Grant Funding Programme

2016-2017

Guidance notes for applicants to

Stream 2 (Thematic Debt Advice)

grant funding programme

This document contains background information, priorities and conditions of

eligibility for the programme, as well as guidance to help you to complete the

grant funding application form.

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1. General Information

Timescales Please send us completed application forms by 12 noon on Monday 16 November 2015. We plan to assess applications over the period November/December 2015.

Full terms and conditions, including the schedule of payments and monitoring arrangements, will be finalised over January/February 2016.

Projects are anticipated to be running by 1st April 2016.

How and where to send completed applications The Money Advice Service (MAS) is using an e-Sourcing portal for this grant application exercise.

The grant application pack is only available in electronic form which can be accessed via your web

browser mas.bravossolution.co.uk

Completed applications and accompanying documents should be submitted via the MAS e-

Sourcing portal by the closing date for applications. Instructions for submitting your application are

available at Appendix 5.

MAS also requires a printed copy of Section J which you have signed. MAS must receive the

signed Section J of an application by 5pm on Wednesday 18 November 2015.

Hard copy documents should be marked and addressed as set out below:

Northern Ireland Grant Applications – Stream 2: Thematic For the attention of: UK Debt Advice Programme Money Advice Service Floor 5, 120 Holborn London EC1N 2TD

Please contact us if you would like the application form in a different format

Procurement.GMB@moneyadviceservice.org.uk.

Enquiries relating to the application If you wish to discuss how to complete your application form or the programme guidance, please

submit your query via the secure messaging portal in the MAS eSourcing system. We will

endeavour to respond to all queries in a timely fashion.

Please note we will not be able to provide feedback on your project proposal during the

application period.

We will circulate all questions and answers raised by any applicant to all applicants registered for

this opportunity via MAS eSourcing portal.

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2. The Money Advice Service Northern

Ireland Debt Advice grants

programme 2016-2019

Our plan for funding debt advice in NI from April 2016 will include two separate streams. Both will

be open to applicants from national and local not for profit organisations, and consortium

applications, led by a not for profit organisation. The two streams of funding are designed to

contribute to MAS’ statutory objectives to improve the availability, quality and consistency of debt

advice across the UK.

We know from research that some people who are facing debt problems are already actively

seeking advice. Stream 1 of the programme focuses on providing high quality and consistent debt

advice accessible to people who are already looking for advice, on a national basis.

However we know that many more people could benefit from access to debt advice if they could be

reached at an earlier stage. Stream 2 of the programme will, across the three years, focus

available funds on testing and then learning from different types of intervention with a view to

improving the number of people actively-seeking and then accessing help to resolve their debt

problems.

We already fund initiatives to explore ways of achieving this in other parts of the UK and therefore

want the Northern Ireland programme to complement and learn from these initiatives. We will be

making findings from the other thematic programmes in the UK available to help inform

development of the Stream 1 debt advice delivery arrangements. We will also expect lessons from

the Stream 2 projects in NI to be able to inform practise and improve outcomes across our other

UK programmes in a similar way.

STREAM 2 – Improving engagement with debt Advice We want Stream 2 projects in Northern Ireland to focus on tackling the barriers that impact on

advice-seeking behaviour. In 2016/17 we will be focussing Stream 2 funding on the debt advice

needs of low income families.

Appendix 2 sets out research findings related to the over-indebted population in Northern Ireland,

and highlights what we believe are key findings around variance between different population

segments in respect of advice seeking behaviour.

Successful projects will need to show that they will establish learning which can be mainstreamed

into Stream 1 of the Northern Ireland delivery programme, and to contribute to achievement in

improving engagement with debt advice for people who are relatively under-represented in the

current population accessing advice when compared with the over-indebted population.

We want projects to build on strong links between advice providers and other support agencies

that work with a particular population group to test new methods of improving engagement with

advice at an earlier stage. These partnerships must also align with and not duplicate existing

provision which is funded already in Northern Ireland.

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Priorities and outcomes We know that enabling effective access to debt advice at an early point and sustaining

engagement with the debt advice process can be more challenging for some people. It can be

difficult for people to take steps to tackle money or debt problems while also trying to sort out the

medical, social or emotional aspects in their circumstances. We are looking for proposals which

will test out new ideas to successfully break down these barriers.

In Year 1 (2016/17) of our three year funding programme we are inviting proposals which focus on

the debt advice needs of over-indebted low-income families who are either not seeking help or are

seeking help but at a late stage. We welcome proposals that focus on low income families in one

or more of the following groups:

people with disabilities, including mental ill health and learning disabilities,

people who have experienced domestic abuse,

families of people in prison or on probation,

other innovative proposals relating to barriers to advice for low income families

Proposals are being invited for projects that:

will test new and innovative ways of connecting low income families to debt advice, that

achieve sustainable resolution by

o improving earlier engagement with debt advice for low income families facing

particular kinds of debt and/or

o tackling barriers around seeking help for particular groups of low income families

and/or

o testing engagement with advice and delivery through the use of digital channels to

overcome particular barriers, including perceptions/local issues about anonymity

will improve the way that organisations working with low income families can identify over-

indebtedness and help people to take steps to access appropriate debt advice through the

most appropriate channel – and will embed this learning to last beyond the project and

improve outcomes for other people in the client group in the future

at a strategic level have the potential to inform policy and practice at the national (and UK)

level in respect of how to improve early engagement with debt advice by low income

families

Eligibility and Scale Applications are sought from national or local not for profit organisations.

There is an indicative £200,000 available awarding to successful projects in 2016/17. There will be

no requirement for proposals to be national in reach. We would like to fund up to 3 proposals under

this Stream although this will depend on the quality and scale of proposals received.

We will accept proposals for small grants with the minimum budget for proposals being £40,000

and maximum being £200,000 for the 12 month period.

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Criteria for assessment The programme is not intended to have national reach. We are looking to fund a set of projects that test different interventions to improve engagement with debt advice model and can help public funding for advice be more outcome-focused in the future.

Priority will be given to projects which at a strategic level have the potential to inform policy and

practice at the national level in respect of how to improve outcomes for people facing money and

debt problems.

We will assess applications against the following criteria:

1. The project structure and design is clear in evidencing what the proposed project will do to test methods for improving the connection to debt advice for over-indebted low income families who have not been seeking and accessing help

2. The project structure and design is clear in evidencing why the proposed project will, tackle an identified barrier to accessing or seeking help for the low income families within the project scope

3. The project rationale and design are matched by the project scope and scale

4. The proposal includes evidence of how the lead organisation and referral partners will gain in competence and knowledge which will last beyond the project term to improve outcomes for families facing debt in the future

5. The applicant can evidence that appropriate project management structure is in place and that the project implementation plan and timescales are achievable within the project period and there are measurable indicators of success in contributing to achievement of the programme’s priority outcomes.

6. The budget is appropriate and relevant financial controls are in place.

7. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to promote equality, accessibility and diversity.

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Application conditions of eligibility

Who can apply for grant funding

We will accept applications from:

Voluntary or community sector organisations, including:

o unincorporated associations, trusts or companies, set up and registered as a charity

o unincorporated associations set up as a voluntary and community group

o community interest companies

o not for profit companies limited by guarantee

o community benefit societies

o Organisations recognised by HM Revenue and Customs as exempt for tax

purposes.

A partnership of voluntary, statutory or private sector organisations, led by a voluntary

sector organisation, which should be the organisation that completes the application form.

Exclusions

We won’t accept applications from:

individuals and sole traders

profit making organisations as lead organisation (although they may be a participant

organisation if advice is free at point of delivery to clients)

organisations based outside the UK

statutory bodies (unless part of a partnership led by a voluntary sector organisation)

branches which don’t control how they’re run and how their money is spent

applications made by one organisation on behalf of another.

Other eligibility requirements Funded projects can only help people and communities in Northern Ireland. Lead organisations must have a base/branch from which they operate within Northern Ireland.

Project participants involved in the debt advice delivery must be able to evidence that they are working in compliance with one of the recognised quality standards or membership codes that are accredited to the MAS’ Quality Framework.

All organisations involved in the delivery of regulated debt advice must hold the appropriate Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) permissions.

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3. Application assessment

How we assess your application When we receive your application form and supporting documents we will acknowledge them within three (3) working days. We will check to see if your application is complete. You should use the checklist in Section H of the application form to make sure the application you are sending is complete.

If your application:

is complete we will then assess your application.

is incomplete because we have not received all the necessary supporting documentation or Participant information we will contact you requesting this information to be submitted within 2 working days of that request. If we do not receive all the missing information by the deadline, we will not assess your application and it will be withdrawn from the process.

is incomplete because not all the questions in the form have been answered we will not be able to process your application further.

We will also check that your organisation, project and costs meet the programme requirements. If they do not we may reject your application.

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE CLOSING DATE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED AND WE WILL REJECT YOUR APPLICATION.

Assessment decision and feedback Applications are assessed against the 7 assessment criteria and applications are ranked in relation to each other. The assessment process has three phases:

Phase 1 – Individual assessment

Phase 2 – Consensus assessment

Phase 3 – Independent Panel Review

Once all applications have been assessed and a decision is reached, you will be contacted about the outcome of your application. We intend to notify applicants no later than 22 January 2016.

While your application may meet the stated assessment criteria, you are not guaranteed a grant. The success of your application rests ultimately on the merits of your proposal against published criteria and in competition with all the other applications considered for funding. Even if successful, your application may not be funded to the amount you have requested.

On request we are able to provide feedback to applicants who seek further information about their particular application. Applicants seeking feedback on a successful or unsuccessful funding application should contact us by emailing Procurement.GMB@Moneyadviceservice.org.uk. The feedback we provide to applicants will be focussed on the reasons for our decision against the assessment criteria as set out in the guidance.

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The application process

Funding available There is an indicative maximum of £200,000 expenditure available for allocation under Stream 2 in

2016/17.

Under Stream 2, projects proposals should cover a maximum of a 12 month period. We will accept

proposals for testing interventions over a shorter period. If you are successful in being awarded a

grant we may extend the period beyond 12 months in exceptional circumstances, however the aim

of this Stream is to test models of working which can then be mainstreamed in a year and used

more broadly.

Section F of the application form provides details about the approach we expect projects to use for

structuring their project budgets within this application and across the programme period.

Specific guidance for applications by a single organisation

If you are making an application involving only one organisation, you need only complete the

‘Grant application form: Lead organisation’.

The lead applicant need not be a provider of debt advice services, however if this is the case you

will need to be specific about which debt advice providers you will be working with so that people

can be connected to high quality debt advice as a result of your project.

Specific guidance for collaborative/consortia applications Organisations involved in a collaborative application will need to agree which organisation is to be the lead organisation. Only the lead organisation needs to complete the whole application form, entitled ‘Grant application form: Lead organisation’. Any other direct delivery partner organisations are referred to as participants for this programme. This is distinct from organisations with which you will be working in partnership as part of implementation of your project. Participants are direct delivery partners for which funds will be made available under the grant. Each participant organisation needs to complete the shortened version of the application form, entitled ‘Grant application form: Participant organisations’. This is designed to confirm that the participants have formally agreed to participate in the project, and this has been agreed through the appropriate delegated authority arrangements for each organisation. We will expect such partnerships/consortia to have formal partnership/project agreements in place following any offer of grant and prior to commencement of the grant period at 1 April 2016. MAS will wish to have sight of these and will expect that they reflect the relevant aspects of the project-level terms and conditions that shall be in place between MAS and the lead organisation. Please ensure that the same project name is entered at Section C on the lead and participant organisation application forms.

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Partner organisations (distinct from participants) do not need to complete an application form but you do need to tell us about them within the lead application when you explain how you will work with others. All communications between MAS and the project applicant will be made to the lead organisation. We will usually only communicate with the contact named in the application form although we may also wish to speak to lead contacts in any participant organisations, for example the lead Finance Officer. You should consider the following requirements that flow from being the lead organisation.

The lead organisation will be responsible for:

being the main point of contact with MAS and working effectively with us as the funder to achieve the programme outcomes, manage performance and identify ways to adapt and optimise the reach of the project as it proceeds through the programme period

the financial management and performance monitoring of the project as a whole, and reporting on this to MAS

ensuring that all participant organisations are financially viable at the point of application and throughout the grant term

informing us if the financial status of any of the participant organisations deteriorates over the time of the project

ensuring that costs related to participant organisations are fair and reasonable, specifically avoiding double charging of overheads

ensuring that participants have adequate systems in place for collection of monitoring data

ensuring that participants abide by the terms and conditions which we agree with you as the lead organisation, including auditing arrangements

ensuring that MAS receives any grant repayments when this might be necessary

Where possible, please send us documentation relating to the lead organisation and all

participants together. All documentation must be received by the closing date.

Successful applications If your application is successful, we will provide terms and conditions for agreement, and ask you to complete a more detailed budget information template. We will also need other details, including your bank details.

During the stage preceding final offer of grant, we may make recommendations to applicants to help us achieve the overall purposes of the programme. For instance, we may ask that a project change its project delivery plan and structure. We will publicise successful applications in a press release, including the names of the organisations involved, the name of the project and the amount of funding awarded.

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The precise monitoring and evaluation framework will be agreed between MAS and your organisation after the offer of grant is made.

You must send us agreed performance monitoring information before we will pay each instalment of the grant. We will normally pay money electronically into your organisation’s bank account.

We plan to undertake an evaluation of the programme, which may include case studies of particular projects, so we may ask you to contribute additional information for an independent evaluation of your project. You should not, therefore, include evaluation costs in your application, as we will bear this cost. You must make all project-related equipment, premises and paperwork available for inspection by MAS auditors. We will offer you a grant by letter within seven (7) days of the decision being made. You must sign and return the grant offer to us.

Grant payments Subject to terms and conditions, we will make the first payment at the start of the grant term and make all subsequent payments quarterly after we have received the previous quarter’s financial return and current quarter’s estimate of expenditure. Monitoring information will be used to measure the effectiveness of the project and adjustments may be made to subsequent payments to reflect progress.

Quality Requirements We require that all successful projects where direct delivery of debt advice is part of the project

scope must hold a MAS accredited quality standard in advance of planned delivery on 1st April

2016. There must be adequate supervision of advisers for review of case files and working in

compliance with a standard accredited against the MAS Quality Framework. MAS has developed

peer review arrangements for debt advice work and the successful applicant and participants will

be included in the implementation of this.

Equalities We also anticipate that projects adequately address equalities issues in line with S75 Policy Screening requirements, collect client feedback on a regular basis and maintain key relationships with stakeholders, which underpin the success of the project.

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Guidance for completing the application

form

ELIGIBILITY AND ORGANISATION DETAILS Status of your organisation

The information supplied on the type of organisation in your application is not evaluated but must be completed in full.

SECTION A – KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEAD ORGANISATION Please tell us the name and contact details of the project manager if your application is successful. This may be different to the contact listed in section A.

This person must be able to talk about your project in depth and have access to relevant personnel

and information, if required. This may include financial information. Please let us know if the main

contact has any specific communication needs.

Please also include the contact information for the person who will be responsible for financial

reporting.

Ensure that the same project name is entered on the lead and participant application forms where you are entering into a collaborative application.

Please tell us the start and finish date of your project.

If there are participants in your project please list all the organisations in the project partnership.

This will help us to make sure that we have received all the necessary documentation relating to

your application. Ensure that each participant separately completes a Participant Organisations

form and ensure that you enclose this with your application.

Confirm that you have carried out necessary checks, detailed in Section F of the guidance as to financial governance and quality assurance for any participant organisation. Please note that each participant organisation must have submitted a participant application form signed by an authorised signatory under any delegated authority arrangements.

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SECTION B – ABOUT WHAT THE LEAD ORGANISATION ALREADY DOES IN DELIVERING OR CONNECTING PEOPLE TO HIGH QUALITY DEBT ADVICE We want projects in Stream 2 to add value to existing networks of assistance which exist for people facing debt, and those which exist to improve outcomes for low income families. We are looking for information about how you currently do this in respect of:

Achieving co-ordination and avoiding duplication between existing sources of debt advice

Referral and co-ordination with providers of advice on other kinds of issue e.g. benefits, housing

Referral and partnership working with providers of other kinds of support for low income families

Please give examples of organisations you currently work with and explain how this operates. For instance, tell us whether there is a written partnership agreement or more informal working agreements. If you have existing referral agreements with other organisations, give details of these agreements.

Please specifically set out any existing referral arrangements to debt advice providers which deliver help and access to appropriate debt solutions through other channels; national telephone services, web-based advice tools and self-help.

Please include information about how you already connect with creditors, and any particular arrangements that have already been developed for enabling early connection to debt advice for people.

SECTION C – THE PROPOSED PROJECT In this section we require evidence that the proposal is well designed and reasonable in scale, in

that it will help people and deliver the programme outcomes.

We will assess your project design using information from across all of the following

aspects of design. Failure to provide evidence and explanation relating to each of these

aspects will result in your proposal being marked down.

Project Design - What will your project do to achieve the outcomes of the programme?

You need to tell us what the proposed project will do to test methods for improving the connection

to debt advice for indebted low income families who have not been seeking and accessing help.

C1. The Operational Structure for your project

Describe the operational structure. If this will include direct delivery of advice you need to tell us

the methods of delivery and who will provide it. If the project will pilot a different kind of intervention

to connect people to debt advice at the right time rather than delivering advice through the project,

please explain this. If it includes both, please cover both aspects.

This section must therefore include:

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o The specific type of intervention that you have designed for the project to test – this must relate to connecting over-indebted low income families to appropriate debt advice

o How the project will be delivered (for example, face to face, telephone, email or through outreach) to best reach the target audience at the appropriate time

o What staff the project will employ – and whether this will include advisers or other types of staff o Which organisations will be working with you to test the idea and what their role in the project

will be – please include details of advice providers and support agencies which will be working with you

C2. Project scale

There is no requirement for wide geographic coverage for the programme as it is about ensuring

appropriate and proportionate advice for families who need help but we do need to know the

proposed geographic boundaries of your project.

You need to tell us about who your project will help, which geographic area/s your project will

cover, and your estimate of the number of people your project will help.

Please specify if you are going to focus on low income families who are within a specific group

(e.g. families affected by domestic abuse), or of you are focussing on a particular geographic

region/area. You must tell us what the project remit is, and what the project will do.

Please also provide a detailed rationale to explain your proposed workload. We need you to tell us:

how you have assessed the numbers of people who you believe will be assisted

the risk factors which might affect whether these numbers of people are helped in reality and how you will both manage and mitigate those risks

Project rationale

In this section you must give us the rationale underpinning your project design. If you fail to

provide us with the rationale for your project design it will affect the assessment of your

project proposal.

Tell us about:

the evidence supporting the need for your specific project design,

why you are well placed to implement and deliver a project of this nature and

why and how the project will make a difference to low income families facing debt but not yet taking steps to access advice or help to resolve it.

C3. What is the evidence for why the project design is needed and the difference it will

make?

Please tell us about the evidence which underpins the rationale for your proposal. This is where you need to explain to us why your project proposal is well designed to meet the advice needs you have identified.

Please focus on the information you have reviewed about the debt issues which the families you

will be working with face, what influences their advice seeking behaviour on tackling debt

problems, and the kind of barriers they face in taking steps to seek and access advice

successfully. Please provide specific examples and evidence about these barriers.

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Please be specific about the evidence you have used to understand the identified debt advice needs of the low income families which your project will focus on. For example, the information provided in Appendix 2 on need and supply, data collected as part of your day-to-day case recording, client surveys, evaluations or information gathered through involvement with other partner organisations.

Tell us how this has informed your specification of the intervention which you want to pilot through this project.

C4. What difference will working together in your partnership project make to achieving the

programme outcomes?

We need to know why the organisations involved in the project will be well placed to help more low

income families to take steps to connect with appropriate advice to resolve their debt problems.

Please tell us about the organisations which will be the working with the lead organisation (and any

participant organisations) to help low income families affected by debt. Please include the range of

help they provide, and how they have seen money and debt problems affect people they help with

other aspects of their lives.

You must tell us why you believe the organisations can work together to more effectively achieve

outcomes for people who are experiencing debt problems and who are not currently taking steps to

resolve these or for whom there are barriers around accessing advice through other sources;

What is it that you believe you can achieve for people by making advice available through this project model that you cannot already do otherwise?

How will the project help deliver more integrated or seamless help around the advice and other needs of families within remit of your proposal?

C5. Informing national policy and practice

In Section A you provided information about how you already worked in a co-ordinated way to facilitate effective access to advice and support for people facing debt and low income. In this section we want to hear how the proposed project will add value to this and will improve outcomes more broadly.

What will be the longer-term added value gained for the partner organisations through working together on the project?

How will the delivery of the project work to embed learning beyond the funding period result in improved outcomes for families facing debt beyond the funding period?

Please be specific about what changes in skill, knowledge and competence you think will be achieved within the advice delivery organisation and other organisations involved in the project as direct referral network partners. As well as making a difference to individuals accessing help through the pilot project and building the longer-term working relationships between project partnerships, we also want the Stream 2 projects to be able to inform the delivery of debt advice through Stream 1 debt advice delivery from 2017 onwards. Please provide details about how your proposed project would be seeking to achieve this, covering the aspects below:

how will you measure and evaluate the impact of the intervention being piloted

what you believe the key strategic learning would be from the piloting of your proposal

how the outcomes could be easily shared and implemented across mainstream debt advice provision

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SECTION D - PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Management of the project

This section focuses on how you will deliver the project, by setting out a project plan and relevant management structures.

D1. Experience

You will need to provide evidence that you and all participant organisations have experience of providing the type of project you are applying to run, including management of staff at project level and in each participant agency.

D2. Project management to achieve the strategic outcomes

We require that you provide a project plan for the proposed project using the template in the application form. This asks you to provide an implementation plan setting out the key milestones and activities for the 12 months and indicative milestones and activities for each quarter. Please include information about the stage at which the project will move from the set-up or development phase into active delivery.

We need to see key activities and milestones related to the establishment of your project.

We will assess your project plan in respect of the evidence you include of the following:

how you will ensure that your proposed project is established and achieves the programme outcomes in the timescales

how you will advertise and promote the project

how you will develop the project once it has been established and starts to provide assistance

how you will monitor project progress and what milestones you will use to evidence progress

how you will proactively deal with problems, risks and issues that arise over the course of the project life

D3. Project management to achieve consistent outcomes for clients

We require a clear and well thought through description of the project management oversight. This is not a description of your current organisational management, but specifically about the project for which you are seeking funding.

We will expect your proposal to provide evidence of the following:

who will manage all project staff

how you will plan and allocate project resources over the lifetime of the project

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how any staff delivering debt advice will be supervised

if the project is being delivered with partnership organisations and/or across multiple sites, how project staff management will be organised and where staff will be based

how other arrangements with partner organisations will work, for example appropriate allocation and management of workload, responsibility for meeting objectives, contact between partners, meetings, how problems/issues between partners will be identified and dealt with

D4. Financial controls

Please set out what financial controls you will put in place throughout the project period to ensure monies are spent in accordance with your budget and that adequate assurance is provided by participant organisations for expenditure.

SECTION E – EQUALITIES Equalities

The lead organisation should send us their equalities policy with the application.

Set out how your organisation promotes equalities in relation to S75 requirements and protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010 within your organisation. Please provide any evidence that you have of how your current services have been delivered in line with your equalities policy.

Alongside showing how your organisation promotes equalities, the lead applicant should set out how your project will be available and accessible to all communities and groups within the project’s remit facing these priority problems, and will reflect their needs.

MAS will fund separately access to support services for clients with any hearing impairment and those who require translation services to engage with debt services.

SECTION F– FINANCIAL INFORMATION We encourage all applicants to base the budget on a fair estimate of all relevant costs related to a project. This will include ‘direct costs’ (i.e. those that are directly related to the project) as well as ‘indirect costs’ (a proportion of overhead costs that are necessary for the organisation to operate, but cannot be directly linked to any one project). All costs included in the funding application should be inclusive of VAT where applicable. Employer’s liability, including the accrual of any redundancy costs will rest with the lead organisation and other participant organisations and should not be included in the project budget costings.

F1. Cost of the project

Types of direct costs

Direct costs incurred may include:

Staff - project:

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o Salary, National Insurance, pension contributions

o Other: recruitment, health and safety, travel.

Volunteers - project, travel, other volunteer costs

Capital items: computers, other office equipment which will be required wholly for the use of the project

Administration: communication (telephones etc. come under communications), IT (not equipment costs though as these are covered in Capital items), stationery, other consumables

Compliance: legal fees, other compliance costs

Specific case costs where applicable: for example medical reports, court fees

F2. Types of overhead costs

Overhead costs incurred and allocated to a project may include:

Staff - non-project staff (such as apportionment of management time for project), or staff not exclusive to one project:

o Salary, National Insurance, pension contributions

o Other: recruitment, health and safety, travel.

Volunteers – non-project, or not exclusive to one project: travel, other volunteer costs

Administration: communication, IT, stationery, other consumables

Project development and governance: publicity and marketing, strategic development and planning, monitoring and evaluation, board meetings

Compliance: audit fees, legal fees, other compliance costs

Other: financing fees, bank charges, other

Overhead costs that are not likely to be considered relevant include:

Fundraising

Campaigning beyond publicising the project

Research

Depreciation that relates to a cost previously incurred

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Allocation of overhead costs

The overhead allocation must be appropriate given the nature and extent of project activities, and must be rational, justified, and evidenced. Fixed percentage allocation of overheads across all applicants is not appropriate as it does not reflect the true cost of the project.

There are many different methods that can be used for the allocation of overhead costs. Using more than one method may be appropriate if not all projects incur all types of overhead expenditure. These methods, and when they may be appropriate, include:

number of staff: if the number of project staff fairly reflects the size of the projects; adjustments for part-time staff and volunteers need to be considered

premises usage by project: where premises costs are substantial in relation to direct costs

direct project expenditure: if the type of direct costs are very similar in all projects, and overhead costs are small compared to direct costs

number of beneficiaries: if each beneficiary incurs a similar level of costs or if funding is based on number of beneficiaries

staff time: where there are staff that provide input into many different projects, these costs may be allocated based on the amount of time the staff member is spending on each project.

This is not an exhaustive list. Each overhead allocation will be analysed on a case-by-case basis. Regardless of which system is used, it is most important that the allocation of overhead is reasonable, proportionate, and reflects the costs incurred for the funded project. Please explain your method in full on the application form so we can consider it fully.

All costs should be recovered only once. This is important to keep in mind where there are multiple funders for an organisation or project.

F3. Staff

Please detail all staff members directly involved in delivery and management of the project along with Job titles, hours to be worked and employing organisation (if submitting your application in partnership).

Additional information

If your application is successful, we will ask you to complete a more detailed project budget template. We may also require other details, including your bank details.

F4. Other funding currently received by your organisation

We are interested in the period up to the end of 31st March 2015, following that covered by the accounts you have submitted to us.

A significant change in funding is a change that has a material impact on the operation of the organisation.

Where you have identified a significant change in funding received we would expect you to:

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give the name of the funding organisation in the ‘Source’ column

include the annual amount of extra funding in the ‘Amount of additional funding’ column

include the annual amount of funding lost in the ‘Amount of reduction in funding’ column

give a short description of the aim of the funding in the ‘Purpose of funding’ column

show when the additional funding will end or the reduction in funding occurred in the ‘Timescale’ column.

F5. Other funding over the period of the project

We are interested in the period following the accounts that you have submitted to us, from 1st April 2015 for 12 months.

A significant change in funding is a change that has a material impact on the operation of the organisation or, for local authorities, the team/department.

Where you have identified a significant change in funding you expect to receive, you should:

give the name of the funding organisation in the ‘Source’ column

include the annual amount of extra funding in the ‘Amount of additional funding’ column – don’t include any funding you have already shown in F

include the annual amount of funding lost in the ‘Amount of reduction in funding’ column – don’t include any funding you have already shown in F

set out a short description of the aim of the funding in the ‘Purpose of funding’ column

show when the additional funding will end or the reduction in funding occurred in the ‘Timescale’ column.

SECTION G – IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL Planned exit strategy

Set out what you intend to do when the grant ends. The funding for the project will cease at the end of March 2017.

SECTION H - CHECKLIST Make sure you have enclosed the relevant documents.

Where we have asked for your most recent audited accounts, only enclose a separate document if these are not included in your annual report, or if they are made up to a later date than those in the annual report.

All applicants should provide a copy of their equality policy.

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You must ensure that the main contact, or a substitute, will be available to provide further information if required.

SECTION I – SIGNATURES AND DECLARATION Signatory 1

This must be the main contact listed in section A1a of the application form.

Complete all the relevant details. If you are submitting this by e-mail, you should also, separately, send us a printed copy of Section I which you have signed.

Signatory 2

For third sector applicants, this should be the chair, chief executive or person of similar authority in your organisation.

Complete all the relevant details. If you are submitting this by e-mail, you should also, separately, send us a printed copy of Section I that has been signed.

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Appendix 1: About the Money Advice

Service

The Money Advice Service (MAS) is an independent service, set up by government to help people make the most of their money.

The Service is funded through a statutory levy on the financial services industry, raised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our statutory objectives were amended through the Financial Services act 2012 to add in new responsibilities to work with partners to improve the availability quality and consistency of debt advice. In particular, those objectives are:

assisting members of the public with the management of debt;

working with other organisations which provide debt services, with a view to improving:

(i) the availability to the public of those services;

(ii) the quality of the services provided

(iii) consistency in the services available, in the way in which they are provided and in the advice given.

Since 2012 the Service has worked with its partners across the UK to initiate a transformation in

quality, consistency and access to debt advice. The number of over-indebted people helped

through MAS funded projects has increased significantly year on year thanks to efforts made by

our partners to more effectively match the channel of advice to client need, learn from best practice

and focus resources on those that need most support.

Our debt advice work was recognised as achieving value for money by the National Audit Office in

2013 and our ambition is to work with our partners across the UK to ensure as many people as

possible have access to high quality debt advice that provides sustainable outcomes and improves

financial resilience.

With demand for debt advice remaining high we need to find ways of delivering debt advice to

more people by improving efficiency further.

In our Northern Ireland funding for 2016-19 we are looking to achieve the following key objectives:

Maximise the number of over-indebted people in NI who access high quality debt advice

to resolve their debt problems through the full range of appropriate solutions

Guide people experiencing debt who access help to the most appropriate source and/or

channel of assistance to best meet their needs

Ensure that over-indebted people who access advice achieve sustainable outcomes in line

with the MAS evaluation framework

Integrate financial capability support into the debt advice process

Develop stronger advice partnerships locally to enable more holistic advice provision

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Appendix 2: Background to the

Programme

Contextual data

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Debt advice preferences

Advice seeking

Our recent research indicates that 11% of the over-indebted population in NI are currently

seeking advice – this equates to 24,000 people and is a lower proportion than in the rest of

the UK.

Channel preferences

Our recent research has identified the channels that people would prefer to use when

accessing debt advice. The chart below shows that the majority of over-indebted individuals

in NI (82%) would prefer to receive debt advice face to face, which was most significant

amongst 45-64 year olds (90%).

Primary channel preferences for debt advice in NI

Sources: NI F2F Ad hoc survey + booster interviews (Ipsos MORI)

Q10. If you ever wanted debt advice, how would you prefer to receive it? Base: All over-

indebted in NI (415)

However as the following chart shows, when asked if face-to-face (F2F) was not available,

which alternative channels they would be willing to access, 78% were willing to use

alternative channels to F2F.

This is broadly consistent with choices made in each of those conditions across the rest of

the UK.

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Secondary channel preferences for debt advice in NI

Q11. If face-to-face advice was not available, would you be willing to access debt advice by

these channels? Base: All prefer F2F (345)

Only one in 20 over-indebted people rejected all channels. One in five of those that prefer to

receive advice face-to-face would not go to an alternative channel meaning that 17% of all

over-indebted people would not access debt advice were in not available face-to-face. This

is similar to earlier research conducted by MAS in the UK, when 15% would not access debt

advice were in not available face-to-face. In NI, this response was most common amongst

those aged over 55 (36%), single parents (25%).

Only 8% of over-indebted people in NI stated telephone as their primary choice but a further

54% of those that chose face-to-face as their first preference would access via telephone

were face-to-face not available, equating to a combined total of 56% of indebted individuals

in NI that would access telephone debt advice.

Telephone was more popular amongst 25-34 year olds with 64% stating they would use as a

primary choice, or were face-to-face not available. Just over 1 in 5 (22%) would access debt

advice online and 5% chose online as their primary choice.

Location preferences

Over-indebted individuals in NI were asked which venues they would consider accessing

F2F debt advice in; the following chart illustrates their responses.

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Consideration of different face to face debt advice locations

Q. At which, if any, of the following places would you consider accessing face-to-face debt

advice? Please assume that in all cases the advice would be provided in a confidential

environment.

Base = All over-indebted in NI (415)

When prompted on different locations for face-to-face debt advice, the library was a popular

choice, stated by 29% of over-indebted individuals.

10% would consider accessing debt advice in a shopping centre and 6% may do so in a

leisure centre or supermarket. Other locations suggested by survey participants included

community centre, office or credit union. 33% rejected all of the different face-to-face

locations prompted on.

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Engagement

It is clear from the high levels of over-indebtedness in NI that improving engagement is key

to increasing the number of people accessing debt advice. This requires an understanding of

the barriers to debt advice.

Our research reveals a complex picture of a variety of barriers. In particular, those related to

attitudes and behaviours have emerged as key barriers for many over-indebted individuals.

The majority (81%) of over-indebted individuals agree that ‘In the current economic climate,

living in debt is inevitable for people like me’. This compares with 52% of the NI overall.

Further behavioural/attitudinal barriers highlighted in research include:

44% - “I can sort my own money issues out”

15% - “Things will get better soon anyway”

10% - “I’m too busy” (16% amongst those unemployed)

Certain barriers are more or less prevalent among different over-indebted segments – the

following are summary issues for each segment:

Engaging the young

Struggling students (14%):

Only 5% are currently getting debt advice and 83% have never accessed it – primary

reasons include:

36% can “sort their own money issues out”

14% don’t see it as for someone like them

Lower awareness of different advice organisations (15% have no awareness

of any advice organisations)

First time workers (4%) and Optimistic young workers (14%):

• Very few (5%) currently accessing but 23% plan to

• Higher awareness and problem recognition among Optimists – 60% have accessed

debt advice before

• Would consider accessing debt advice in libraries and their offices

Engaging families

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Low wage families (12%) and Stretched families (9%):

More already (14%) or Planning to (16%) access debt advice

While 82% of Low wage families have never accessed debt advice, 72% would

access via telephone

Busier Stretched families more likely to access to debt advice online, at home, in

shopping or leisure centres

Worried working families (13%):

• Only 24% unlikely to access debt advice, but only 10% are currently doing so

• More likely to say they haven’t had time or don’t know where to start

• 85% prefer F2F but 33% open to online

• Would consider alternative locations such as libraries, at home, and also shopping

centres – but privacy important

Engaging those on pensions and benefits

Benefit dependent families (28%):

15% already getting debt advice but 43% unlikely to

Good overall awareness of debt advice orgs & 37% had accessed before

85% prefer F2F but 66% open to telephone debt advice

41% rejected alternative F2F locations

Uncomfortable retirees (9%):

Lowest problem recognition - only 24% describe themselves as in debt and 65% say

living in debt is inevitable

Only 5% currently getting advice; 18% have ever accessed with low awareness

56% unlikely to access – preferring to sort own money issues

32% would only access F2F advice but 49% rejected alternative F2F locations

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Further reading

Money Advice Service research

Indebted lives: the complexities of debt advice – report and database (2013)

User needs from debt advice: individual and stakeholder views (2012)

Both available here: https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/corporate/debt-

publications

DETI Research

Final report of a Research Project to Examine Future Debt Advice Provision in

Northern Ireland (2010)

Available here: http://www.detini.gov.uk/kpmg_report_into_debt_advice

NISRA

We would also advise applicants to review the people and places data collated by the

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency available here:

http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/InteractiveMapTheme.aspx?themeNumber=10&t

hemeName=People%20and%20Places

Methodology

NI statistics quoted in this paper were primarily gathered using the following

approach:

1,058 interviews conducted face-to-face by Ipsos MORI using Computer Assisted Personal

Interviewing (CAPI), between 19th February and 6th April 2015. Quotas set and data

weighted by age, social class and region to ensure results reflect the NI adult population

profile. This delivered 159 interviews with over-indebted individuals. An additional sample of

256 over-indebted individuals in NI were screened to boost the overall sample size, also

using F2F CAPI methodology.

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