The application and assessment processes are described in full in the Introduction and Help Notes of the Heritage Grants application material. Below are some of the most common questions we are asked about these processes.
1 Is there a deadline for applications under £5million?
There are no deadlines for applications under £5million. You can apply at any time.
2 Is there a deadline for applications for grants of £5million or more?
Yes. Applications for grants of £5million or more are assessed in a competitive batch once a year. The deadline for first-round applications is 30 September for each year. Both first and second-round applications will be batched.
If you are submitting your application in 2008 the deadlines are as follows:
• First-round applications: 30 September 2008, with a decision in February 2009. Applicants have just over 18-months to work up their second-round application.
• Second-round applications to be submitted by 30 September 2010 for decision in February 2011.
3 How long does it take before I get a decision about my application?
It will take us three months from the date we receive your first and/or second-round application to assess it. We will decide on your application at the next available meeting after the three-month assessment process has passed.
4 When do regional and country committees and board meet to make decisions?
Country/Regional Committees meet every three months, and the Board every two months. Depending on the level of your grant request, a decision will be made by either the Country/Regional Committees or the Board. Up to March 2009, Country/Regional Committees will assess grant requests under £2million. From April 2009, they will make decisions on applications for grants under £1million. Click here for meeting dates.
5 Do all applications need to go through the two-round application process?
Yes. The only exception is for an acquisition with an urgent purchase deadline, when we may allow the application to go straight to a second-round decision. If you need an urgent decision from us, you must contact us to discuss this before you apply. This fast-track process cannot be used for other scenarios, for example where there is a risk of losing partnership funding.
6 Do I use the same application form for both application rounds?
Yes. The application form is meant to be a living document to which you add information as your planning progresses between the first and second rounds. This means that you will be preparing your second-round application by updating and adding to the information you provided at the first round as your project develops.
7 Do I need to complete the second-round costs to submit a first-round application?
Yes. You need to complete the second-round costs in order to give HLF decision takers an indication of how much you expect your project to cost and how much you expect to ask for from HLF at the second round. These figures will be estimates but should reflect how much you anticipate your project will cost to deliver.
8 Is the application process competitive?
The application process is competitive in both rounds. Success in the first round does not guarantee you will be successful in the second round. Demand for our funds means that we cannot support every application even if they meet our criteria. As a rough guide, we expect to make full awards to around four out of five applicants at the second round. So, passing the first round does mean you have a good chance of receiving a grant at the second round.
9 Do I have to complete a pre-application enquiry form prior to sending in my first-round application?
No, but we recommend you use the online pre-application enquiry form to tell us about your project and ask for our advice before going ahead with a full application.
10 Do all projects with successful first-round applications get a mentor?
No. We may offer you a mentor to support you in developing your project; if you have had little experience of doing a project of this type, or on this scale. They may provide help with generic skills related to project management (although a project manager can be employed with the cost met through a development grant) or in more specialist areas such as developing proposals for community participation or learning. Mentors are recruited and paid for by HLF.
11 What are development grants?
Development grants are used to help applicants with the cost of planning and developing their project up to a second-round application. Any organisation can apply for a grant. If you are seeking a development grant, you need to tell us about the work you propose to do with it in detail when submitting your first-round application. To find out about the types of specialist services for which you can use a development grant, see our document called Heritage Grants – examples of development work.
12 What is the total amount of funding you can request for a development grant?
We do not cap development grants. Applicants will need to demonstrate a clear need, including financial need, for the development work.
13 What is the ‘review’ process between the first and second-rounds?
This is only for projects which involve capital works. Your grant officer will only formally review projects where there are significant capital works. This review will take place when the development of design and outline costs reaches RIBA Stage C. If your proposals have changed a lot, and we think they no longer represent value for money, we may withdraw our support. Either the Regional/Country Committee or Board (depending on the size of the first-round pass) will take this decision.
14 How much time do I have to work up my second-round application for a grant below £5million?
You can send in your second-round application as soon as you are ready. This may be straightaway, but we expect most projects to take up to 18 months. The deadline for sending in your second-round application is two years from the first-round decision. If you need longer than two years, you will need to send us a new first-round application.
15 Do all projects need to provide an Activity Plan?
Yes. When you submit your second-round application you need to provide an Activity Plan. See our guidance Planning activities in heritage projects.
16 If I have already prepared an Audience Development Plan, Training Plan and Access Plan under previous HLF guidance, do we still need to send an Activity Plan?
Yes, but you can use your Plans to provide the information for answers to the questions in the application form at the first round, and to prepare the Activity Plan for the second round. We will not fund development work that duplicates or replaces work already done using a Project Planning Grants under our old application process.
17 How long can my project last for?
Projects should not last more than five years.
18 Can private owners apply for land and biodiversity work?
Projects that will make a significant contribution to National, Regional and Local Biodiversity Action Plan targets, and may involve some conservation and capital works on private land, may be eligible as part of a partnership application. A not-for-profit lead applicant, for example a Wildlife Trust, the Forestry Commission, RSPB, should apply on behalf of a partnership or consortium.
19 If an applicant is rejected at the first or second round can they reapply?
You can reapply provided the proposals for your new application are materially different from your unsuccessful application, particularly in relation to value for money, if this was the reason for rejection. You will also need to take into account feedback from the original Committee or Board decision.
20 Can we include money we have already spent as partnership funding (‘sunk costs’)?
As we are assessing applications at an earlier stage in a project’s development we do not expect you to have incurred high costs before you make your first-round application. We will allow eligible sunk costs incurred within 12 months of the date of the first-round application, and up to 30 September 2008, as a contribution to match funding. We will not take account of project costs incurred after that date and before making a first-round application.