Smart Energy GB in Communities fund Overview July - Sept 2018
hello Thank you for your interest in the Smart Energy GB in Communities fund. We really value your support. Smart Energy GB Smart Energy GB is the voice of the smart meter rollout. It s our task to help everyone in Great Britain understand smart meters, the national rollout and how to use their new meters to get their gas and electricity under control. Smart Energy GB s vision is that smart meters will transform the way we buy and use energy in Great Britain, paving the way to an easier, smarter future. We have a big job to do and we can t do it alone. We know that people are more likely to listen to those they know and trust, so partnerships are at the heart of our mission to engage the nation and spread the word about smart meters. We need your help to bring the smart meter experience to life and ensure people understand the benefits of smart meters and how to get one. We have created this overview and the supporting guidance documents to make sure that you have all the information and tools you need to apply for a Smart Energy GB in Communities grant. Smart meters and the rollout Smart meters replace the traditional meters (including prepay meters) we currently have in our homes. Installed by your energy supplier, they make it even easier to keep control of your energy. The smart meter rollout is an essential technology upgrade, unprecedented in its scale, to improve Great Britain s energy infrastructure. Almost 11 million smart meters have already been installed, and between now and 2020 every household in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered one at no extra cost. What are the benefits of smart meters? These are the smart meter benefits that we want partners to communicate this year: 1. Peace of mind: With real-time information on how much your energy is costing you can turn up the heating on those cold nights safe without the fear of an unexpectedly high bill popping through the door. 2. See exactly how much energy you use in pounds and pence: With your smart meter, you ll also get an easy-to-understand hand held display that shows you in near real-time exactly what you re spending in pounds and pence. 3. Accurate bills: Smart meters mean that your bills will be accurate, not estimated based upon what they think you should have used. Once you have a smart meter, you ll get accurate bills from your energy supplier, just as you do with your telephone bill. 4. An end to manual meter readings: You will no longer need to scrabble around in the meter cupboard to take your own reading and no strangers will call at your home to read the meter. The meter sends your meter reading direct to your energy supplier. 5. It s even easier to keep control of your energy: Being able to see how much energy you re using as you use it means you can take steps to reduce energy waste in your home by working out which appliances are guzzling the most energy. Please visit the Smart Energy GB website for more information about smart meters: smartenergygb.org/faqs 1
Smart Energy GB in Communities Smart Energy GB in Communities is part of Smart Energy GB s campaign to inform and inspire people about smart meters and the benefits they can bring. Through Smart Energy GB in Communities, we are partnering with regional and local organisations from the voluntary and public sectors. This means we re able to work with trusted, expert organisations across the country to ensure people understand the benefits of smart meters and know how to get one. Smart Energy GB in Communities is being delivered by a consortium of charities; National Energy Action (NEA), Energy Action Scotland (EAS) and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Smart Energy GB in Communities is providing a range of advice and support to our partners, including: CAF - will be responsible for processing the information on the application received on behalf of Smart Energy GB and for distributing funding to organisations delivering projects and activities that engage our target groups with the smart meter campaign NEA/EAS NEA and EAS are responsible for delivering the regional support strand of the programme. They support partners through training, information sharing, equipping them with knowledge and skills to engage and support our target groups Smart Energy GB will provide an online Resource centre hosting free materials and training resources The role of Charities Aid Foundation Charities Aid Foundation is the global expert in charities and giving. CAF helps people and businesses support the causes they care about and provide financial services tailored to the specific needs of charities. With 45 years experience in delivering strategic grant-making programmes, CAF is uniquely placed to manage this grant programme, providing partners with grants to support communities around Great Britain in their smart meter journey. To find out more, please visit the CAF website: cafonline.org/about-us Who is Smart Energy GB in Communities trying to reach? The programme supports those who might find it difficult to engage with the smart meter rollout. In 2018, we are targeting funding and support to organisations who reach people on a low income. Individuals are defined as low income, when the household in which they live has income less than 60% of the national median (before housing costs, including rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, buildings insurance, ground rent and service charges) (DWP). 2
Who can apply? We are seeking applications from regionally or locally based organisations that can reach and deliver support to people on a low income. You will have a trusted voice in your community and will provide education, reassurance and direct support to people in our target group to help them overcome concerns around financial uncertainty. You will showcase the benefits of smart meters by demonstrating how they help with budgeting to increase the level of interest of people getting a smart meter installed. Further details are provided in the application guidance which you should consult before beginning your application. When planning projects, you should also take into account when the fund closes and when funds should be spent by, details of which are provided later in this document. If your organisation is not a registered charity, then you may be required to provide further information and supporting documentation along with your grant application. Is this grant right for you? Who can apply? What can you apply for? Grant size Regional and local organisations, charities and community groups working with people on a low income. Projects which are specifically targeted at and engage people on a low income to provide reassurance and hand holding support to help them overcome concerns, realise the benefits of smart meters and to increase interest in getting one installed. This could involve a range of activities, including incorporating smart meter messages into existing services and events or running specific advice sessions on smart meters. 500-5,000 Monitoring & evaluation commitment During and at the end of the project. A pack will be supplied outlining what is expected if you are successful. Duration of delivery Projects to commence w.c. 8 th Oct 2018 and complete by 14 th December 2018. What we will fund Here is an example of the kind of project we might fund. Organisation Application Award A charitable organisation based in a rural community. It supports people on a low income living in financial hardship/debt. 3000 to deliver 10 myth busting workshops to a total of 60 people with a further 20 people offered one to one support to overcome barriers to engagement with the rollout. Costs also include a demo IHD, a laptop and printed materials. This is on top of the core service which doesn t currently include delivering information about the rollout. 2500 for 10 workshops to support 60 people, a further 20 through one to one sessions. The laptop and materials were not in the remit of the fund. The application demonstrates good value for money and reaches people on low incomes. 3
What we will not fund There are a number of things that we are unable to fund. Please consult the list and contact us if you are unsure whether your activity falls into any category mentioned. We will not fund: activities which are not targeted at or do not engage people on a low income existing activity. If your organisation has previously been awarded a grant from Smart Energy GB in Communities, please review the Applying again section below items which only benefit an individual beneficiary groups not in England, Scotland or Wales the promotion of political or religious objectives work that is the responsibility of statutory authorities organisations that are not considered charitable core funding for your organisation (e.g. general operating costs, central costs, running costs, management, administration and office costs, overheads and support costs) projects or activities that are not focussed on our programme outcomes and target group projects or activities that will have happened or started before we have processed your application projects or activities that cannot be completed by the programme end date projects or activities which do not demonstrate additional activity to your business as usual activities and are not smart meter specific costs to produce content for radio or television costs to produce content for social media costs for the design of monitoring and evaluation surveys (as these will be provided to you by Smart Energy GB) and any costs for research costs to print any items which may be downloaded for free from the partner section of the Smart Energy GB Resource centre: smartenergygb.org/resources costs for paid advertising or production costs of existing newsletters or brochures which your organisation already produces as a part of your business as usual activities costs to undertake engagement with MPs or elected Local Authority members organisations that are a member or branch of one of our national partners, where the project would duplicate existing activity with the national partner. Please contact CAF to discuss if you think this may apply to you 4
Applying again If your application is unsuccessful, the decision letter will state if and how your organisation can reapply. If you are awarded a grant, your organisation can reapply for another project once you have returned your end of grant report. Your new application must show it: builds on your previous work e.g. moves people further along the smart meter journey responds to new fund criteria Smart Energy GB Resource centre The Resource centre hosts a suite of marketing and support materials that our regional and local partners can use to spread the word about smart meters. If your application is successful, you can register or log in and order materials that have been designed specifically for people on a low income, free of charge. You will be notified separately of their availability once they are ready to be accessed. Please allow 5-7 working days for materials to be printed and delivered to you. You can also browse and download other campaign materials. A number of resources are available in alternative formats (braille, easy read, large print, audio and BSL), bilingual (English/Welsh) and our five additional languages (Bengali, Urdu, Polish, Guajarati and Punjabi). You do not need to be a grantee to use the Resource centre, so you can sign up now and start using the resources right away. We aim to enable any organisations to spread the word about smart meters through the materials and support available on the Resource centre. We ask that you use our materials wherever possible rather than creating your own. This ensures that information about the smart meter rollout is presented accurately and consistently, in a way that everyone is able to understand. Please note that in your application form we will not expect to see any costs within your project cost breakdown for materials that can be viewed, downloaded or ordered on the Resource centre. To find out more, visit: smartenergygb.org/resources 5
The dates for this round are as follows: For projects commencing w.c 8 th October 2018 Applications open 30 th July 2018 Applications closed 3 rd September 2018, midday Communication of outcome Week commencing 1 st October 2018 Projects commence Week commencing 8 th October 2018 Projects finish Projects delivered by 14 th December 2018 Applying for a grant This guidance document also includes information about: the application process acceptance of grant and payment monitoring and evaluation You should consult the Smart Energy GB in Communities fund Small grant application guidance document before completing your application. Check your organisation and project are eligible by completing the Pre-application checklist, which can be found on the Smart Energy GB in Communities fund Small grant application form. Complete and submit your application form. 6
Decisions, acceptance and payment Once received, your application will be assessed and the outcome of this provided to your organisation within the timeframe outlined above. As part of the assessment process, we may come back to you to request further information to clarify elements of your application or to provide further supporting documentation. For those applicants who are successful, you will be contacted via the primary contact you provide on your application form. It is therefore essential that if this contact changes (for instance, if the named contact leaves the organisation) you update us so that we can amend our records. If your application is successful, you will be asked to return an Acceptance of grant form which should be signed and preferably scanned and returned to us. We are unable to make any payment to organisations until we have received this form so it is important that the form is returned promptly. This form must be returned within four weeks of the date of the award letter and failure to do so will result in expiry of the grant offer. We also request that organisations return evidence of their bank details with the Acceptance of grant form, either as a paying-in slip, cancelled cheque or a bank statement from within the last three months. This is important so that we can make payment to the correct account. Please note that any evidence of bank details (including online bank statements) should show the full name of your organisation and this should be the same as the name on your application form. Payment of grant is made via BACS transfer, and takes between 3-5 working days to reach your account once we have confirmed that payment has been made. Payment will be made in the following proportions: 80 per cent at commencement of project 20 per cent on completion of monitoring and evaluation requirements. Please see next section Monitoring and Evaluation requirements for grant applicants On receipt of funding, organisations must complete, sign and return (preferably scanned) the Acknowledgement of grant form. We are unable to make further payments to your organisation unless this has been received. All successful applicants must adhere to the terms and conditions of the grant award and failure to do so will potentially affect release of any final payments or affect future applications from your organisation. 7
Monitoring and evaluation requirements for grant applicants Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of our partnerships is crucial to us. We need to understand and evaluate the impact of the smart meter activities delivered so we can work with our partners to continuously learn and improve how we support people with the rollout of smart meters. To do this effectively, there are three types of requirements for grantees: reporting on activities delivered surveying people exposed to activities with at least a 10 per cent return rate participation in partner audits if required In addition to the above, we may ask you to carry out additional more in-depth research with us: taking part in case studies if required supporting us in carrying out additional consumer research with people you will be reaching in your activities if required - (ad hoc research) Reporting on activities delivered The basic details you provided in your application form include your anticipated reach for your project activities. By reach we mean the number of people that you will reach, see or take part in your activities. We will use this information to track your progress. Once you have completed activities we will require you to provide an update on what was delivered by submitting your End of project and reconciliation report. This will need to be provided and analysed before your final payment can be released. Surveying people exposed to activities Once your project is underway we expect you to distribute a consumer survey to the end users/ beneficiaries you go on and tell about smart meters this is crucial as it enables us to evaluate the impact of our programme on the people it reaches. When distributing this survey we would expect at least a ten per cent return. We will need you to make sure that you: distribute it to the people you tell about smart meters ideally to all of them but, if that is not possible, to a random sample so as to avoid bias in responses use the paper version We will provide further guidance on monitoring and evaluation to successful applicants. Participating in partner audits Grantees may be subjected to an audit at any time during or shortly after their contractual period. Grantees will be given limited notice of an upcoming audit sufficient to collate documentation and if necessary book time for interviews. Audits will comprise an interview, review of documentation relevant to the delivery of activities and M&E requirements set-out in the fund agreement. This audit will determine whether grantees have: invested the resources they committed to in their application delivered the activities they committed to in their application achieved their M&E requirements with at least a 10 per cent return rate Additional information that may be required In addition to an audit you may be required to participate in a site visit by one of the partners or take part in further in-depth research so we can improve the programme. It is expected that you will co-operate fully with this should you receive a grant from us. 8
Contacting us If you have a query about your application, please get in touch. Telephone: 03000 123 346 E-mail: smartenergygb@cafonline.org Online: cafonline.org/smartenergygb 9