Borough of Sanctuary Community Fund

Stage 1: Eligibility and completeness

The council aims to complete initial checks within 10 working days of the application deadline. Where minor information or a supporting document is missing, applicants may be given 3 working days to provide the outstanding information.  Clarification requests may only be used to address omissions or points requiring clarification and must not be used to rewrite or materially strengthen an application. Applications that do not meet a mandatory eligibility requirement will not proceed to the scoring stage.

Stage 2: Independent scoring and moderation

Eligible applications will be independently assessed and scored by 2 council officers and one VCSE/ESF representative. A council officer will chair the moderation meeting. All assessors must declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest before applications are allocated for assessment. Where an assessor is unable to participate, or has a conflict of interest, an appropriate substitute assessor will be appointed.

Following the scoring process, the panel will consider the overall balance of recommended projects across the Fund, including priorities, beneficiary groups, geographical coverage across Ealing's towns, organisation size, grassroots access, lived-experience leadership, duplication of provision and partnership value. These considerations will inform funding recommendations but will not affect an application's underlying assessment score.

Stage 3: Final decision

The assessment panel will make funding recommendations. The budget holder will confirm the availability of funding. Final funding decisions will be made by the assistant director for equalities and engagement or the strategic director for strategy and change, in accordance with the council's scheme of delegation. The final decision-maker will not have participated in the assessment or scoring of the application.

Decisions, feedbacks and procedural review

• Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing within five working days of final approval
• Unsuccessful applicants may request concise written feedback on their application. Feedback will be based on the published assessment criteria and is intended to support future applications. The provision of feedback does not create a right of appeal against the funding decision
• There is no appeal against the merits of the funding decision
• An applicant may request a procedural review where it believes the published process or criteria were not followed, a conflict was not managed, or relevant submitted information was not considered
• A procedural review request must be made within five working days of the decision letter
• The review will be handled by an officer who was not involved in assessment, moderation or approval
• The council aims to provide the outcome within 10 working days or will explain in writing why more time is needed
• The final published complaints and review route will reflect the council's corporate policy

If your application is successful

Grant agreement and payment

• No project activity may commence until the grant agreement has been signed by all parties and all required pre-payment checks have been completed to the council’s satisfaction
• Small grants will normally be paid in a single instalment
• Standard grants will normally be paid in one instalment, although payments may be made in stages where this is considered appropriate having regard to the nature of the project, delivery arrangements and level of risk
• The exceptional strategic grant will normally be paid in two instalments: 60% on commencement and 40% following submission and approval of a satisfactory midpoint report. The council reserves the right to vary the payment profile following its assessment of project and delivery risks
• Successful organisations must attend a short online grant-holder induction before project delivery begins

Budget and project changes

• Recipients may reallocate up to 10% of the total grant between approved budget headings without prior written approval, provided that the overall purpose of the project, approved activities, intended outcomes and eligibility of expenditure remain unchanged
• Any proposed reallocation exceeding 10% of the total grant, any material change to the approved activities, outputs or outcomes, or any purchase of equipment not included within the approved budget, must receive prior written approval from the council
• Grant funding that remains unspent at the end of the project, or which is not applied in accordance with the approved project budget and grant conditions, must be returned to the council unless otherwise agreed in writing
• The council may, at its discretion, approve an extension to the project period where justified by the circumstances. Any extension must be agreed in writing in advance. Under no circumstances may grant-funded activity continue beyond 30 September 2027

Monitoring

All projects will report proportionate information, including:

• activities delivered and people supported
• outputs, outcomes and progress against agreed targets
• spend against the approved budget
• risks, learning and delivery changes
• equalities and accessibility learning, including who may not have been reached
• anonymised participant feedback
• next steps and sustainability

Serious incidents and significant risks

• Serious incidents must be reported immediately to the council and, where applicable, through the appropriate statutory or regulatory channels
• Significant safeguarding, financial, operational, legal, delivery or reputational risks must be reported to the council within 2 working days of being identified
• The council may request further information or take appropriate action under the grant agreement

Publicity

• Routine acknowledgement should read: "Funded by Ealing Council's Borough of Sanctuary Programme"
• Use of the Ealing Council name, logo and other branding materials must comply with the council's branding and communications requirements and must receive any approvals required by the council
• Press releases, media statements and significant public announcements referring to the council or the Grant will require prior communications approval
• Informed consent must be obtained before using photographs, quotes or personal stories. Participation in publicity or promotional activities must be voluntary and must never be a condition of receiving support
• The council may agree, in exceptional circumstances, to waive or modify branding and acknowledgement requirements where their use could give rise to safety, safeguarding, confidentiality, trust or other legitimate operational concerns. Any such exception must be agreed in writing by the council in advance

Data protection and privacy

The council will use information provided in applications to assess eligibility, make funding decisions, administer and monitor grants, carry out assurance, audit and fraud prevention activities, and report on the Fund. The council's privacy notice, including information about data retention, will be published alongside the Fund documentation.

• Do not include personal information about individual sanctuary seekers, unless specifically requested by the council
• Equality monitoring must be proportionate, voluntary and relevant to understanding reach and barriers
• Participants must be given the option to select "prefer not to say" when providing equality monitoring information
• Monitoring and evaluation reports must use anonymised or aggregated information and should avoid including data that could reasonably identify an individual, either directly or indirectly
• Do not include names, addresses, dates of birth, Home Office references, detailed immigration cases or identifiable safeguarding information in monitoring reports
• Photographs, quotes and stories require informed consent and appropriate safeguarding consideration
• Organisations must ensure that all personal data is collected, stored, shared and processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation and their own privacy policies

Final applicant checklist

• We are an eligible lead organisation or have an eligible accountable body
• We will submit only one application as lead application
• The project directly benefits sanctuary seekers in the borough of Ealing
• We have selected one main priority area or the Emerging or Unmet Needs route, and no more than 2 secondary outcomes
• The amount requested is proportionate to the scope of the project and falls within the relevant grant tier
• The project can be completed by 30 September 2027
• The budget is clear, eligible and does include any costs which are funded from another source
• We meet, or will meet before project delivery begins, all relevant safeguarding, financial, governance and regulatory requirements
• We have not included identifiable personal or immigration information
• All required supporting documents are attached, or we have clearly identified when they will be needed