Application for Financial Assistance Lancashire Business Growth Fund

Transcription

1 Key: Data to be inserted Date: [insert date] Dear «Contact_Title» «Contact_Surname», Application for Financial Assistance Lancashire Business Growth Fund «Company_Registered_Name» «Address_Multiple_Line» I am pleased to inform You that, subject to the conditions set out in this offer letter, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce (also referred to as We or Us or Our in this Grant Offer Letter) will give «Company_Registered_Name» (also referred to as You Your or The Company in this Grant offer Letter) a grant from funds provided to Us from HM Governments Regional Growth Fund. The grant amount and project specific conditions are set out in section 1. The general conditions in respect of this funding offer are set out in section SPECIFIC CONDITIONS 1.1 The project: <brief description of project, including location and main spend items with a supplier(s)>: 1.2 Earliest eligible expenditure date Panel date 1.3 Total eligible expenditure 1.4 Total grant offered 1.5 Deadline for completion of defrayment of total Agree exact date with company in eligible expenditure line with application 1.6 Deadline for completion and evidencing jobs created / jobs safeguarded Agree exact date with company in line with application 1.7 Number of new jobs created As per application and panel approval 1.8 Number of existing jobs safeguarded As per application and panel approval Unless otherwise stated in 1.7 and/or 1.8 above, all the contracted jobs targets must be created or safeguarded within the Lancashire based activities of the grant recipient. 1.9 Project Milestones Stage One Two Completion Date Total Eligible Spend RGF grant Payment Beneficiary Company Investment Jobs Created Jobs Safeguarded

2 Total [Delete as applicable, i.e. De minimis or GBER] 1.10 The grant awarded constitutes State Aid as defined under Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union and is being granted as de minimis aid under Commission Regulation EC 1998/2006 and as such must be notified in accordance with the provisions noted in section 2.5 (European State Aid Rules) 1.10 The grant awarded constitutes State Aid as defined under the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Article 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) OJ L 214, , p. 3., is SA.32538(2011/X) This offer of support from the UK Government s Regional Growth Fund is provided under section 7 section 8 [leave in section 7 for a business in an assisted area, leave in section 8 for other areas] of the Industrial Development Act GENERAL CONDITIONS Reference to HM Government includes any Minister who is a member of the UK Government 2.1 The Grant Offer The Grant Offer excludes any expenditure that does not qualify for financial assistance under the terms and conditions set out by the funding body. Grant will only be paid in respect of eligible expenditure defrayed by You. The exception to this is in respect of HP/lease to purchase agreements for which a copy of the fully signed and dated agreement will be deemed as evidence of defrayment In the event of the total eligible expenditure being less than that stated in section 1.3, We may reduce the amount of grant offered (or seek to recover grant already paid) in order to remain within the agreed intervention rate for the project, 2.2 The Project The Project should be implemented fairly and without unlawful discrimination and You should have due regard to the appropriate legislation including the Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Race Relations Amendment Act 2000, Human Rights Act 1998, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and the Equality Act 2010 together with any amendments or subsequent statutes and /or re-enactments The Project should be carried out, as far as possible, in accordance with the quotations and/or plans submitted with Your application. Page 2 of 11

3 You must obtain Our prior written approval for any proposed changes. Should You incur any additional expenditure in respect of this project that is not detailed in Your application, no additional grant will be payable We do not accept any liability for the acts or omissions of any of Your contractors or suppliers. Approval of the grant application, or payment of grant, does not imply any warranty by Us as to the quality of the goods or works that are the subject of this application, nor of the competence of any of the contractors or suppliers named in Your application All building works must be completed in accordance with the relevant Town & Country Planning Acts and Building Regulations approvals. This offer of grant assistance does not form any approval under the Town & Country Planning Acts, the Building Regulations or any lease of covenant where the Council's consent is required. Any approvals required under these provisions, or under any other Regulations, must be obtained separately by You before any work commences In order to claim payment the enclosed notification of outputs form must be completed by You and sent to Your assigned Regenerate contact when the work is finished to Your satisfaction no later than the deadline stated in section 1.5 of this offer letter. You will allow Us or Our authorised agent(s) to inspect the work on reasonable notice On completion of the project it will be Your responsibility to undertake all necessary maintenance of equipment /property acquired with the assistance of the grant monies for the equipment to continue to be of benefit. Periodic reviews for up to two years after the final grant payment may be carried out to ensure that this takes place. 2.3 Payment of Grant Claims for payment must be accompanied by appropriate invoices demonstrating the eligible defrayed expenditure which should be receipted and evidenced by an official bank statement showing that it has been paid. The exception to this is in respect of HP/lease to purchase agreements, for which a copy of the fully signed and dated agreement will be deemed as evidence of defrayment. We reserve the right to seek any further information that We deem necessary to satisfy Us that the amounts have been paid Under the terms of the grant programme retrospective assistance is not permissible. Only expenditure incurred on or after the eligible spend date stated in section 1.2 of this offer letter, and subject to signing and returning this offer letter within the stipulated period, will be accepted as evidence of spend. Any invoices dated before this must be regarded as ineligible for grant assistance The VAT element of the cost must be shown separately. Grant will only be paid on the VAT elements of the work if the Applicant is not registered for VAT. Page 3 of 11

4 2.3.4 We can accept no liability in respect of loss attributable to any delay in the payment of claims or to any suspension, reduction or cancellation of grant. 2.4 Outputs and Monitoring Your grant is dependent on achieving the outputs stated in section 1.3, 1.7 and 1.8 of this offer letter. In the event that these outputs are not achieved in-full, We reserve the right to reduce the final amount of grant paid, or seek repayment of any grant already paid. Any such reduction or repayment will be proportionate to the levels of underperformance. You should inform the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce or Regenerate contact as soon as You become aware of any potential issues of underperformance Regular monitoring will be undertaken and You must comply with all requests for information regarding the progress of the project. Failure to return the forms by the deadlines set may result in loss of the grant aid Monitoring information includes evidence of expenditure and the progress being made towards the achievement of the contracted output targets stated in sections 1.7 and 1.8 of this offer letter. You must inform Us if, during the monitoring period, You plan to dispose of any capital assets purchased with the support of the Regional Growth Fund. A 'capital asset' is defined as: i. Land and buildings (including any interest in land); and ii. Items of equipment and other movable and immovable assets costing 5,000 or more; which on the date of purchase had a useful life of more than one year You will continue to be monitored, following the creation of the last new job attributable to the Project. Any new jobs created, as per the contracted figure stated in section 1.7 of this offer letter, must be maintained for three years from the date of their creation. We will request evidence of overall employment levels in order to evidence the jobs safeguarded target stated in section 1.8 of this offer letter. We reserve the right to request a copy of Your payroll ledger if We deem this necessary If the offer of grant in this offer letter is equal to or greater than 250,000, You must provide Us with an annual confirmatory report by an independent Auditor in the form set out in Annex 1 (the Accountant s Report ). This report will be paid for by You and it will be provided on the accountant s headed paper by an Auditor who is independent of [the Applicant] and is: i. eligible under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1989 or Section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006 for appointment as a company auditor; or, Page 4 of 11

5 ii. for companies that are not quoted on the Stock Exchange of Great Britain or elsewhere, eligible under Section 34(1) of the Companies Act 1989 or Section 1222(1) of the Companies Act In accordance with Article 23 of the Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2082/93, which sets out the European Commission's audit requirements, You are required to retain all original documents relating to the implementation of the project and its financing for a period of Twenty years following completion of the Lancashire Business Growth Programme on 31 March Representatives of HM Government European Commission, the European Court of Auditors, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce and Regenerate Pennine Lancashire (or successor organisation) shall have the right to inspect the project and You must permit such inspections on the receipt of reasonable notice. You must also provide copies of any documents they require and agree to provide any appropriate written or oral explanations they request East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce is keen to support business grant beneficiaries to facilitate employment opportunities for Lancashire residents, including the recruitment of apprentices and graduates from local universities where appropriate. There are a range of support schemes and agencies that can provide specialist assistance in these areas. Your project support contact will be happy to discuss Your recruitment plans and requirements and to assist You to access the relevant support. 2.5 European State Aid Rules Your application form provides details of all financial assistance and "assistance in kind" that Your company has received from the European Community, UK Government, Local Authority or any other State source in the last three years. Similarly You must give notice of this grant offer to any person or body who, at any time in the three years following receipt of this grant, proposes to award Your company any form of financial and/or non-financial aid or assistance Before You accept any additional aid or assistance not declared in Your application, at any time from the date of Your application until three years have expired following receipt of this grant, You must ensure that European Community limits on aid and assistance are not exceeded. [Remove if support offered under GBER} European Community State Aid Rules restrict the amount of financial assistance that Member States can award to businesses in any three year period via the De Minimis state aid vehicle. If, between the date of this offer and the date of payment of grant, changes in the currency market result in Your grant being worth more than 200,000 Euros, equivalent to [ X X X} as at the date of this offer letter and/or You accept a grant from another source that results in the levels of publicly funded support Page 5 of 11

6 provided to Your company exceeding this total, the grant offered in this letter may have to be reduced to ensure that European Community limits are not exceeded We are obliged to give the European Union schedules of information on offers in certain industrial sectors. Very occasionally the European Union queries an offer, in which case We are obliged to give them information about the case. You may be required to co-operate with the Us in the provision of such information. 2.6 Freedom of Information Nothing in this Offer letter shall prevent Us and/or HM Government from disclosing any information whether or not relating to the Project which We or the HM Government in Our/their absolute discretion consider We/they are required to disclose in order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as amended, and/or the Environmental Information Regulations and any other statutory requirements whether or not existing at the date of this Grant Offer Letter. 2.7 Publicity Both We and HM Government may publish the amount of grant offered with the name of The Company concerned and a brief description of the Project after the acceptance of the Grant offer letter If You issue any publicity or make any announcement regarding the Project You should ensure that assistance from the HM Government s Regional Growth fund is fully acknowledged. The joint involvement of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce and Regenerate Pennine Lancashire and/or North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce should also be recorded and You are required to co-operate in any publicity arranged by Us. Written consent of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce is required prior to any publicity or announcements. 2.8 Withholding Payment or Requests for Repayment of Grant This paragraph sets out the circumstances in which We have the right to require repayment of part of or all of the grant. In circumstances where We obtain repayment from You, We will then provide those funds to HM Government. You must read this paragraph carefully before signing the Acceptance. If any of the circumstances set out in this paragraph occurs or may occur, You must tell Us immediately so that We can discuss the best way forward with You. This paragraph also sets out circumstances in which HM Government may require repayment of part or all of the grant from You directly (i.e. without going through Us) at any time before 3 years from the official completion date of this project agreed by us. The circumstances where We or HM Government may require repayment of all or part of the grant are as follows: Page 6 of 11

7 The arrangements for financing the Project have changed Assistance for the Project is received or promised from another institution of the European Communities, a Government department, a local authority, or any other partly or wholly publicly financed body or charitable fund, unless this assistance was taken into account in making this offer In Our and/or HM Government s opinion, progress on the Project, including progress on reaching the Job Target and the other targets in clauses 1.3, 1.7 & 1.8 are not satisfactory, or there is significant change in the scale, nature, costs or timing of the Project, or You are convicted of any criminal offence You become insolvent or make any arrangement with Your Creditors, or go into liquidation or take or suffer any steps preparatory to winding up The Company or the appointment of an Administrator, Liquidator or Receiver or You commit or suffer any act equivalent to any of the foregoing There is a change in ownership of The Company The premises, for which financial assistance has been awarded, ceases to be owned by You or for a period of more than 3 months You stop using for the purposes of the Project part or all of the Premises A 'capital asset' acquired with financial assistance is sold or leased to another party; unless, it is used as part payment against equipment that will upgrade the companies operations and provided prior approval has been sought from Us A 'capital asset' acquired with financial assistance is relocated outside the Administrative areas of either of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Blackpool Council or Lancashire County Council A business awarded financial assistance who subsequently relocates outside the Administrative areas of either of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Blackpool Council or Lancashire County Council Any of the information provided on the application form, in supporting documentation or subsequent correspondence is found to be incorrect or incomplete The European Union determines that State Aid limits have been exceeded and that any grant paid should not have been paid, or a decision of the European Commission or the European Court of Justice requires payment to be withheld or recovered. 2.9 Amendments to this Letter No amendment or variation to the terms of this letter will be effective unless agreed in writing by us European Community HM Government are obliged to give the European Commission schedules of information on offers in certain industrial sectors. Very occasionally the European Commission queries an offer in which case HM Government are obliged to give them Page 7 of 11

8 information about the Project. You may be required to co-operate with HM Government in the provision of such information The European Commission summary of information number for the Regional Growth Fund under the Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 th August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Article 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation ) OJ L214, ,p.3 is SA.32538(2011/X) 2.11 Acceptance This offer can only be accepted by an authorised signatory signing the enclosed copy letter and returning it to the following officer within one month of the date of this offer letter: Chamber contact: Louise Gaskell If the acceptance is not received within the indicated timescale, the offer will be deemed to have lapsed and the grant funding offer will be deemed to have been withdrawn No payments will be made under this offer until We have received this written acceptance This offer is and all documents made under or in connection with it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Laws of England. You hereby irrevocably submit to the jurisdiction of the English Courts and your address for service in England is «Address_One_Line» In accepting this offer You confirm that neither You or any holding company or subsidiary company in Your group is subject to an outstanding recovery order following a Commission Decision declaring an aid illegal and incompatible with the common market In accepting this offer You accept that the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (or equivalent government successor office) has a right to recover any State Funds, together with interest from the date of payment, if required to do so as a result of a decision by the European Commission or as a result of any obligation arising under European Union Law. «Company_Registered_Name» «Address_Multiple_Line» Date: [insert date] Page 8 of 11

9 Total eligible expenditure Company Investment [insert] Total grant offered «Enquiry_User_Defined_Numbe _3b_Tot» «Enquiry_User_Defined_Numbe Total_» Signed on behalf of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Name: Position: Signed:... Date: The Company In accepting this offer of funding, The Company confirms that there are no grants or other payments from any public authority (i.e. an institution of the European Communities, a Government Department, a local authority or any other partly or wholly publicly financed body or charitable fund) received or receivable in respect of any element of the Project for which funding is being provided under the terms of this letter and any schedules. The Company accepts the offer on the Conditions set out in this letter and the Schedules. Name: Position: Signed:... Date: Page 9 of 11

10 Annex 1 The Accountant's Report [Date] 1. [Name of Accountant] has examined the enclosed claims from [the Applicant] (the Company ) for the period from [date] to [date] in accordance with the terms and conditions of the engagement letter dated [date] and the Grant Offer Letter dated [date]. These claims have been prepared by and are the sole responsibility of the directors of the Company. 2. [Name of Accountant] has carried out a reasonable level of assurance assignment by performing the following tests: a. [Name of Accountant] has selected a random sample of eligible expenditure incurred by value as reported on the claims and traced them to invoices or other supporting documentation and evidence of payment to check that they have been properly incurred and defrayed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Grant Offer Letter; <include subparagraph (b) where leasing/hp forms part of the eligible expenditure> b. [Name of Accountant] has selected a random sample of [fixed assets] which have been financed by leasing/hp and confirmed these to relevant HP/leasing agreements; c. [Name of Accountant] has identified the number of permanent full time jobs and part time equivalents working on the Project as recorded by the Company s payroll records at start of the Project and at the date of the claims; d. [Name of Accountant] has confirmed the recorded salary for each of the jobs directly associated with the Project; e. [Name of Accountant] has confirmed the recorded skill level for each of the jobs directly associated with the Project using the standard occupational classification (SOC) 1 index. This assigns the Project jobs on the basis of an occupation to one of four levels, where 1 is the bottom level and 4 the top. The confirmation on the skill level has been made by Us checking [on a sample basis] the records and copies of relevant evidence of achieved skill levels (such as photocopies of educational certificates maintained by the Company s Page 10 of 11

11 payroll/personnel department) or by inspection of job descriptions or physical inspections of the jobs being carried out; <include subparagraph (f) where the site total will be monitored> f. [Name of Accountant] has identified the total workforce number of permanent full time jobs and part time equivalents at the Premises as reported by the Company s payroll records at the start of the Project and at the date of the claims; and g. [Name of Accountant] has confirmed the arithmetical accuracy of the schedules relating to the claims and agreed them to the appropriate supporting documentation. [Name of Accountant s firm] has also checked whether the grant claimed by the Company has been calculated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Grant Offer Letter. 1 The SOC is available at: Page 11 of 11