Guidance

UKSPF: additional information for Northern Ireland

Updated 29 July 2024

Applies to Northern Ireland

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be extended for a transition year in 2025-26 at £900 million, ahead of wider local growth funding reforms. We will update the prospectus and allocations for 2025-26 in due course.

This guidance provides additional information for applicants in relation to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in Northern Ireland. It complements the additional information published for Lead Local Authorities in England, Scotland, and Wales.

In Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is leading delivery of UKSPF and has worked with Northern Ireland partners to develop an Investment Plan and delivery arrangements.

The Plan is a high-level statement of:

• the strategic and policy context in which the fund operates, where and how UKSPF will be targeted, taking account of Northern Ireland’s challenges and opportunities relevant to UKSPF objectives of improving pride in place, increasing life chances, helping to spread and create opportunity and a sense of community and belonging.
• the interventions that represent the most appropriate solutions for each of the 3 investment priorities (Communities and Place, Supporting Local Business, People and Skills).
• how and when the selected interventions will be delivered, including proposed routes to market and scale of delivery.

The Plan sets out our expectations for delivery in 2023-24 and 2024-25. It includes detailed proposals for commissioning public bodies where appropriate, or running project competitions, to identify and select projects to deliver the Fund’s priorities. It has been designed to support the needs and opportunities for Northern Ireland, principally high levels of economic inactivity, improving the level of entrepreneurship and innovation activity, and a need to engender increased pride in place across the area.

This additional information should be used by applicants and by successful grant recipients to design and deliver UKSPF projects. It includes the following:

• Output and Outcomes
• Reporting and Performance Management
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Assurance and Risk
• Branding and Publicity
• State Aid and subsidy control
• Procurement
• Equalities

Outputs and outcomes

See the outputs and outcomes definitions for UKSPF in Northern Ireland. Successful applicants will be required to collect and report outputs and outcomes to MHCLG through a simple and streamlined reporting process.

Where available, grant recipients (GRs) should collect baseline data (i.e. a recording of the output or outcome) before the intervention has taken place. MHCLG will not provide this baseline data, so successful applicants will be expected to source and identify such data themselves. This baseline data will be used to demonstrate change caused through the programme.

GRs should collect and store evidence that can substantiate outputs and outcomes appropriately. Suitable evidence will vary between outputs and outcomes and may in part depend on the project being delivered. Projects should collect a range of evidence to substantiate the baseline and post-intervention data. Examples of evidence that may be suitable include, but are not limited to:

• Photos for projects which create a visible change (for example, any construction or regeneration projects).
• Formal documentation involved in the process (for example, enrolment registers, records of business support provided etc.)
• Evidence provided by contractors (for example, emails certifying completion).

Outputs must link directly to the intervention undertaken. For example, if a skills related intervention is delivered the outputs recorded should be the number of recipients that were impacted/benefited from the intervention. MHCLG recognises that it may be more difficult to attribute and separate out the impact of the UKSPF on outcomes, which may be impacted by channels other than UKSPF projects. For example, vacancy rates in an area may be impacted by general economic conditions. Therefore, the project should report as accurately as possible on the outcome(s) that the project is trying to achieve. Where it is possible to distinguish between outcomes that have been affected through other channels in addition to the UKSPF, these should not be included in results of the UKSPF. Further details on evaluation and the approach to causal impacts are set out in Monitoring and evaluation.

Where a project’s causal outputs and outcomes feed directly into more than one UKSPF intervention, the outputs and outcomes should be captured under the appropriate indicators. For example, if an economically inactive person attends a People & Skills course which includes built-in employment support and that person then secures employment, this can be captured under both ‘Number of people gaining qualifications, licences and skills’ and ‘Number of people in employment, including self-employment, following support’ output indicators.

If a project captures additional outputs and outcomes that relate to a different priority than those directly related to the intervention undertaken, MHCLG encourage GRs to keep a record of this information as it may be useful for evaluation and reporting purposes. Projects are also encouraged to record any additional outputs or outcomes they deem relevant but have not been specified as indicators under any of the defined priorities. Applicants do not need to report on all indicators in an investment priority, only those their project is contracted to deliver.

On occasions where 2 or more projects combined result in one output or outcome, the GR should use their judgement, based on attribution, to determine the most appropriate indicator for reporting purposes.

A beneficiary of a project, for example, an individual or business, may create more than one output or outcome to be considered against different indicators. For example, a single business may receive a financial grant as well as another type of support, when this occurs, they should be recorded in all relevant outputs or outcomes.

Reporting and performance management

The Northern Ireland Investment Plan details how Northern Ireland’s UKSPF allocation will be spent and the impact that the UK government and Northern Ireland partners expect it to have. Funding has been allocated between the investment priorities over the life of the Fund based on Northern Ireland’s needs and demands. Competitions and commissions are being run by MHCLG to award the funds to successful applicants. To ensure that the funds deliver the outputs and outcomes needed, funding recipients are required to provide reports to MHCLG as detailed in this guidance.

MHCLG’s approach to reporting performance management is that it should be proportionate, asking only for the information we need to understand delivery progress and satisfy our own duties.

Although the implementation of UKSPF in England, Scotland and Wales has been delegated to local authorities, MHCLG is leading delivery of the fund in Northern Ireland. MHCLG has aligned the requirements for NI as closely as possible to those for England, Scotland and Wales, but with additional information requested where necessary to reflect the different delivery approach.

MHCLG will require Grant Recipients (GRs) to submit quarterly progress reports and 6-monthly quantitative reports, setting out progress against project milestones, spend and deliverables, with supporting evidence where requested. An example of the reporting template is available for information, but each GR will receive the template for their project from their contract manager in due course.

The 6-monthly quantitative report will include:

• Projected and actual spend to date, and a forecast for the next 6-month period.
• Projected and actual outputs and outcomes, and a forecast for the next 6-month period.
• Equalities information for service users.
• Value of match funding against the project (where applicable).
• Location of project delivery (by constituency and council area).
• Information on project milestones, risks and procurement activity.
• An overall summary.

GRs should capture the postcodes of areas where activity takes place in order to calculate the location(s) of project delivery, for example the postcode where X is being delivered, or the postcodes of project users. This guidance is in line with Community Renewal Fund Technical Guidance.

Where projects sit across multiple interventions, GRs will need to separately account for expenditure, outputs and outcomes.

The qualitative, 3-monthly summary report will include:

• Project spend to date against the contracted profile and forecast.
• Summary of progress with an overall Red, Amber, Green (RAG) rating of the project’s progress (with a short narrative update).
• Whether any underspend is anticipated at the end of the financial year, if yes, please explain how this will be addressed and by when.
• Details on any upcoming events, case studies and opportunities for Ministerial visits.

In each report, GRs will be asked to report on performance against contract profile and provide updated forecasts, highlighting any changes from their approved project.

The Chief Finance Officer (or equivalent) at each GR will need to verify all returns to the department, confirming information is accurate and that the project remains deliverable.

The table below sets out the timeline for reporting.

Reporting Periods	Report Due Date	Information Type
1 April to 30 June 2023	21-Jul-23	Quarterly (summary report only)
1 July to 30 September 2023	21-Oct-23	6 monthly
1 October to 31 December 2023	21-Jan-24	Quarterly (summary report only)
1 January to 31 March 2024	21-Apr-24	6 monthly
1 April to 30 June 2024	21-Jul-24	Quarterly (summary report only)
1 July to 30 September 2024	21-Oct-24	6 monthly
1 October to 31 December 2024	21-Jan-25	Quarterly (summary report only)
1 January to 31 March 2025	21-Apr-25	6 monthly and final reporting of the SR funding cycle

MHCLG expects to make payments to grant recipients in advance: 6-monthly for private and third sector bodies and annually for public bodies (including local authorities and Northern Ireland Departments and their arms-length bodies). However, second and subsequent instalments will be subject to satisfactory performance against spend and outputs as set out in 6-monthly reports. If projects are underperforming, project adjustment procedures will need to be followed before further instalments are released; these were published recently.

This guidance will be further updated to explain assurance and project closure requirements in due course.

What will we do with the data provided?

The questions and data requested from GRs is intended to capture information for 3 purposes:

• To provide assurance to MHCLG, the Accountable Officer, Ministers and Parliament of progress being made on UKSPF.
• Support evaluation of the fund, the principles of which are set out in the monitoring and evaluation section and will be expanded upon in the evaluation strategy shortly.
• Monitor that UKSPF monies are being spent on the UKSPF priorities, and that the outputs and outcomes delivered are in line with expectations detailed in the investment plan.

Aggregated and anonymised data (for example the total number of beneficiaries) may be published for these purposes.

MHCLG will process personal data, as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) to administer, monitor, evaluate and effectively assess the outcomes of a range of projects.

We will publish a data sharing agreement for projects next year, ahead of the completion of the first project selection process. As and when required, appropriate arrangements for sharing of data by GRs with MHCLG will be developed and set out, including privacy notices where relevant.

UKSPF Performance management and change process

While we expect there to be some changes as the project is implemented (for example, the GR may decide to substitute procured delivery for staffing costs), the GR must only use the UKSPF funding for the delivery of the project set out in the application. GRs may not make any major changes to the project’s activities, or outputs and outcomes, without the prior written agreement of MHCLG.

MHCLG will use monitoring returns and/or audit findings to assess project performance and may require project changes to bring delivery back on track.

Full details of the change process for projects in Northern Ireland is available. As a guiding principle, if the GR wishes to request changes to the project activities that exceed the tolerances set out in the project adjustment requests guidance, we will ask for a written explanation of the proposed changes and, if requested by the contract manager, the GR may need to submit a completed project change request form for agreement. If MHCLG requires a project change, MHCLG will get in touch with the GR to discuss the changes required.

Monitoring and evaluation

MHCLG will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the delivery of the Northern Ireland Investment Plan in line with wider UKSPF requirements.

Applicants should note that individual project-level evaluations may be appropriate but are not mandatory. MHCLG expects to commission a place level evaluation, and evaluations of several interventions across the United Kingdom. Where projects are providing support to beneficiaries, they will be required to collect personal data of beneficiaries supported. This information will be used for monitoring and evaluation of the programme, including equalities impacts, in accordance with a data sharing policy, which will be published on gov.uk prior to the completion of the project selection process. Applicants should be prepared to capture and provide information and support evaluators as appropriate.

MHCLG continues to develop the full UKSPF Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy and this page will be updated to reflect that once completed. In the meantime, Applicants should review the information published for Lead Local Authorities for a guide as to the range of evaluation approaches likely to be implemented.

Assurance and risk

Where the Grant Recipient (GR) is a public body (a local council, a government department or an arms-length body), the assurance and risk requirements set out for Lead Local Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales will apply.

Where the GR is a private or third sector organisation, the following will apply:

GRs will be required to provide MHCLG with assurance that the Grant has been used for delivery of the Project Activities. This should be done with each 6-monthly project update and grant claim and supported by an Assurance Statement from the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or equivalent. Before or at the time of the Grant Claim for the Final Grant Payment, we will require a report by the CFO or an external auditor who is a chartered accountant confirming that all costs claimed have been incurred in accordance with the Funding Agreement.

In completing the Assurance Statement, the Chief Finance Officer or equivalent is required to:

• provide details of the checks that they have taken to assure themselves that the GR has in place the processes that ensure proper administration of financial affairs relating to their UKSPF project;

• respond directly to questions addressing the governance and transparency for aspects of UKSPF grant management including, procurement, conflict of interest, subsidy control, counter fraud and risk;

• complete and return, annually, the templated Statement of Grant Usage letter, reflecting whether, having considered all the relevant information, they are of the opinion that the UKSPF is being properly administered; and if not, information about the main concerns and recommendations about the arrangements made to mitigate those risks should be provided.

MHCLG may, at any time during, and up to 7 years after the end of the Funding Agreement, conduct additional audits or ascertain additional information if deemed necessary.

The GR will be expected to follow open book accounting processes, sharing all relevant information with MHCLG representatives as required.

The GR will ensure all necessary information and access rights are explicitly included within all arrangements and agreements with sub-contractors. Where further information is required, evidence must be provided within 5 working days of a request, at no cost to MHCLG.

The GR must:

• maintain a record of internal financial controls and procedures and provide the Secretary of State with a copy if requested;

• retain all invoices, receipts, accounting records and any other documentation (including but not limited to, correspondence) relating to the Eligible Expenditure; income generated by the Project Activities during the Funding Period for a period of 7 years from the date on which the Funding Period ends; and

• ensure all sub-contractors retain each record, item of data and document relating to the Project Activities for a period of 7 years from the date on which the Funding Period ends.

Fraud Risk Assessment (FRA)

Applicants and Grant Recipients must have a sound administration and audit process, including internal financial controls to safeguard against fraud, theft, money laundering, counter terrorist financing or any other impropriety, or mismanagement in connection with the administration of the Grant. Applicants and Grant Recipients shall ensure its external auditors report on the adequacy or otherwise of those systems, taking account of the following minimum standards:

• take account of Grants Functional Standards on Fraud Risk Assessment (FRA) (PDF, 495 KB, 27 pages) – pages 15-19.

• undertake FRAs at an appropriate level to each individual project dependent on risk.

• ensure that UKSPF spend is undertaken in accordance with effective fraud prevention policy and procedures, and via engagement with colleagues specialising in this area.

• ensure that relevant evidence and data to prevent fraud is gathered as part of due diligence undertaken ahead of releasing funds.

• implement reporting and monitoring requirements that will identify irregularities or issues in use of funds which can be investigated further.

• store and file all work undertaken on FRA in the event of any issues or audit requirements.

Branding and publicity

Branding and publicity play a key role in ensuring effective promotion and acknowledgement of the wider UK government agenda and as part of that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

These requirements relate to all communications materials and public facing documents relating to funded activity – including print and publications, through to digital and electronic materials. This includes any preparatory activity linked to the Fund.

All Grant Recipients (GRs) must comply with these requirements. These replace the previous branding and publicity information, updated on 8 March 2023 (England, Scotland and Wales) and 12 June 2023 (Northern Ireland). Going forward, any UKSPF projects should only be using the ‘Funded by UK Government’ logo and you should no longer use the ‘Powered by Levelling Up’ logo. The placement of the ‘Funded by UK Government’ logo does not change.

We do not expect existing assets with the Levelling Up branding to be taken down or removed but should be amended when assets are next updated.

UK government branding requirements

UK government publicity and branding requirements must be followed for all UK government funded projects. This includes the UKSPF. The requirements cover several areas including logo use, production of plaques, print and digital materials, and also co-branding. For more information visit: Funded by UK government Branding Manual.

For the UKSPF, co-branding is only permitted with funders, grant recipients or joint deliverers.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund specific requirements

In addition to the UK government requirements stated above, several additional requirements for UKSPF projects must be adhered to. These are listed below:

Digital materials including websites and social media

Digital channels can provide a quick way to reach audiences and promote Fund activities. Where details of Fund activities are published on website, a clear and prominent reference to the funding from the UKSPF is to be included as follows:

‘This project is [funded/part-funded] by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.’

Where practical, project deliverers should also include a link to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund webpage and the following text (which must also be used for notes to editors):

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.

When describing or promoting Fund activities on social media such as Twitter, the following hashtag (#) should be used #UKSPF. This will be re-tweetable by UK government allowing others to follow Fund activities.

A cost-effective way to promote Fund activities is through the media. It is good practice to develop press releases at the launch of activities, and subsequently to announce key milestones and achievements.

Press releases must include a clear and prominent reference to the UKSPF, in the main body of the press release as follows:

‘[This project/Name of project] has received £[INSERT AMOUNT] from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund’.

It is a requirement to also use set notes to editors in all media activities. The text to use has been provided above in the Digital Materials section.

We do not require sight of any branding and publicity activities undertaken by project deliverers while delivering Fund activities, but evidence of compliance with branding and publicity guidance should be retained for monitoring and audit purposes.

Please also ensure that you keep UK government informed of any future publicity opportunities, via your reporting to MHCLG.

State Aid and subsidy control

All applicants in Northern Ireland must consider whether the UKSPF investment will be used to provide a subsidy or State Aid and if so whether that subsidy will contravene the UK’s obligations on subsidy control, or the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (which will come into force in January 2023), or the State Aid rules.

MHCLG will require all applicants to demonstrate a compliant State Aid/subsidy control project in their application form. This includes taking account of any benefit that the Grant Recipient (GR) or any of the project delivery partners may secure, and how this can be managed compliantly.

This guidance provides information for applicants on subsidy control and State Aid in respect of the UKSPF only. It is intended to provide some helpful context, but it is not exhaustive, and applicants should satisfy themselves that their project is compliant based on their own advice.

The interim subsidy control regime

UK subsidy control guidance has been issued for public authorities to help them interpret the UK’s international obligations on subsidy control; this is also applicable for non-public organisations to understand how its principles must be applied. For more detail, applicants should refer to Complying with the UK’s international obligations on subsidy control: guidance for public authorities.

The Subsidy Control Act 2022

The new subsidy control regime set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 will commence in January 2023. Once the new regime has started, public authorities should have regard to the guidance on the Subsidy Control Act 2022 which will be published on gov.uk in due course.

What is a subsidy?

For both the interim and new regimes, there are 4 key characteristics of a support measure that are likely to indicate that it would be considered a subsidy, all of which would need to be met:

• the support measure must constitute a financial (or in kind) contribution such as a grant, loan or guarantee and must be provided by a ‘public authority’, including, but not limited to, central, devolved, regional or local government;
• the support measure must confer an economic advantage on one or more economic actors;
• the support measure is specific insofar as it benefits, as a matter of law or fact, certain economic actors over others in relation to the production of certain goods or services; and
• the support measure must have the potential to cause a distortion in or harm to competition, trade, or investment.

“Economic actor” means an entity or a group of entities constituting a single economic entity, regardless of its legal status and including public bodies, that is engaged in an economic activity by offering goods or services on a market.

Applicants must consider whether any of the planned activities meet all 4 of these characteristics. Where the characteristics are all met, it is essential that lead local authorities and/or applicants explain how the subsidy may be provided compliantly.

As a guide, subsidy is most likely to be present in ‘supporting local business’ interventions. Public realm interventions, or activities that benefit individual people, are considered highly unlikely to be subsidy. Although ‘communities and place’ interventions, or ‘people and skills’ interventions are less likely to benefit economic actors, applicants should ensure they are satisfied that interventions under these investment priorities do not constitute a subsidy or State Aid, or if an investment will constitute a subsidy or State Aid, that the subsidy control principles/State Aid rules are met – see below.

Minimal financial assistance

In most cases, UKSPF subsidies will be very small. If an individual economic actor receives a benefit that amounts to less than £325,000 special drawing rights (until commencement of the Act) or £315,000 (after commencement of the Act) and has not received other minimal assistance in the current financial year, and the preceding 2 years, that when combined with the UKSPF support would exceed this limit, then this is permissible irrespective of whether it might constitute a subsidy.

Where subsidy will or may exceed the limits above, applicants must consider the subsidy control principles listed below and be of the view that the subsidy is consistent with them.

The subsidy control principles

Subsidies should:

• pursue a specific public policy objective to remedy an identified market failure or to address an equity rationale such as social difficulties or distributional concerns (“the objective”)
• be proportionate and limited to what is necessary to achieve the objective
• be designed to bring about a change of economic behaviour of the beneficiary that is conducive to achieving the objective and that would not be achieved in the absence of subsidies being provided
• not normally compensate for the costs the beneficiary would have funded in the absence of any subsidy
• be an appropriate policy instrument to achieve a public policy objective and that objective cannot be achieved through other less distortive means
• be designed to achieve their specific policy objective while minimising any negative effects on competition or investment within the United Kingdom

Once the Subsidy Control Act 2022 has come into effect, a further principle will apply:

• positive contributions to achieving the objective should outweigh any negative effects, in particular the negative effects on trade or investment between the Parties

If the proposed UKSPF activities:

• represent a subsidy and
• exceed the minimum financial assistance limit

They must comply with all principles to receive UKSPF support. This includes any retrospective UKSPF support that provides new subsidy and does not result in additional activity by the beneficiary.

Where an application presents an unacceptable risk of non-compliant delivery, then MHCLG may choose to either reject it, or require adjustments to be made such that funding the project will not contravene subsidy control.

Streamlined subsidy schemes

The UK government is considering the establishment of streamlined subsidy schemes, elements of which may be relevant to the UKSPF. These schemes will be pre-assessed by the government as compliant with the requirements of the subsidy control regime. They will provide all UK public authorities with a way to award subsidies that is simpler than the baseline method of principle-by-principle assessment. Public authorities will only need to demonstrate that they meet the specific parameters for that scheme; this will ensure that they are able to deliver these subsidies with minimum bureaucracy and maximum certainty.

A small number of streamlined subsidy schemes will be in place for the commencement of the Subsidy Control Act. MHCLG will update this guidance with relevant streamlined subsidy schemes once available.

State Aid

Applicants must apply additional State Aid tests to each organisation which may benefit from UKSPF where it may affect trade in goods and electricity between Northern Ireland and the EU.

For State Aid, the following 4 tests must be applied to each beneficiary to establish where the award will constitute State Aid:

• Is the support granted by the state or through state resources?
• Does the support confer a selective advantage to an undertaking?
• Does the support distort or have the potential to distort competition?
• Does the support affect trade between Member States?

Applicants must consider whether the award meets all the tests for each beneficiary. If all 4 tests are met then the award constitutes State Aid and must comply with State Aid law.

Non-public sector organisations will need to confirm if they are a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), or if direct beneficiaries are, as different rules and exemptions apply to SMEs.

Applicants will be required to confirm if the project will be funded under a framework, guidance or exemption based on the General Block Exemption Regulations (“GBER”) (Regulation 651/2014) or under the De Minimis regulation (Regulation 1407/2013) which allows aid of up to €200,000 to an individual enterprise over 3 years.

If funded under GBER, applicants should confirm under what provision, the title of the scheme, the amount of funding to be delivered under GBER and demonstrate how they meet the terms of the exemption. Applicants are also required to either confirm that the project falls within the scope of Regulation 6(5) or demonstrate incentive effect in line with Regulation 6(2) of General Block Exemption Regulations (651/2014).

Applicants must also set out how they will monitor and manage the delivery of the aid to demonstrate how the provision of the aid will continue to be delivered compliantly for audit purposes.

What will happen if subsidy control or State Aid is not complied with?

MHCLG may seek recovery of funding from project deliverers where subsidy control or State Aid law has not been complied. This sum may include compound interest backdated to the date of the award. We will include clawback provisions for non-compliant activity under State Aid rules and the UK subsidy control regime in funding agreements for UKSPF. Periodic checks of compliance with agreed processes may also be undertaken.

Grant recipients should therefore ensure that they manage subsidy control or State Aid in line with their agreed approach and take steps to monitor this. They should ensure that project agreements with third parties are designed to enable the recovery of subsidy if it has been misused.

It is also recommended that project deliverers ensure that project partners are aware of their obligations and that they can recover funding from them if it is not compliantly managed or is misused.

The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has provided guidance on the Northern Ireland Protocol which covers the interpretation of Article 10 of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the EU State aid rules.

Recording and transparency obligations

Grant recipients will be required to record and submit information on any UKSPF subsidies awarded as part of regular project reporting. This includes how the terms of any award meet the appropriate subsidy control requirements, and how they are delivered.

Procurement

Public sector grant recipients

Public sector grant recipients (GRs) need to ensure that the following minimum standards and legal obligations will be compliantly followed by their organisation in delivery of this fund:

• Constitution of the public body including any specific Grant / Contract rules, processes or procedures;
• Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015 including any amendments or any subsequent legislation that replaces the Act;
• All other applicable legislation to activity undertaken, such as Modern Slavery Act 2015, IR35 (Intermediaries Legislation), Equality Act 2010, Subsidy Control Act 2022, etc; and
• The Government Grants Functional Standard with specific focus to compliance on following areas:
  • Fraud Risk Assessment (FRA) (PDF, 495 KB, 27 pages) – pages 15-19
  • Due Diligence (PDF, 495 KB, 27 pages) - pages 20-24

Applicants are encouraged to also consider and implement wherever possible:

• sustainability and green measures in procurement plans, aligned with the government’s net zero strategy;
• innovative procurement, including the factoring in of social value into procurement; and
• government initiatives, guidance and policy such as the Sourcing and Consultancy Playbooks, Construction Playbook, the Outsourcing Playbook and government guidance on Resolution Planning.

It will be the GRs responsibility to ensure that minimum standards are applied, monitored and maintained throughout the period of the UKSPF grant.

Private and voluntary sector grant recipients or delivery partners

Where non-contracting authorities are involved in UKSPF project delivery, they should adopt such policies and procedures that are required in order to ensure that value for money has been obtained in the procurement of goods or services funded by the Grant. This should include adopting the following minimum procedures:

Value of contract	Minimum procedure
£0 - £2,499	Direct award
£2,500 - £24,999	3 written quotes or prices sought from relevant suppliers of goods, works and / or services
Over £25,000	Formal tender process

Due diligence

All government grants are subject to timely and proportionate due diligence, assurance and fraud risk assessment. MHCLG shall be responsible for fulfilling this role in relation to UKSPF NI grants and will carry out due diligence checks on all non-public sector applicants.

These checks will include assessment of the applicant’s financial standing including ability to deal with cost overruns, the ability to fund the project and repay funds if required. The outcome of these checks, directors checks and capacity checks may exclude applicants from further consideration.

MHCLG will also undertake proportionate checks on joint bidders (for example directors checks) as required to satisfy ourselves that the project can proceed as proposed. GRs will also be required to provide evidence of the risk and assurance management procedures.

Equalities

The public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 requires MHCLG in exercising its functions to have due regard to the need to: eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. The protected characteristics under the Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

MHCLG is not a designated body for the purposes of section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, but we recognise the importance of not only meeting our legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 but also giving due regard to the additional equalities considerations that apply in Northern Ireland. In designing the fund, MHCLG have considered our public sector equality duties under the Equality Act 2010, as well as relevant Section 75 protected groups specific to Northern Ireland.

To support MHCLG in meetings its public sector equality duty and giving due regard to the additional equality considerations that apply in Northern Ireland, all Applicants should describe how their project will impact on people with protected characteristics, including any measures you plan to positively impact on or promote good relations between groups set out in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010.

Public sector Applicants should describe how the project will take account of equalities legislation, including section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010.

Note - all project deliverers will also be asked, as a condition of award of funding, to collect information on beneficiaries with respect to the 9 categories set out in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act to assist MHCLG in monitoring the equalities impact of UKSPF as a whole.