Common Good Fund – Terms and Conditions

1. Validity

Your grant must be claimed according to the timescales and conditions detailed in the letter of award.

2. Purpose of Grant

All grants must be used for the purpose for which they were allocated. Depending on the scale and nature of the application, extra financial securities may be required by the Council. Following award of a grant, any subsequent changes to the remit of the project that could call into question what the funds were actually awarded for, must be agreed in advance and confirmed in writing to the relevant Ward Manager (City Manager for Inverness Common Good Fund).

3. Payments

Highland Council intends to make award payments by Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) and to send you the BACS remittance advice by e-mail. The following are the main benefits of BACS payment:

• Cleared funds are available on the day you receive payment.

• There is no possibility of cheques getting lost or delayed in the post.

• It saves the time and trouble of paying cheques into a bank account.

• Accounting procedures are simplified and administrative costs reduced.

Please complete and return a Project Bank Details (BACS) Form. Please contact us should you wish to discuss alternative arrangements.

4.Financial Monitoring

You must keep sound and appropriate financial records, including original invoices and bank statements showing the various transactions relating to your project. A representative of Highland Council, or an auditor acting on behalf of Highland Council, may wish to visit you as part of our monitoring process and you should be able to make all project records available. Please do not dispose of any records for at least three years from the date of your initial payment of grant.

In your application, you should show how you plan to make best use of the grant and in particular what steps you plan to take to get the best prices for goods and services. You may be asked to show evidence of this at a later stage. Please note that, in accordance with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders, expenditure for goods and services with a value in excess of £3,000 and requirements for works with a value in excess of £10,000 shall be subject to three competitive quotations. Requirements for goods, services or works with a value in excess of £25,000 shall be subject to formal tendering procedures.

5. Consents and Permissions

Successful applicants will be responsible for obtaining all necessary consents, permissions or licences that are required for their project.

6. Publicity

Successful applicants will be required to acknowledge the support of the Common Good Fund by using the Common Good Fund logo on all relevant publicity material. Full details are given in the Publicity Guidelines.

7. Social inclusion and equal opportunities

Highland Council recommends that successful applicants operate policies on social inclusion and equal opportunities in line with current Highland Council policies.

8. Child Protection Policy

Highland Council will only provide funding for groups which have substantial access to children if they have adopted the Highland Child Protection Committee’s (HCPC) Child Protection Policy. Grant-aided organisations which hire out their facilities must also check that the relevant groups have an appropriate policy in place.

9. Further Information

For further information on any of these terms and conditions please contact your relevant Ward Manager. Details can be found on Highland Council’s website: www.highland.gov.uk