Grants and monitoring Contact administers, and pays a grant of up to £17,500 available to one parent carer forum in each local authority area of England, funded by the Department for Education (DfE). The grant is used to strengthen parent carer forums, so that parent carers can participate in the strategic planning and decision-making around services for children and young people aged 0 – 25 with SEND in their area. In this article 2023-2024 grant applications The grant application process for 2023-24 is now open. You may notice the grant forms have been released a little earlier than last year, this means we can accept and process applications now. However, due to rules financial year rules relating to the grant we won’t be able to pay any approved grants until after 31 March 2023. Applications can be submitted at any point between now and the closing date of Monday 12th June 2023. If your forum will struggle to meet this deadline, let us know and we can negotiate a revised deadline with you. We encourage forums to submit applications at the earliest opportunity to minimise any gap in funding. Note: all underspend from any 2022-23 grant will be deducted from the 2023-24 grant total. The 2023-24 grant application form and Managing Your Grant document can be downloaded below: 2023-24 – Grant application form – which includes revised declarations and conditions of grant, and grant host agreement – we recommend that forums read these carefully prior to submitting their applications. Glossary of jargon and legal terms used in the declarations and conditions of grant – read alongside the conditions of grant to refer to any unfamiliar terms. 2023-24 – Managing Your Grant – all forums will receive a copy by email when their application is approved. We suggest that forums refer to it to help with record keeping and paper work during the year. 2023-24 Grant Application Guidance – read carefully and follow when completing your application. Proofs of expenditure guidance 2023-24 Here are some example grant applications which may help new forums to draft their first application: Example A Example B Example C Grant myth busting Put in your application as soon as you can – your 2022-23 monitoring does not have to be signed off before your forum can apply for the first half of the 2023-24 grant. Local authorities do not endorse grant applications, they agree to recognise the DfE funded forum and to work with them as a strategic partner – the MOU between forums and the local authority provides clarity on this issue. Additional claims: 2nd tranche applications: Your grant application for 2023/24 is paid in two tranches (payments) you get your first half when your grant is approved and then you’re able to apply for the second half when your forum’s 2022/23 grant monitoring has been approved. You will receive a grant monitoring approval letter from the grants team to let you know this has been approved. The 2nd tranche form is below. Please be aware that the form must have the Conditions of Grant signatory’s email address provided on your grant application form for 2023/24. Failure to do this will delay your payment. The amount you can apply for on your 2nd tranche application is minus the confirmed underspend in your grant monitoring for 2022/23. For example, if you had a £1,000 underspend and you applied for the full £17,500 then you will only be able to apply for £7,750 for your 2nd tranche (£8,750 – £1,000). Please be aware that all underspend will be deducted from your 2nd tranche payment, no matter how big or small. You can apply for the 2nd tranche payment here: 2nd Tranche form The deadline for 2nd tranche applications is 22nd November 2023 (if you miss this deadline you may not be able to apply for the 2nd tranche of your grant). Priority Grant When forums don’t access the full amount of the grant allocated to them, either due to them applying for less money or having an underspend from the previous year, this provides a pot of money for other forums to access for important projects/workstreams during the same grant year. We are accepting Regional and forum Priority Grant applications from 10th July 2023 The Priority Grant process is open to regions whose 2022/23 Regional Priority Grant monitoring has been approved (we ringfence £3,000 funding for each region to apply for). Regions can apply for more than £3,000, though approval will depend on whether there is funding available. The Priority Grant will be open to all forums who have had their grant monitoring for 2022/23 approved, and who have applied for the first and second tranches of the 2023/24 grant. The Priority Grants will be on a first come, first served basis, as the pot is finite and to enable forums to have the best chance of meeting their outcomes rather than waiting until November when the final underspend figure for the year is confirmed. The deadline for all Priority Grant applications will be 22nd November 2023. *Note – funds may be used up before then, so we recommend getting applications in as soon as possible. Please be aware that only applications that demonstrate that there is an urgent need for the funding, will be approved. Applications should be discussed with your Parent Carer Participation Advisor prior to submission. Forums and regions can apply using the link below: Priority grant application form Regions, please be aware that any underspend from the 2022/23 Regional Priority Grant should be incorporated into this year’s Priority Grant application. 2022-2023 grant monitoring The grant monitoring form for 2022-23 is now available and should be submitted by the closing date of Tuesday 2nd May 2023. Please let us know ahead of this date if your forum will need to arrange for an extension. The parent carer participation team is here to support you. Forums that received the DfE parent carer participation grant for 2022-23 should submit a grant monitoring form and, if requested, all associated proofs of expenditure (POEs). Any requested POEs can be submitted via a secure link provided by the grants team. Forums that are required to provide proofs of expenditure will be informed of this link. If your forum does not receive it, please contact the grants team on pcfgrants@contact.org.uk. If your forum has any difficulty submitting POEs, speak to a member of the grants team and they will assist you. The online monitoring form can be accessed below: 2022-23 Grant monitoring form 2022-23 Grant monitoring guidance – read this to help you to complete the form Changes to grant documentation this year We have produced a document to explain the changes that were necessary to both the grant application and grant monitoring form this year which forums might find useful. Grants session The annual online grants session took place on Friday 31st March 2023, you can view the recording of the session at the following link https://youtu.be/_advLJICuws. Fraud resources We strongly recommend that every forum reads our webpage on fraud which has pointers and signposting to useful sources of information on fraud guidance. Use the tips to protect your forum from the possibility of fraud if you are not already doing so. Code of Conduct All forums in receipt of the grant will need to adhere to the HM Government Code of Conduct for Grant Recipients. We recommend that all steering group/committee members read this in full. Important information for forums with new or different bank accounts If your forum is applying for the grant for the first time, or if your forum has a new bank account, Contact will need to conduct due diligence checks and to set the forum up on our payment system. This may result in a small delay – therefore, we recommend getting your application in as soon as possible so that the grants team can get the checks started, minimising any delays. For further information, please contact the grants team – pcfgrants@contact.org.uk. Queries and further information If you have any queries about the grants process, please contact your parent carer participation adviser or email pcfgrants@contact.org.uk. We are here to support all forums. Information about second tranche claims, regional, and priority grants will be uploaded in due course. We expect that second tranche applications will open in early July and forums whose 2022-23 grant monitoring has been approved will be able to apply. Managing your 2023-2024 grant If your forum is successful in their application for the parent carer participation grant, you will find these documents helpful when managing the grant: Managing your parent carer participation grant – All forums will receive a link to this practical document when their grant application is approved, and we recommend that you refer to it through the year for good practice suggestions. Proofs of expenditure guidance 2023-24 2023-24 Excel spreadsheet to record grant spend