All applications
1. The information in these guidelines can change. The law and Government regulations on distributing the funds may also change. The BFI therefore reserves the right to review this funding programme and/or change its policies, procedures and assessment criteria.
2. The application form does not necessarily cover all the information the BFI uses to decide which applications to fund. The BFI can ask applicants for extra information and can take into account information obtained through its due diligence and how an applicant has managed any BFI funding previously awarded. The BFI will not support applications from an applicant which acts in a way or holds business connections (or receives funding from a third party which undertakes activities or holds business connections) which damage or which could reasonably be expected to damage the reputation of the BFI or the funding programme. The BFI will not offer funding to an applicant that is unable to satisfactorily demonstrate that it is financially viable (a ‘going concern’) for the period of delivery of the application and for a reasonable time period after completion of the project.
3. All applications are made at the applicant’s own risk. The BFI will not be liable for loss, damage or costs arising directly or indirectly from:
- the application process;
- the BFI’s decision not to provide an award to an applicant; or
- dealing with the application.
4. Please check your application form carefully. The BFI will not process applications which are incomplete, contain incorrect or misleading information or which do not comply with the programme guidelines. The BFI will also follow up cases of suspected fraud and will pass information to the police.
5. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives members of the public the right to request certain information held by the BFI. This includes information held in relation to applications to the BFI’s funding programmes or schemes. Therefore if you choose to apply to the BFI you should be aware that the information you supply, either in whole or in part, may be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.
6. Data Protection: Part or all of the information you give us will be held on an internal grants management system for the administration of applications and awards. We may also use this information for the evaluation of our funding programmes. We may provide copies of the information in confidence to further individuals or organisations who are helping us assess applications or monitor funding or to our auditors or the National Audit Office. We may be required to disclose information by the operation of UK law. We may use a credit reference agency to validate information you have provided in your application.
This is not a credit check and will not affect your ability to receive credit from other organisations. The credit reference agency we use may keep a record of the information, and may disclose the fact that a search of its records was made to its other clients, in order to stop fraud. By submitting an application, you are providing your informed consent (permission) for the BFI to run such an identity verification check, including its access, use and storage. If you have knowingly provided false or inaccurate information to us at any point, we may provide details to fraud prevention agencies. If you are a company this will include the names of the Company Directors at the time of the fraud. You must undertake to inform all Directors, Trustees and Committee members of this notice.
7. Sometimes the BFI’s Governors or members of staff may be involved in some way with applicants. This interest has to be declared in applications from such applicants. The relevant Governor or staff member will not be involved in assessing the application or the decision to make an award. Applicants are advised not to try to influence the success of their application by approaching a Governor or staff member.
8. The BFI’s decisions on applications are final.
9. Complaints and Appeals: Inevitably applications will be turned down and applicants may be disappointed by this result. Formal appeals against the final decision will not be considered unless the applicant has good cause to believe that the procedures for processing the application were not adhered to or applied in such a way as to prejudice the outcome of the application. A copy of the BFI’s Complaints and Appeals procedure can be viewed online.
10. Monitoring & Evaluation: The BFI takes an evidence-based approach to distributing funds and we monitor delivery and impact to make sure our funding is working as hard as possible. All applicants, regardless of the outcome of your application, may be asked to participate in evaluation conducted by us or on our behalf while the programme is open and for a reasonable time after it closes. We will conduct and publish evaluations of programmes which, if you are successful in your application, may include project details and summary information from reports provided to us by you.
Successful applications
11. The BFI will not pay any funding until it has received a fully executed copy of the funding agreement and any conditions precedent to that agreement have been satisfied or waived by the BFI.
12. Your award must be used on your successful project as set out in your application or as changed in agreement with BFI. You should not change your project without our prior written approval.
13. Awards are intended to be for public benefit and not private gain. Any non-budgeted income generated for the project after receipt of your offer of funding is expected to be applied in reduction of the Award amount unless BFI agrees that it can be applied in further enhancement of the project. Any underspend on the total budget must be reimbursed to the BFI in the proportion that the amount of the award bears to the total budgeted cost.
14. With regard to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Environmental Sustainability, you will be required to work with the BFI or its appointed partners to finalise your planned activity, draw on specialist resources or expertise where the BFI can provide this or signpost you to it, and monitor the impact of your project in these areas.
15. The BFI will publish and publicise information on the number of applications it receives and the awards made. This information will include the name of the successful applicant, award amount, project name and project details. This applies even if the offer is later rejected and/or any pre-conditions to the funding agreement are not met and the offer subsequently withdrawn.
16. Subsidy control:
All grants made under this strand and any other UKGSF funding programme will be designed to be compliant with the UK’s Subsidy Control Act 2022 and any other relevant subsidy control rules and regulations, as required by the UK government, which are subject to change. According to the terms of the Act, not all UKGSF funding constitutes subsidy, and we will confirm each time an award or a programme qualifies as subsidy. In those instances, and in order to meet subsidy transparency requirements, the BFI may pass on details of any qualifying successful application which receives more than £100,000 of funding for inclusion on the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s subsidy transparency database. The details to be published may include at a minimum:
- amount of subsidy received (the award amount);
- applicant name;
- applicant registration number;
- (if applicable), applicant organisation size;
- region;
- sector;
These details may be published within 3 months of the date of the grant. This applies even if the offer of funding is later rejected and/or any of the conditions precedent to the funding agreement are not met and the offer is subsequently withdrawn.
17. The BFI requires that any measures taken by successful applicants to address underrepresentation are fully in compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
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18. You should deliver your project with reasonable skill and care and in accordance with all relevant UK legislation. You will be expected to conduct business legally, ethically and with the highest levels of integrity and comply with the laws of the UK against bribery and corruption including the Bribery Act 2010.
19. You will be required to comply with relevant UK accounting practices and provide BFI with reasonable access to records and data including financial records relating to the successful project.
20. You will need to routinely report on progress and delivery of your project and payment of the award will be in instalments and linked to such reporting.
21. The BFI terms of funding will entitle it to withhold or reclaim part or all of an award if the:
- application was filled in dishonestly or with incorrect or misleading information about the organisation or the project whether deliberately or accidentally
- award recipient acts dishonestly or negligently to the disadvantage of the project or to the BFI and/or in respect of a previous application made to the BFI
- award recipient acts in a way or holds business connections (or receives funding from a third party which undertakes activities or holds business connections) which damage or which could reasonably be expected to damage the reputation of the BFI or the programme or the DCMS if the award recipient changes its business form to one that is unacceptable to the BFI acting reasonably and taking into account the purposes for which the award was made
- award recipient has failed to meet the conditions of funding relating to a previous successful award
- award recipient or its partner(s) receive additional non-budgeted income for the project
- award recipient is in material breach of any of the other provisions of the offer of funding