Community Asset Transfer (CAT2)
Stage two application form
For use in Wales only /
Please make sure that you read the following guidance on how to fill in this application form before you start to complete it. This will help to make sure the application process runs smoothly. If you have any questions email us at
a) Before you start to fill in the form
Make sure you’ve read the Programme summary at the beginning of the form.
b) Completing the form
Make sure you’ve answered every question and read your application before you send it to us. Email your completed form to putting the name of your organisation from question 1.2 into the email subject line.
c) Submitting your application
You should submit your stage two application, capital project delivery plan and supplementary documents by email to putting the name of your organisation from question 1.1 into the email subject line. Your completed application should reach us by 12 noon on Tuesday 26th September 2017.
Prior to this deadline, please remember that you are required to provide a draft of your project plan to DTA Wales on Friday 25th August for pre-submission review.
If your file sizes are too large, try sending them separately or alternatively you can submit them via Kiteworks. If you need to use this secure site to upload your application information, please get in touch and we will issue you with separate guidance.
d) Help with your application
If you have any questions about CAT2, need help to complete this application form, or if you need it in a different format (for example large print), please contact our Big Advice Team by email at by phone on 0300 123 0735, or by text relay on 18001 plus 0300 123 0735.
Our website (www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/CAT2) has further information, advice and tips to help you complete your application. It also provides information on sources of local support that give advice on funding.
Programme summary: Community Asset Transfer (CAT2)
What’s it all about?
Welcome to stage two of CAT2.
In your stage one application form, you told us about your project and how this fits with our programme criteria. We now need more detailed information about what you’re planning to do and how you’re planning to do it. You need to fill in four documents to complete your stage two application:
· an application form – this provides basic information about your organisation, your project and your main contacts
· a project plan – this provides us with detailed information about how you will manage the delivery of services from your asset, including more detail about your project outcomes, the costs associated with running your project and how you plan to make the business sustainable
· a detailed design stage capital project delivery plan – this tells us more about your capital project work, and how you have progressed since your stage one application
· a detailed design stage capital cost spreadsheet – this provides us with detailed information about the costs related to the transfer and capital development of your asset.
This application must be completed by the same organisation that submitted the stage one application form.
What are we looking for?
The CAT2 programme aims to create more sustainable communities by supporting asset transfer to enterprising third sector organisations that actively involve and benefit the communities they serve.
We will only fund projects that bring about all four of the following outcomes:
· to promote and strengthen the independence and financial viability of third sector organisations by enabling income generating social enterprise
· to improve partnership working between the public sector, the third sector and other sectors
· to contribute to the regeneration and economic sustainability of communities
· to build the capacity of enterprising communities to take on and develop sustainable community assets that can provide solutions to the challenges they face.
You must be able to show how the community your project will serve will be involved in the design and the delivery of services. We also test whether your business proposals will generate enough income to ensure that your asset will be viable in the long-term. This includes any environmental enhancements that have been incorporated into the design of your building.
For more information about this programme please refer to the stage one application guidance and our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/CAT2
What can you apply for?
At this stage you can apply for up to £1,100,000 for projects that last up to five years. This total excludes any capital development funding you were awarded at stage one. Applications must be for a mix of capital and revenue funding.
We will fund all of the costs associated with your project. You are encouraged to identify partnership funding, either cash or in kind, from other sources and include this in your application, but you don’t have to. If you do intend to secure partnership funding tell us about it in question 2.4. You must say whether the partnership funding will be used to cover capital or revenue costs.
Capital funding
You can apply for capital funding of between £250,000 and £800,000 towards the cost of developing the asset that is being transferred.
The following lists provide an idea of the type of capital expenditure that we will and won’t pay for. The lists are not exhaustive, and in assessing your application we may need to discuss this in detail or amend some items.
Eligible capital expenditure includes:
· building and engineering works (refurbishment, modernisation or conversion) needed to run the project
· extensions as part of a wider project, where you can demonstrate that this is intrinsic to your project
· plant and equipment necessary for running the project
· purchase of equipment or fixtures and fittings that are linked to the land or building
· professional and legal fees associated with the capital element of the project, for example the legal costs incurred by you such as certificate of title and legal charge
· a contingency sum of around 10 per cent of the total capital project costs
· VAT on eligible capital expenditure where appropriate (contact your local VAT office for advice).
Ineligible capital expenditure includes:
· costs incurred in developing your stage one application
· costs incurred or spending committed before we make you a stage two grant (that are not eligible as part of your capital development grant)
· costs which someone else is paying for, whether in cash or in kind
· routine repairs and maintenance (although these costs can be included in the revenue budget)
· general improvements to public areas unless they are essential to the project
· substantial demolition and rebuilding of an asset unless it can be demonstrated that this is the most appropriate option
· housing only developments
· extensions from short term lease arrangements to long-term lease arrangements (this excludes licenses for less than 12 months)
· personal equipment not essential to running the project
· fixed or loose equipment or office equipment which is not essential to the project
· the purchase of minibuses or other forms of transport.
Revenue funding
You can apply for revenue funding of between £50,000 and £300,000 towards the operating costs and overheads of your project for up to five years. These costs may increase over the first couple of years of your project as you begin to set up and deliver services from your asset. However, we would expect them to reduce each year as your activities begin to generate an income. How you choose to taper your funding should reflect your plans to deliver services and generate income from your completed facility.
We will pay for a range of revenue costs required for running your project. You may also wish to consider planning or development work to ensure the facility’s long-term sustainability. This can include work to raise the profile of the project, building relationships with the community and other stakeholders.
Eligible revenue expenditure includes:
· salaries of staff working on your project, for example a project or facilities manager, including any extra costs such as pensions and National Insurance
· salaries of management staff who only supervise project staff, including any extra costs such as pensions or National Insurance
· recruitment of staff who will work on the project
· expenses of project staff and volunteers, including travel, accommodation, telephone bills and stationery
· rent, heating, lighting and insurance for office space and buildings only used for this project
· building maintenance
· training of staff and volunteers working on this project
· monitoring and evaluation of the project (you will be required to procure an external evaluation)
· fundraising for continuing the project after our grant has finished
· marketing and publicity for the project
· translation costs
· website infrastructure, including increasing central server capacity and interconnection costs
· software
· website content design and development (including the use of consultants or designers)
· professional and legal fees associated with revenue expenditure on the project, for example, if your solicitor needs to provide us with a legal opinion
· travel and transport
· overheads.
By overheads we mean the costs of employees, volunteers, equipment, space and services that support the project you want us to fund, but also support your other work.
We may make a contribution towards your overheads. Work out how much support the project you want us to fund needs from the people, equipment and spaces that make up your overheads. Calculate the cost of this support then divide this figure by the percentage of the eligible revenue and capital costs you are asking us to fund. In the application you are required to explain how you have worked this out. This is also referred to as ‘full cost recovery’.
Further guidance on this can be found on our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/funding/funding-guidance/applying-for-funding/full-cost-recovery
Ineligible revenue expenditure includes:
· costs incurred or expenditure committed before we make you a grant
· costs which someone else is paying for, whether in cash or kind
· items that only benefit an individual and are not needed to deliver the project outcomes
· travel outside the UK
· direct funds to build up a reserve or surplus, whether distributable or not
· loans or loan repayments
· contributions to general appeals.
VAT
We need to know that you have considered your VAT position for your project. When calculating the total cost of your project you should take into account any potential non-recoverable VAT costs that may arise.
If you are registered for VAT, you can apply to us for the cost of non-recoverable VAT only. Organisations not registered for VAT should include VAT costs in their budget. We will consider any application for non-recoverable VAT costs and include the agreed amount in the grant, where appropriate.
If we agree to fund the cost of VAT, which you then recover, you will be liable to repay all or some of it to us, based on the following principles:
· if we have funded all of the recoverable VAT costs for your project, you must refund all of the VAT recovered to us
· if we have funded a proportion of the recoverable VAT costs for your project, you must refund the same proportion of the VAT recovered.
We cannot provide VAT advice so we recommend you contact your local Revenue and Customs office or a VAT expert to find out how much VAT you can recover on the cost of your project.
If you have any questions about what we will or will not pay for email us at
What happens when?
A draft of your project plan is provided to DTA Wales for pre-submission review by Friday 25th August 2017
Your final completed application must reach us by 12 noon on Tuesday 26th September 2017.
We will acknowledge receipt of your application within 10 working days.
We’ll then assess your application between Oct 2017 and Jan 2018.
The CAT2 programme committee will decide whether to award your project funding and we’ll let you know their decision by February 2018.
We anticipate awarding up to five grants through this funding round. If we decide not to fund your application we will write to you and tell you why.
We expect you to start your project within six months of the date of our offer letter.
What makes a good application?
When you are developing your stage two application you should address the key points contained in:
· the project plan guide
· the detailed design stage capital guidance document
· the stage one application guidance.
As part of the assessment process a funding officer will contact you to discuss your stage two application in detail. As you are applying for funding to develop an asset one of our capital advisers will also contact you and your professional team.
We will assess your application against the same four criteria we used at stage one.
1. Need: Is the project needed?
Need is the term we use to describe a problem, issue or situation where something needs to change to make things better for a person, a group of people or an area. When assessing need we will mainly consider the information provided in the Project need and background and Strategic context sections of your project plan.
2. Outcomes: Will the project bring about the changes we are looking for?
We call the key changes or differences a project will make ‘project outcomes’. You provided up to four project outcomes in your stage one application. In the Project outcomes and activities section of your project plan you must tell us the indicators you are going to use to measure your progress towards these outcomes, and the activities you will deliver in order to achieve them.
3. Approach: Is the way the project will be delivered realistic?
At stage two of the process we will focus more on assessing how you intend to deliver your project. As you explain your delivery approach remember that the underlying principle of this programme is to enable community ownership and management of assets. Your plans for this should be clearly explained throughout your application. However, when assessing your approach we will particularly look at the Project delivery, Partnerships, Project budget, Financial planning and sustainability, Partnership funding, Monitoring, evaluation and learning and Marketing and communications strategy sections of your project plan.