South Nottinghamshire LEADER Programme
FACT SHEET NUMBER 01
How to complete an outline application form
This Fact Sheet is produced to help applicants complete an outline application form
for LEADER funding.
The Outline Application can be accessed via this link:
www.nottscc.gov.uk/leadersouth
There are several other sources of information on the South Nottinghamshire
LEADER website which may also assist you - including the Applicants Handbook
and the Local Development Strategy for the area.
However there is no substitute for a direct discussion with the Programme
Officer who will be only too willing to help you establish if you are eligible to apply,
provide guidance in developing your project and to assist you with any queries you
may have on the application process.
Please contact:
Craig Edson, South Nottinghamshire LEADER Programme Officer on 0115 977 2686
or email SouthNottinghamshire.LEADERProgramme@nottscc.gov.uk
The outline application stage
There is a two stage application process for LEADER. This Fact Sheet only covers
the first stage – the Outline.
The outline application form provides the Local Action Group (LAG) and Programme
Team with a summary of your project. If it is determined that the application is
eligible and the application contains everything we need to know - you will be invited
to proceed to the second stage and submit a full application. Your project should
therefore be sufficiently developed to have sufficient information to complete the Full
Application – although time will be afforded to you between the outline decision and
the deadline for full application submission.
For an overview of the Full Application process please refer to Fact Sheet number 2
and visit the website for the Full Application Form
www.nottscc.gov.uk/leadersouth
Information needed at the outline stage
The Outline Application requests several key pieces of information and you must
complete it in full and provide as much information as possible. Assume that the
LAG and the Programme Team knows nothing about what you want to do and
take particular care in explaining any technical aspects of your proposal.
Remember this is your opportunity to start to make your case for us to “invest” in
your project. Take this opportunity to showcase what you want to do, how you
want to do it and when and any wider benefits of the grant investment.
The type of information that we require at the Outline Stage includes:
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the location of the proposed project
a description of the project – what it will do
how it will be delivered
how much it will cost
who will benefit from it
how it will create jobs and increase business turnover
How the information is used
The information provided in the form is used to check that the applicant, project and
costs are eligible. It’s also used to assess the application against the criteria set out
in the Applicant Handbook and against the local priorities of the LAG
Please be clear and realistic about what the project can achieve - a full application
may be rejected if it’s found that a project cannot achieve the targets described in the
outline application.
It is not acceptable to simply state, “The project will be delivered in accordance with
the LEADER Programme requirements,” as a response to any part of this application
form. Applicants must clearly describe how they will meet these requirements.
How to fill out the outline application form
The application form is an excel spreadsheet. There are 2 sections to this form, on 2
different tabs:
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Tab 1 – Applicant and project details
Tab 2 – Project costs and financials
Please complete all the questions on both tabs in full. Please use sentence case,
not block capitals.
This application form has been designed by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and
is being used nationally by all LEADER Programmes.
Useful Tips
The information requested in the form should be straight forward and notes are
contained on the form itself– however, if you are unsure on anything, please contact
the Programme Officer.
Here are some tips to assist you:
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Applicant details – do not list your agent this is the applicant business only
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Give the full name of the business/ organisation who will be receiving the
grant. Where this is a registered company, this will be the full registered name
of the business and will be the name in the annual accounts for the business.
We will use this for all future correspondence including any contract should
your grant be approved at Full Application stage.
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Your business address must be the main postal address for your company
and should link to any existing or future registration with the RPA
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Make sure your telephone and email contacts are the main points of contact
to ensure that you can be contacted about the application and to receive
appropriate information – including the contract if you are successful
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Question A6 refers to a Single Business Identifier number (SBI):
 Please enter your Single Business Identifier (SBI) number if you
already have one
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If not – you will need one if invited to submit a Full Application.
To do this you will need to register with the online Rural
Payments service: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-forrural-payments
Linked businesses - please review information contained in the
Applicants Handbook for what is meant by this term. Do
remember to include linked businesses where applicable in your
calculations of the size of your business (please see below)
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If you are working with an Agent or other intermediary you must advise us
under A14-17 of the form. This is permissible but you can also gain advice
from the Programme Officer.
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If your project spans two LEADER Programme areas you must advise us
in the Outline Application. If this is the case, early discussions with the
South Nottinghamshire Programme Officer is recommended together with
their counterpart in the appropriate LEADER area
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As this is the outline, please limit your project description to 100 words – but
as requested be as clear as you can in what the project actually is
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Under A24 you are asked to explain “Wider Outcomes” from the project –
this gives you opportunity to explain the positive impact of the project on the
surrounding area and economy. Projects cannot however have a negative
impact on other businesses offering the same services. If there are other
similar businesses operating in the area you must explain how your
project complements these existing businesses.
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Project Funding (A26) – these figures will be automatically transposed from
the information you provide on Tab 2 - please check them but do not try to
type answers into these boxes.
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Irrecoverable VAT (A27) If the applicant’s business is registered for VAT
purposes – the answer to this question will be 0 - these figures will be
automatically transposed from the information you provide on Tab 2 please
check them but do not try to type answers into these boxes.
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The proposed start date (A28) is the date that you intend to start work on the
project and start incurring eligible costs. You cannot start any works, or
commit to any costs until you have received a grant funding agreement
with the agreed project start date.
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The Completion Date refers to the end of the project activity and payments
made. There will however be up to a five year monitoring period which
follows the completion date. For more information on this please contact the
Programme Officer.
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In planning the delivery of your proposed project, build in appropriate time to
secure permissions for projects – e.g. planning permission. These have to be
in place at the Full Application Stage
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Outputs (A30) are the “direct and measurable products of a project as a
consequence of project activities e.g. new jobs created”. Keep your projects
realistic, achievable and proportionate to the size and nature of your project.
You also need to be able to qualify your methodology underpinning the
outputs that you have selected.
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Environmental Impact (A33) - All projects should seek to ensure that their
activity does not have adverse effects on the environment and that thought
has been given to the positive impacts (for example improvements in energy
efficiency, reduced carbon emissions, enhanced natural habitats etc.) and the
mitigation of negative impacts (e.g. visual impacts, increased traffic
generation, pollution, impacts on natural habitats).
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Social Impact (A34) gives opportunity for you to demonstrate how the project
will take account of equality, diversity and the social impact it will have in the
local area – including what steps have been taken to understand both the
positive and negative impacts on different equality groups and communities
including race, gender, age and disability
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On the Project Costs and financials (Tab 2) please enter data/information in
the white cells only. Please DO NOT enter anything in the grey cells they will automatically calculate figures.
 (B1) - When selecting the intervention rates for your project
please be guided by Applicant Handbook and early discussion
with the Programme Officer. Be mindful that these may change
during appraisal subject to funding availability,/status/funding
priority etc. All decisions that the LAG takes on funding rates
and amounts will be taken on a consistent basis.
 (B1) - Net costs – are costs excluding VAT If applicable,
please record the irrecoverable VAT applicable to the project
costs. If applicants are not VAT registered and are unable to
reclaim VAT then enter the VAT figure into the irrecoverable
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VAT section. If the business is VAT-registered, then this section
should show £0.00 (as indicated above).
(B1) - If there are any costs that are integral to the project, but
the applicant does not intend to include these in their grant
application, enter the details of the item and costs in the table,
but enter a 0% grant intervention rate.
(B1) - In the “Proposed Project Funding” table please enter
details of the match funding you will be using in each year of the
project.
(B2b) – Use this section to outline what will happen if you do not
receive funding – would the project not go ahead at all? Can it
proceed on a reduced scale? Would the scale of wider
economic impact be reduced? Please justify your rationale for
your response.
(B3) – In most cases around 60% of project funding will be
provided by the applicant – if other organisation(s) (including
banks) are providing the balance of funds, these need to be
identified in this section – and if their contribution is confirmed or
not. If the funding is confirmed, please explain the implications if
the LEADER grant is refused and if any alternatives exist.
If you are unsure on the percentage of grant that you may qualify for please
contact the Programme Officer.
Do remember to check that the totals on Tab 2 have correctly been transferred
into the table at question A26.
Other Checks and Definitions to assist you in completing your
Outline Application
Size of a business
Some grants are only available to certain sizes of business. The LEADER Programme is
specifically targeted at micro and small businesses and these are identified under the
umbrella term SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises). The table below identifies the
size definitions for the purposes of this grant and relates to the number of employees,
turnover and balance sheet totals.
All businesses must meet the FTE employee limits as well as either the turnover or balance
sheet totals.
Company
category
Micro
Number of
FTE
employees
Under 10
Small
Under 50
Mediumsized
Under 250
Turnover
AND
€2m (about £1.4
million) or less
€10m (about £7.0
million) or less
€50 million (about
£35 million) or less
Balance sheet
total
OR
€2m (about £1.4
million) or less
€10m (about £7.0
million) or less
€43 million (about
£30 million) or less
For full details see of the SME definition please follow this link:
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition/index_en.htm
What is an FTE employee?
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Anyone who works a minimum of 30 hours per week counts as one FTE employee.
A person working 30 hours a week for 3 months of the year would be 0.25FTE
employee.
FTEs include business partners and directors.
If any person, including a business partner or director, works more than 30 hours per
week they still count as 1FTE employee.
Applicants should enter the number of employees of their business, as a full time
equivalent.
RPA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme
Producers of fresh fruit and vegetables may be part of the RPA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Aid Scheme and defined as a Producer Organisation. Please refer to information via the
following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/introduction-to-producer-organisations-forgrowers
If the applicant’s business is part of this scheme, please provide the name of the
Producer Organisation and details of any funding that has been received through this
scheme (question A12 applies).
Please note that if applicants have already had (or can get) funding for their proposed
project through the RPA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Aid scheme, they can’t also apply for a
LEADER grant.
Public Funding Received Since 2007
Under question A13 if an applicant has received any form of public funding since 2007,
they need to provide details of this. This will enable the RPA to check the reliability of an
applicant based on previous grant awards and subsequent project delivery.
Applicants must declare if they have received any European funding, including but not
limited to:
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European Social Fund (ESF)
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund Structural Funds (EAGGF)
Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)
England Rural Development Programme (ERDP)
Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF)
Forestry Commission
LEADER
Applicants must also declare if they have received any public sector funding from
organisations including but not limited to:
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a local authority
a Regional Development Agency (RDA)
Business Link
Objective 1
Submitting an outline application
Once fully completed, outline applications should be submitted to the following email
address
SouthNottinghamshire.LEADERProgramme@nottscc.gov.uk
You should use the email address that you have listed in the application (A5) unless
you are using a consultant, agent or business manager to complete the application in
which case they may submit the outline application from their email address, but the
applicant email address entered in A5 must be copied into the email. This is to
demonstrate that the applicant consents to the submission of the outline application.
If the applicant email address is not copied into the email we cannot accept the
application.
Outline application must be submitted electronically as a Microsoft Excel
attachment to an email. We will not be able to open application forms saved in
formats that are not compatible with the version of Microsoft Excel used for the
application forms. If we can’t open the application form, the application will be
rejected.
If using Open Office Software to complete and save the application form, please note
that it will be necessary to ensure that the document is saved using the Microsoft
Excel (.xls) format to ensure that it is compatible with the systems the LAG uses. To
do this:
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To do this, select ‘Save As’ when saving the application form. The ‘Save
As’ box will open, allowing the location for the document to be saved to be
selected.
Then select the format for the document in the ‘Save as type’ box. Select
the format type – Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP/2003 (.xls), if this has not
been automatically selected, then click ‘Save’.
A dialog box may open asking the applicant to ‘Confirm File Format’. If this
happens, confirm that the intention is to save the document using the
Microsoft Excel file format.
We cannot accept any other format of electronic application submission,
including PDF documents or scanned documents. We cannot accept any other
format, for example but not exclusively, hard copy printed applications or
hand-written applications.
Deadlines
The South Nottinghamshire LEADER Programme operates a system of “Calls for
Applications”. This means that the Programme will announce dates when it is open
to receive applications. After the published call end date, applications will not be
processed until the next call period opens. The calendar for the calls for Outline
Applications in 2016 will be added to the website. The first call for activity will
however commence on the 4th January and will remain open until the end of that
calendar month. As a rule of thumb the programme will pause for 2 weeks until the
next call is announced.
OTHER SOUTH NOTTINGHAMSHIRE LEADER PROGRAMME FACT SHEETS IN
THIS SERIES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How to complete an outline application form
Full Application and Assessment Processes
Annual Submission Timetable
Guide to Eligible and Ineligible Costs
Culture and Heritage in the Nottinghamshire LEADER Programmes
State Aid Headlines
Claims – do’s and don’ts
Please also refer to Frequently Asked Questions on the website