5 After applying
What happens to your application after it's submitted.
Once we receive your application, we’ll check to confirm that:
- the form and all supporting documents have been submitted by the deadline
- the form has been completed in full
- the form meets the eligibility requirements for the scheme.
As the CS Facilitation Fund is competitive, your application will be scored.
During our initial eligibility checks we will be looking to see:
- if you and your group members are registered on the Rural Payments service
- if the group member forms have been fully completed, signed and any consents submitted, including confirmation there is a group agreement in place
- if group members or anyone linked to the SBI you have provided is part of another CS Facilitation Fund group.
If your application passes the initial eligibility stage and is confirmed as valid, it will be passed to Natural England, the Environment Agency, and the Forestry Commission for local assessment.
Applications will then be put forward to a national panel to make sure there is consistency in the scoring process. The national panel comprises of:
- The Rural Payments Agency
- Natural England
- The Environment Agency
- Forestry Commission
The panel will be looking at:
- your experience and ability
- evidence about the group’s proposals to undertake the CS priorities from the statements of priorities
- evidence of collaboration with other local partnerships and initiatives delivering the priorities that benefit the environment
- evidence that the transfer of knowledge and expertise requirements are directly needed for successful delivery of the CS priorities in the statements of priorities
- evidence to show that for new groups, members are taking on activities which are new to them
- your suggestions for successful collaboration between the group and how you plan to help members deliver environmental improvements in a joined up, landscape scale.
- a value-for-money assessment (for example the cost must be balanced against what is being delivered, its effectiveness and efficiency).
If your application has a final score equal to or greater than the agreed threshold score, we will offer you an agreement subject to available budget.
We may reject your application at any stage if it:
- is incomplete. For example, if you have not provided enough information and evidence needed for a complete application
- does not meet the eligibility criteria
- does not score highly enough to be prioritised against the available budget.
Your application will also be rejected if you do not provide all necessary supporting evidence throughout the duration of the agreement within the required timescale, or we find an issue at a later date.
If your application is not successful, we will contact you by email and let you know. We will tell you why your application was rejected, and you will have the right to appeal. If you’re unhappy with our decision, you should refer to our Complaints procedure on GOV.UK in the first instance.
Read Section 13 ‘Complaints and Appeals’ for more information.