalf of a Cluster of LAs, all LAs within the Cluster should be listed in the ‘Name and address’ field of the Grant Application Template, with the name and address of the lead LA first. LAs are asked if they currently operate a Supported Employment provision. Supported Employment is a model for assisting disabled people to secure and retain meaningful work at the appropriate rate of pay, defined as at least the minimum hourly rate for the Participant’s age group (relevant National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates).

LA Clusters should be defined by the characteristics of the majority of the LAs in the Cluster, for example, more than 3 of the LAs in a Cluster of 6 must be providing Supported Employment for a Cluster to be defined as providing Supported Employment.

In the event there is an even split of this characteristic in a Cluster, the Cluster will be defined as:

• providing a Supported Employment service

When proposing how many Participants they will start on LSE Provision LAs should consider attrition rates prior to starting provision to take into account potential Participants who may be found to be ineligible or decide not to sign up to provision. Starting on provision is defined as the first meeting with a Participant following confirmation of eligibility, where they sign up to the LSE Initiative. The range is set at 60-140 Participants per LA (or Cluster, where relevant), with expectation that most LAs (or Clusters) will propose approximately 100 Participants starting on provision.

DWP reserves the right to offer funding for fewer Participants than an LA proposes in order to reconcile supply and demand of funding. If the average of the total number of Participants proposed by the top 20 Grant Applicants (after any replacements are made as set out in section 14 below) is higher than DWP’s suggested number of Participants (100), DWP may need to reduce profiles proportionately across Grant Applications. If the average of the total number of Participants proposed by the top 20 Grant Applicants (after any replacements are made as set out in section 14 below) is below DWP’s suggested number of Participants (100) per LA, then DWP may increase the number of LSE Grants it awards to ensure the maximum number of Participants on the LSE Initiative can be achieved. These additional Grants are referred to in these Application Instructions as “Additional Grants”.

Funding is capped in line with the number of Participants the LA proposes in the Grant Application Template as agreed by DWP and specified in the Grant Funding Letter. For example, if an LA proposes 100 Participants then 100 multiplied by £3,500 would mean the maximum LSE Grant Funding that such LA could receive would be £350,000.

All parts of question 1 of the Grant Application Template must be answered. If they are not then the Grant Application will become a Rejected Grant Application and will no longer be considered for LSE Grant funding.

• Question 1.1 – The Supported Employment 5 Stage Supported Employment Model can be seen in the LSE LA Guidance

• Question 1.2.1 – This question allows you to provide additional information alongside the expenditure profile which must be provided in the Profile Template. This should include all costs and spend the LA expects to incur in LSE delivery. This total should be equal to or greater than the amount DWP funding of £3,500 per Participant starting on provision plus the minimum Grant Recipient Match Funding of £1,500 per Participant. For example, if you apply for 100 starts on provision, the total expenditure should total at least (£,3500+£1,500) x 100 = £500,000

• Question 1.2.2 – Yes/No answer required for commitment to expenditure throughout initiative

• Question 1.3 – Yes/No answer required for commitment to providing Grant Recipient Match Funding throughout Initiative. LAs must ensure that Grant Recipient Match Funding is used solely for the purpose of LSE delivery and there will be no double funding

• Question 1.4 – Explanation of expenditure relating to implementation period and set up of LSE

• Question 1.5 – LAs should all be working to achieve Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) DC Leader Level 3 and we strongly recommend that your employer network join the Disability Confident scheme and progress through the journey

Section 2 will provide DWP with the design and geography of your LA for consideration in evaluation.

LA Clusters should be defined by the characteristics of the majority of the LAs in the Cluster, for example, more than 3 of the LAs in a Cluster of 6 must be rural for a Cluster to be defined as rural.

In the event there is an even split of this characteristic in a Cluster, the Cluster will be defined as:

• Rural

Section 3 will provide DWP with an understanding of the Fidelity requirements of your LA or appointed Activity Delivery Partner. If successful, the Grant Recipient or their approved Activity Delivery Partner will be asked to provide evidence of the model Fidelity Kitemark or equivalent, if applicable.

Section 4, sub-sections A to D are questions to which the LA must respond and the LA’s responses will be scored as per the scoring methodology in Section 14 of this document.

Profile template

The Profile Template that accompanies the Grant Application Template must be completed using Microsoft Excel. Files submitted in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Project or PDF will not be accepted.

All acronyms and abbreviations, if used, must be fully explained.

9. Grant Application Submission Procedure

In this section You/Your refers to the Grant Applicant.

The Grant Application Template and Profile Template must not, under any circumstance, be altered. Your Grant Application may be completed and submitted at any time on or before the Grant Application Deadline using the DWP email address set out in paragraph 2.

You are responsible for ensuring that your Grant Application Template and Profile Template has been fully completed and all information included prior to the Grant Application Deadline.

Please allow sufficient time to submit your Grant Application, it is recommended that you allow time for a final check to be undertaken prior to the Grant Application Deadline. It will not be possible for you to submit any further information after the Grant Application Deadline. Information Technology (IT) problems within your own system will not be considered reasonable grounds for late submission of your Grant Application.

Grant Applications cannot be modified after the Grant Application Deadline. At the Grant Application Deadline, you must ensure that you have only submitted the Grant Application Template and the Profile Template – no other documents will be accepted.

Should DWP need to extend the Grant Application Deadline you will be notified in writing.

10. Deadline for Submission of grant application

All Grant Applications must be received by the Grant Application Deadline shown in the Grant Application Timetable.

To ensure that all LAs are treated fairly, Grant Applications received after the Grant Application Deadline will be rejected by DWP and will no longer be considered for LSE Grant funding.

11. Additional materials, documents and attachments

No additional documentation should be submitted with the Grant Application Template and Profile Template. Information that forms part of general company literature or promotional brochures will not form part of the evaluation process and should not be submitted.

The Grant Application Template and Profile Template should not contain any inserted, pasted or embedded pictures or documents (image files, Adobe Acrobat documents or other word documents) unless specifically requested by DWP.

12. Grant Application Assessment Process

DWP will undertake an initial selection appraisal of each LSE Grant Application to satisfy itself that the LSE Grant Application has met the Selection Criteria set out below as set out in section 1 of Appendix B: Grant Application Template (“Selection Criteria”).

Only those LSE Grant Applications which meet the Selection Criteria will go forward to then be subject to assessment by DWP against the Assessment Criteria set out below.

13. Selection Criteria

DWP would like to work with LAs from across a range of categories. Both LAs who are already delivering a Supported Employment service and those who are not currently delivering a Supported Employment service may make an LSE Grant Application. For its LSE Grant Application to be selected the LA must be:

• located in England or Wales
• in predominantly rural or predominantly urban conurbations
• operating as County Council or Unitary Authority (including Metropolitan Councils and London Boroughs)

To be considered for selection an LSE Grant Application must meet the Selection Criteria.

If an LSE Grant Application does not demonstrate to the satisfaction of DWP that the LA has met these Selection Criteria then the LSE Grant Application will not go forward for assessment against the Assessment Criteria, will no longer be considered for LSE Grant funding and will be rejected from this process. A Grant Application that is rejected is a “Rejected Grant Application”.

14. Assessment Criteria

The eight scored questions to which each Grant Applicant must provide responses are set out in questions 4.1 to 4.8 of the Grant Application Template.

Section A

4.1. Provision design (6 points)
4.2 Participant support (6 points)
4.3 Activity delivery (6 points)
4.4 Implementation (6 points)
4.5.1. Delivering supported employment (6 points)

Section B

4.6 Local integration (6 points)

Section C

4.7 Data handling (6 points)

Section D

4.8 Future plans (6 points)

The table below indicates the Assessment Criteria that DWP will be looking for in the responses to each of these questions, which will be considered for the purposes of the evaluation of the questions referred to below.

Question	Assessment Criteria
4.1 Provision Design	A clear description of the provision to be delivered to Participants in accordance with the 5 Stage the Supported Employment Model. An explanation of how the LSE provision the LA intends to provide relates to any existing supported employment provided by the LA. An explanation of the number of Participants that the LA proposes will be supported on the LSE Initiative with clear rationale.
4.2 Participant Support	Understanding of the support needs of Participants. How much time and support each Participant will receive from the LSE provision, with consideration of the caseload for job coaches. Explanation of the Participant journey and how staff will engage and provide a quality LSE supported employment provision to each Participant throughout the Participants time on the LSE Initiative. Explanation of the skills and knowledge, including any appropriate training, of the staff of the LA or of any Activity Delivery Partner, who are involved in delivering LSE.
4.3 Activity delivery	Explanation and clear rationale behind each activity carried out as part of delivery of the LSE Initiative by the LA including recruitment to the Initiative and support throughout. Evidence that the LSE provision which the LA proposes to deliver is in addition to any existing supported employment provision which the LA is currently delivering. Explanation of how to manage the end of the LSE Initiative and of the agreed appropriate next steps including the steps that will be taken for those who do not move into work. Commitment to encouraging employers to sign up to being Disability Confident.
4.4 Implementation	The LA must demonstrate an understanding of, and explain in detail, the steps to be taken to implement LSE that will support the number and range of Participants which the LA proposes to support as part of the LSE Initiative. The LA must provide evidence and demonstrate good understanding of the required processes to monitor and manage delivery of the LSE Initiative. The LA must demonstrate good understanding of relationships required for delivery of the LSE Initiative and experience in implementing and managing such relationships.
4.5 Delivering Supported Employment	Evidence of understanding the ‘5 Stage Supported Employment model. Clear explanation of how standards and requirements of the 5 Stage Supported Employment Model will be met and improved including commitment to appropriate Fidelity reviews. Description of the management information which the LA will provide to DWP and the evidence that the LA will provide to DWP to demonstrate adherence to the 5 Stage Supported Employment Model. The LA must demonstrate a good understanding of, and commitment to the 5 Stage Supported Employment Model and must describe its plans for future sustainability of the LSE Initiative.
4.6 Local Integration	The LA must demonstrate good knowledge of relevant local services and describe how they will be used effectively within to ensure effective delivery of the LSE Initiative. The LA must also describe any relevant engagement that has taken place with those relevant local services prior to the LSE Initiative. The LA must demonstrate a clear approach to integration of the LSE Initiative with relevant local services.
4.7 Data Handling	The LA must demonstrate a good understanding of relevant GDPR, Data Protection legislation and regulations and how it will meet all of DWP’s data security standards and data handling requirements in connection with the LSE Initiative. The LA must demonstrate a clearly defined approach to managing data, adhering to GDPR, Data Protection legislation and regulations and how it will meet all of DWP’s data security standards and data handling requirements in connection with the LSE Initiative.
4.8 Future Plans	The LA must demonstrate a clearly defined approach to ongoing Supported Employment provision with viable funding method for such ongoing provision.

The response to each question will be scored in accordance with the table below.

Each response will be marked out of 6. Each response must score a minimum of 2. Grant Applications which include any response to the questions above that scores 0 will be rejected and no longer considered for LSE Grant funding and will become a Rejected Grant Application. For the avoidance of doubt a 0 score in respect of the ASCOF measure, disability employment rate and UKSPF allocation data will not result in an LSE Grant Application becoming a Rejected Grant Application.

Score	Response
6	The response was robust, detailed, well-articulated in all material respects providing strong evidence that the relevant Assessment Criteria would be met, with no weaknesses or areas of concern with the content.
4	The response presented evidence that the relevant Assessment Criteria would be met, good in many respects but with minor weaknesses or concerns with the content.
2	The response provided acceptable evidence that the relevant Assessment Criteria would be met. The evidence was satisfactory but with some weaknesses or concerns with the content.
0	The response did not provide evidence that the relevant Assessment Criteria would be met; and was wholly unsatisfactory in terms of content. Major weaknesses, issues or omissions were identified. The response was poorly articulated and/or inconsistent.

The maximum available score for responses to the eight questions will be 48.

15. Scoring Methodology and Evaluation Methodology

Scoring Methodology

Each LSE Grant Application will be scored on its responses to the eight scored questions within the LSE Grant Application against the Assessment Criteria stipulated above. Please note that any questions scored zero will result in the LSE Grant Application being rejected, and no longer being considered for LSE Grant funding. There are eight scored questions within the LSE Grant Application. All are weighted equally.

Evaluation Methodology

The evaluation method for LSE Grant Applications that have not become Rejected Grant Applications will be as follows:

• Each such LSE Grant Application will be evaluated and given a “Responses To Questions Score” which will be the sum of scores for the responses to each of the eight scored questions in that LSE Grant Application

Calculation of additional points

Once final Responses to Questions Scores have been calculated for each Grant Application, the Grant Application evaluation panel will hold a meeting to separate out Grant Applications made by LAs located in Wales from Grant Applications made by LAs located in England.

The Grant Application evaluation panel will then calculate the additional points for each Grant Application. Additional points are calculated in accordance with different measures depending if the Grant Application has been made by a LA located in England or Wales, as set out below.

Grant Applications from English LAs

Grant Applications from English LAs which have not become Rejected Grant Applications will be awarded additional points based on the following measure/priority list:

• The Adult Social Care Outcome Framework (ASCOF) measure 1e, will be split into quartiles. LAs that score in the lowest quartile will receive an additional 6 points, 2nd quartile 4 points, 3rd quartile 2 points, above this LAs will receive no additional points

• DWP will look to see if any English LAs who have made a Grant Application are one of the places identified in the 100 priority places, for the purposes of allocation of the UK Community Renewal Fund. This list of 100 priority places also informs the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. DWP will give English LAs who have made a Grant Application and who are on this 100 priority places list an additional 6 points. English LAs who have made a Grant Application but who are not on this 100 places priority list will receive no additional points

Grant Applications from Welsh LAs

Grant Applications from Welsh LAs which have not become Rejected Grant Applications will be awarded additional points based on the following rate/priority list:

• DWP will look at the disability employment rate for Welsh LAs who have made a Grant Application. The Welsh disability employment rate will be split into quartiles. Welsh LAs that sit in the lowest quartile will receive an additional 6 points, 2nd quartile 4 points, 3rd quartile 2 points, above this Welsh LAs will receive no additional points
• DWP will look to see if any Welsh LAs who have made a Grant Application are one of the places identified in the 100 priority places, for the purposes of allocation of the UK Community Renewal Fund. This list of 100 priority places also informs the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. DWP will give Welsh LAs who have made a Grant Application and who are on in this 100 priority places list an additional 6 points. Welsh LAs who have made a Grant Application but who are not on this 100 places priority list will receive no additional points

Total Score

The “Total Score” for each Grant Application which has not become a Rejected Grant Application will be the sum of the additional points added to the Responses To Questions Score for that Grant Application.

Ranking and selection of Grant Applications

The Grant Applications will then be ranked in order by Total Score and the 20 Grant Applications with the highest Total Scores (“Top 20 By Score”) will be selected to receive Grants, provided that:

a) a maximum of 2 Grants will be awarded to LAs in Wales; and

b) the ranking characteristics detailed below (“Ranking Characteristics”) must be satisfied by the recipients of the Grants. If the requirements of any Ranking Characteristic(s) are not fulfilled by the Top 20 By Score then DWP may, in accordance with the order of importance of the Ranking Characteristics, replace the lowest scoring Grant Application(s) of the Top 20 By Score which are not required in order to satisfy a Ranking Characteristic (taking into account the Ranking Characteristics of higher scoring Grant Applications) with the highest scoring Grant Applications which are required to satisfy the Ranking Characteristics (but which are not within the Top 20 By Score). E.g., if the Top 20 By Score did not contain the minimum number of rural LAs in accordance with Ranking Characteristic (b), DWP would replace the lowest scoring urban LA in the top 20 with the highest scoring rural LA that was not in the Top 20 By Score

Having ranked all Grant Applications in accordance with the Ranking Characteristics and (if necessary) applying the tie breaker methodology referred to in section 16 below, the Grant Application evaluation panel will agree on a final selection of 20 LAs to whom LSE Grants will be awarded. DWP may then consider the average number of Participants covered by such 20 Grant Applications and determine whether or not it wishes to award Additional Grants, as set out in section 8 above (applying the tie breaker methodology if necessary).

The Ranking Characteristics are as follows:

(a) whether the Grant Applicant is located in England or Wales.

A maximum of 2 LSE Grants will be awarded to Welsh LAs

(b) whether the Grant Applicant is rural or urban (see Appendix B: Grant Application Template)

At least 3 of the LSE Grants will be awarded to rural Grant Applicants. LAs will provide this information at section 2.3 of the Grant Application Template.

(c) whether the Grant Applicant is currently providing a supported employment service or not

At least 3 of the LSE Grants will be awarded to LAs who currently have a supported employment service.

(d) whether the Grant Applicant is located in the North West, North East, West Midlands or East Midlands for England

At least 3 LSE Grant will be awarded to LAs located in the North of England, North = NW, NE, WM, EM, Yorkshire and the Humber.

(e) whether the Grant Applicant is located in London or the South West, South East, or East of England

At least 3 LSE Grants will be awarded to LAs located in the South of England, South = SW, SE, London, Eastern Ranking Characteristics are listed above in order of importance (a) to (e) and DWP will apply them in this order.

Assessing LA Clusters

LA Clusters should be defined by the Ranking Characteristics of the majority of the LAs in the Cluster, e.g., more than 3 of the LAs in a Cluster of 6 must be rural for a Cluster to be defined as rural.

In the event there is an even split of Ranking Characteristic (b) amongst the LAs in a Cluster, the Cluster will be defined as:

• Rural

LA Clusters should be defined by the characteristics of the majority of the LAs in the Cluster e.g., more than 3 of the LAs in a Cluster of 6 must be providing a supported employment service for a Cluster to be defined as providing Supported Employment.

In the event there is an even split of Ranking Characteristic (c) in a Cluster, the Cluster will be defined as:

• Providing a supported employment service

A mean average of each Cluster Member’s additional points in respect of the ASCOF measure, or disability employment rate and appearance in the 100 priority places list will be calculated to give the additional points (if any) for each Cluster.

16. Tie breaker

A tie breaker will be carried out as set out below in the event that it is necessary to differentiate between two or more Grant Applications which achieve the same Total Score so that the total number of Grants intended to be awarded will not be exceeded.

Where a tie breaker is required, it will be applied to the scores of all relevant Grant Applications with equal Total Scores. Note that the use of one tie breaker may not be sufficient to clearly identify all successful Grant Applications and so, in the event that the first tie breaker does not produce a result which differentiates the Grant Applications which have the same Total Score, a second tie breaker will be used.

The application of the tie-breaker will be as follows. If at any step this produces a clear result which differentiates the Grant Applications which have the same Total Score the process will be terminated and the Grant Application with the highest score will be deemed to be successful.

Step 1

10% of the score for question 4.5.1, will be added to the Total Score.

Step 2

10% of the score for question 4.2, will be added to the score from Step 1.

Step 3

10% of the score for question 4.3, will be added to the score from Step 2.

17. Post selection notification

DWP will notify Grant Applicants, via the LA Contact named in their Grant Application Template, by email of the outcome of the LSE Grant competed grant process by the date specified in the Grant Application Timetable.

Feedback will be available on request.

18. Grant application exercise Issue Resolution Process

In the event of any issues, questions or concerns during the LSE competed grant process, please write to the DWP LSE team so that your query can be logged and actioned.

19. Amendments to the LSE Grant Application process or Documents by DWP

19.1. The DWP reserves the right to:

(a) change the basis of or the procedures for the LSE Grant award process at any time;

(b) amend, clarify, add to or withdraw all or any part of the LSE Grant Application Instructions, the LA Guidance, the Conditions, the Grant Funding Agreement and any documents attached or annexed thereto, at any time during the LSE Grant Application process, including varying any timetable or deadlines set out in these LSE Grant Application Instructions;

(c) cancel all or part of the LSE Grant Initiative at any stage at any time; and/or

(d) not conclude the LSE Grant Initiative or award a LSE Grant contract for some or all of the funding for which Grant Applications are invited.

19.2. LAs as potential Grant Applicants accept and acknowledge that DWP is not bound to accept any Grant Application or obliged to award an LSE Grant to any Grant Applicant at all.

19.3. If DWP deems that none of the Grant Applications received are satisfactory, it reserves the right to terminate all or part of the LSE Grant Application process and/or the LSE Grant Initiative.