What happens next?
One of the council's Business Engagement Officers will submit an application in principle on your behalf to the grant panel, providing the council's Business Engagement team understand you meet the eligibility criteria.
The panel meetings occur on a fortnightly basis and your initial application will be declined or approved in principle.
If your application is approved in principle, you are then required to submit a completed application form and supporting documentation which the council's Business Engagement Officers can support you with. Please note, from the date of your application being approved in principle, you have 12 weeks to submit your full application and compliant supporting documentation. If this is not provided within 12 weeks the grant allocation will be removed from the database. The applicant may however request an extension to the timescales via the council's Business Engagement team. Extensions are at the discretion of the council's Business Engagement team and should be agreed before the deadline to avoid you losing your grant allocation in principle.
Following receipt of a completed application form and compliant supporting documentation, a decision will be made by the grant panel within 4 to 6 weeks.
The council's Business Engagement team will contact you in relation to your application and, if successful, will provide you with a formal offer of grant assistance, subject to a '5 Day Call In Period' where the grant panel decision is open to scrutiny by councillors. Therefore, it is at your own financial risk if you commence work before the 'Call In Period' has ended. Once you have received this formal offer you are able to commence with the works for which you have applied for funding from the grant. Any work carried out or paid for prior to the date of your grant offer letter will be deemed ineligible.
Payment of grant
The grant is paid on defrayed expenditure i.e. grants will be paid to a business once:
- all works have been completed or equipment purchased to the satisfaction of the council's Business Engagement team
- the council has inspected the original contractor's invoices and proof of applicant's payment of contractor's invoice
- evidence of jobs created is provided.
From the date of the offer letter the timescale for claiming the grant is:
- 3 months for plant and machinery
- 6 months for building works.
Extensions to timescales are available but should be agreed with council officers before the deadlines above to avoid you losing your grant allocation.
If a business completes the works/ purchases agreed to be funded and creates and fills the jobs at the same time, then these parts of the grant will be paid at this point in time.
Chorley Council realises that jobs may not be created, and filled, for a period after the works are carried out. Therefore, applicants are allowed up to 12 months from the date of the panel decision to fill their vacancies.
Similarly, due to the nature of the Community Repayment Scheme, with activities potentially taking place over a longer timeframe, up to 12 months is also allowed to deliver this activity from the date of the panel decision.
If any elements of the grant scheme (investment, jobs created or community repayment) are not carried out in these timescales no further grant payments will be made.
In these circumstances Chorley Council will pay out the grant in the following phases:
- 40% paid on physical completion of the eligible works/ purchases
- 30% paid when evidence of the jobs created has been provided
- 30% paid when community payback activities are completed.
Once payment is agreed with the council's Business Engagement team, grants will usually be paid within 30 days.