The Rural England Prosperity Fund, or Rural Fund, is a capital projects grant programme integrated into the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and supports activities that specifically address specific challenges faced by rural areas:

• Lower productivity rates
• Poorer connectivity rates
• Poorer access to key services

Aims of the fund:

The Rural Fund objectives sit within the UK Shared Prosperity Fund investment priorities for:

• Supporting local business
• Supporting community and place

They also relate to two of the Government’s Levelling Up white paper missions:

• Mission 1 – Living standards
• Mission 9 – Pride in place

The Fund supports the aims of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper and Future Farming Programme and funds capital projects for micro (less than 10 employees) and small businesses (less than 50 employees) which will help to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy in our district.

Rural businesses (sole traders, small and micro businesses) and communities in eligible areas can apply for Folkestone & Hythe’s Rural Grant Scheme, funded by the Government’s Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF).

To meet our definition of a small or micro business, the business must employ 49 or fewer employees.

The fund has been designed to be very broad ranging with the expectation that that applicants will come forward with some pioneering and exciting projects. Projects which support innovation, meet the outcomes of the fund and looking to reduce carbon emissions will be favoured.

Grants ranging from £3,000 to £10,000 are available (and up to £30,000 for projects that can demonstrate longer term impacts, wider benefits for the local rural economy and meet a range of objectives and outcomes). The grants will support rural business growth and resilience and improve local facilities and amenities, especially projects relating to climate change mitigation and biodiversity. The grants are capital only, match funding is required and other terms and conditions apply.

To be eligible for funding, the location where your proposed project will take place must be in a rural location. Rural England areas are defined as:

• Towns, villages & hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside.
• Market or hub towns with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services.

Using Magic Maps to help identify if your project will be in a Rural location:

Eligible areas for the Rural Fund can be identified using DEFRA’s Magic Maps tool, which is accessed via this link: https://magic.defra.gov.uk/magicmap.aspx

Here is a link to DEFRA’s Magic Maps tutorial video than may help you with navigating the Magic Maps database:  https://youtu.be/pw7xkccDu74utu

General Guidance:

Under the ‘Table of Contents’ expand ‘Administrative Geographies’ > ‘Other Administrative Boundaries’ > select ‘Rural England Prosperity Fund’

You will find a toolbar of icons at the top of the application. Select the ‘Identify’ icon and click on the location of your project on the map. A pop-up box will appear notifying you if the area is considered rural or not for the purposes of REPF.

Please only proceed with the Expression of interest form if the location of your project is classed as Rural.

Should you have any difficulty using the Magic Map database to establish if your proposed project will be in a ‘Rural’ location, please email economy@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk  providing the full address and postcode of the location at which your proposed project will take place.

For Businesses

Funding for businesses in rural areas. This can include net zero infrastructure, diversification opportunities and start-up & expansion opportunities and covers 2 key objectives:

• Create jobs and boost community cohesion.
• Increase private sector investment in growth-enhancing activities, through targeted support for small and medium-sized businesses to:  Undertake innovation or adopt productivity enhancing, energy efficient and low carbon techniques and techniques.

Examples of what the capital funding can be used for (this list is not exhaustive):

• Green infrastructure and to support rural tourism activity, for example EV charging points or Solar Panels

• Creation and expansion of rural leisure and tourism businesses such as converting farm buildings to other business. This could include:
  – creating event venues or farm tourism facilities such as accommodation (accessible lodges, shepherds huts, glamping pods), wedding venues and leisure facilities
  – provision of facilities for pet and equines such as kennels, livery and pet health venues.
• Equipment for non-farmer-owned businesses. For example:
  – purchasing new process and packaging machinery such as brewing equipment, onsite vending machines.
  – equipping development kitchens or modernising existing kitchen equipment for increased energy efficiency or increased productivity through automation.

For Communities 

Funding for communities in rural areas. This can include net zero infrastructure and improvements to facilities and amenities, as well as projects relating to enhancing biodiversity and climate change mitigation.

This covers the following objective:

• To foster a sense of local pride and belonging, through activities that enhance physical, cultural and social ties and amenities. This includes community infrastructure, local green space and community-led projects.

Examples of what the capital funding can be used for (this list is not exhaustive):

• Green community infrastructure and to support rural tourism activity, for example, EV charging points or Community energy schemes such as scaled up biomass, heat pumps, solar.
• Kitchens in community hubsCreating usable spaces for education and associated uses.

• New equipment to run new programmes in the community.
• Computer/ technology access – community based.
• Community assets – sporting provisions etc.
• Capital expenses associated with habitat improvement and conservation projects focusing on woods, meadows and wetlands, and the enhancement of chalk streams and marsh waterways.

Resilience infrastructure and nature-based solutions that protect local businesses and community areas from natural hazards including flooding and coastal erosion.

The minimum grant request is £3,000, with a maximum request of £30,000.

We anticipate most applications will be under £10,000.

More significant infrastructure projects over £10,000 must be able to demonstrate longer term impacts, wider benefits for the local rural economy and meet a range of objectives and outcomes.

Please note that we are unable to fund any VAT, so this should be considered when costing your project and grant request value.

Applicants must demonstrate in their application that they have sufficient funds to cash-flow the project and pay for the project costs upfront.**

All projects must include an element of match funding. This helps to show commitment, better value for money and makes the funding stretch further so we can support as many projects as possible.

Please tell us the source of your match funding, this can be from your own bank accounts, crowdfunding, other grants, fundraisers or legacies. This match funding must be cash-based and cannot be time or labour or materials. The ability to provide match funding above the minimum level will be scored as part of the assessment process.

Please note than in the event of an approval, you will need to fund the project up front in entirety, then claim your grant sum from us upon successful completion and validation of the project. For more information or support, please contact economy@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk

**For community projects, there may be an opportunity for phased payments on completion of agreed milestones. This will be subject to prior agreement and outcome of which will be made by the decision panel. Please enquire for more information.

This scheme does not permit us to give funding towards any of the following:

• Revenue costs e.g. salaries, rent, overheads, insurance
• Projects that solely seek to repair, maintain or renew.
• Applications from individuals – we cannot make grant payments to individuals.
• VAT: We are unable to fund any Value Added Tax.
• Projects unable to start within 6 months of the grant award date.
• Improvements to domestic buildings or that benefit a property which is not wholly for non-domestic use.
• Private vehicles*
• Own labour costs.
• Costs connected with any leasing contract.
• Consents needed, for example planning permission.
• Licence fees, subscriptions, and service charges.
• Any cost incurred before the date of the final grant funding agreement, i,e. retrospective costs.
• Items or projects which only benefit an individual.
• Projects that will displace existing provision.
• Activities that are statutory obligations
• Paid for lobbying, entertaining, petitioning, or challenging decisions, which means using the fund to lobby (via an external firm or in-house staff).
• Payments for activities of a party political or exclusively religious nature.
• Projects that are focused on securing compliance with legal/ statutory requirements.
• Contingencies and contingent liabilities.
• Bad debts and costs resulting from the deferral of payments to creditors or winding up a company.
• Expenses in respect of litigation, unfair dismissal, or other compensation.
• Standard agricultural equipment and inputs, like animals and annual crops.
• Agricultural production rights and payment entitlements.
• Purchase of equipment by farmers for food processing that could otherwise be funded under DEFRA’s Farming Investment Fund (FIF).

*Grants for the acquisition of vehicles will not normally be considered.

In the event that you qualify to make a full application, the application form form requires you to specify important stages of your project. These milestones give us an indication that you have carefully planned your project which will be monitored.

Please ensure you have considered the availability of contractors, ordering and delivery times of equipment, particularly anything that needs to be imported and uncertainties like delays due to weather.

Please specify key dates, for example: start work on site, order equipment, installation of equipment, start of electrical/plumbing works and so on.

In planning milestones, you will need to be mindful of the funding deadlines.

To be eligible for funding, the location where your proposed project will take place must be in a rural location. Rural England areas are defined as:

• Towns, villages & hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside.
• Market or hub towns with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services.

If you have a proposed project that you feel could be suitable for funding via this scheme, the first step is to use the Magic Maps database as described above to establish if your proposed project will be in a ‘Rural’ location.

Using Magic Maps to help identify if your project will be in a Rural location:

Eligible areas for the Rural Fund can be identified using DEFRA’s Magic Maps tool, which is accessed via this link: https://magic.defra.gov.uk/magicmap.aspx

Here is a link to DEFRA’s Magic Maps tutorial video than may help you with navigating the Magic Maps database:  https://youtu.be/pw7xkccDu74utu

General Guidance:

Under the ‘Table of Contents’ expand ‘Administrative Geographies’ > ‘Other Administrative Boundaries’ > select ‘Rural England Prosperity Fund’

You will find a toolbar of icons at the top of the application. Select the ‘Identify’ icon and click on the location of your project on the map. A pop-up box will appear notifying you if the area is considered rural or not for the purposes of REPF.

Please only proceed with the Expression of interest form if the location of your project is classed as Rural. We cannot accept applications where the project would be carried out in a non-rural location.

Should you have any difficulty using the Magic Map database to establish if your proposed project will be in a ‘Rural’ location, please email economy@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk  providing the full address and postcode of the location at which your proposed project will take place.

If the location of your proposed project is confirmed to be in a Rural location, the next step will be for you to complete an Expression of Interest form (refer to the next drop down box for details).

If you have established that the  location for your proposed project is classed as being in a rural location, you will now need to complete and submit an Expression of Interest form.

This will enable us to establish whether you fully meet all the required criteria specified by central government. We will strive to feedback to you regarding this within 10 working days. If you fully meet the criteria, we will invite you to make a full application to the scheme, and will advise you accordingly.

Please note: If you are requesting funding of more than £10,000, you will need to clearly explain why your project is exceptional demonstrating longer term impacts, wider benefits for the local rural economy, and the range of objectives and outcomes you will meet.

Click here to complete the Expression of Interest form.

Should you have any difficulty using this online form, please contact economy@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk providing a contact telephone number or telephone Andy Markwell on 07816 989171. We can also provide a paper copy for completion upon request.

Give details about your business/ organisation

Project overview section

Describe your project to us – the project objectives, financial information and key milestones.

Please also be mindful of the following when completing this section:

• What are the challenges and barriers your rural project is looking to address?

Rural areas often face specific challenges including lower productivity rates, reduced connectivity, poorer access to key services. Please tell us about the specific challenges and barriers faced by your rural business/organisation and how your project will help to address them.

• Why should we give this grant to your rural organisation or business and how will this project impact your activities?

Tell us why your organisation or business needs this grant. You might want to include how you have successfully delivered other projects in the past and have a strong track record. Demonstrate that your project is needed and that it will be used. Think about how the project will impact your business and organisation. For example, what will you be able to do or not do as a result of the funding. Will the project put your organisation on a more stable financial footing by enabling you to attract more and a greater variety of groups and increase your income levels? Will you be able to provide a wider range of services and facilities by the addition or upgrading of kitchen equipment for example? Will any new equipment or building upgrades help to attract or retain more users and raise awareness of your organisation and its work? Will the improvements reduce your energy costs and save your organisation money, helping the long-term viability of your organisation or allow you to spend on other areas of work?

• Who else will benefit from this project and how? Please state any wider benefits to the local community and local economy.

We expect the grants that we offer to bring wider benefits to the local economy and bring positive benefits to as many people and businesses in our district as possible. Please tell us how your project will benefit residents, groups, and other organisations, e.g. local businesses, suppliers or groups who use your facilities. Please give specific details of any other groups, clubs or individuals who would stand to benefit because of this grant. This includes groups or individuals who are not already engaged with your project or activity but would, as a result of works to the building, new equipment or infrastructure (digital, EV charging etc).

• Who have you involved in developing the project, and how have you involved them?

Is this your good idea or does the project have support and input from your staff, local residents, other local businesses, users and customers? This section needs to specify who you have involved and consulted in the development of your project idea to ensure the project meets a real need, can be delivered and has wider buy-in. Please tell us about any questionnaires, surveys, events, consultation, or feedback that show this wider involvement and support for your project.

• Why do you need public sector funding and what alternatives have you sought, if any?

We have limited funding so want to ensure that we are funding high quality projects that would not be able to be funded by other means. Please explain why you need public funding for this project, and it cannot be funded from your own sources. What would happen if you don’t get the funding? Tell us about any alternative sources you have looked at. If this project is time sensitive and responding to a specific need now, please include details.

• We are keen to support projects that are environmentally friendly or “green” in order to reduce climate change. Please provide a brief summary of how your project will address this challenge.

Please explain how your project will meet climate change objectives, improve sustainability and will improve the local environment and the wider community. You can also use this section to tell us about your purchasing decisions, choice of equipment and materials. Projects that make improvements relating to carbon reduction, enhancing biodiversity and improving community welfare will be favoured.

It is essential that your project fits with the DEFRA-defined REPF interventions, objectives and outcomes for this programme. Folkestone & Hythe District has funding for specific business and community interventions as listed in the application and described in more detail here.

Your project must support the objectives of the REPF programme and create outcomes that are consistent with these objectives. These are described in more detail on the following pages.

Your application will need to demonstrate how it fits with at least one of these DEFRA-defined interventions (there is a specific intervention if you are a business and another is you are a community organisation) together with the relevant objectives (at least one must be chosen) and then the relevant outcomes that will be achieved from your project. The objectives are fairly broad in order to support a wide variety of rural projects.

The REPF intervention (area of focus) for business projects at FHDC is:

• Funding (capital grants) for small scale investment in micro, small and medium size enterprises in rural areas. Including capital funding for net zero infrastructure for rural businesses, and diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture to encourage start up, expansion or scale up of these businesses where this involves converting farm buildings into other commercial or business uses.

The key objectives for business projects are (at least one must be chosen):

• Create jobs and boost community cohesion.
• Increase private sector investment in growth-enhancing activities, through targeted support for small and medium-sized businesses to:
  – undertake innovation
  – adopt productivity enhancing, energy efficient and low carbon technologies and techniques.

The key outcomes for business projects are (please select as many as applicable):

• Jobs created
• Jobs safeguarded
• Number of businesses adopting new to the firm technologies or processes
• Number of businesses experiencing growth
• Number of businesses increasing their turnover

For example, if you are a business and you have selected the “jobs safeguarded” outcome, please provide us with an estimated number of full time equivalent (FTE) jobs that your project will safeguard. The DEFRA definition of a safeguarded job is classified as a permanent and paid job that was at risk prior to support being provided, and which the support helped the business to retain.

Note:

• Safeguarded jobs exclude those created solely to deliver the intervention (e.g. construction workers putting up an extension to a building, where the extension was funded by the project)
• Both part-time and full-time jobs should be recorded relative to their full-time equivalent (FTE).
• Every job increase will help your application and should be recorded.

The REPF intervention (area of focus) for community projects at FHDC is:

• capital grant funding for investment in capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups

There is one key objective for community projects, which is:

• To foster a sense of local pride and belonging, through activities that enhance physical, cultural and social ties and amenities. This includes community infrastructure, local green space and community-led projects. (this objective must be chosen for compliance):

The key outcomes for community projects are (please select as many as applicable):

• Increased users of facilities or amenities
• Improved perception of facilities or amenities
• Improved perception of experienced accessibility

Another example might be a community organisation that has selected the “increased users of facilities” outcome. In order to measure this increase, you will need to use an appropriate baseline, such as the month before the project started or if your user numbers change seasonally use the same month from the previous year. We are likely to ask you for the number of users before the changes and the number of users after the changes. Or, if you believe your project will result in “improved perception of facilities” then you will need to measure this change in perception, from those who used your facility before and after the funding took place. We suggest that you use a quick a questionnaire or feedback form with a simple 5-point scale perception question (very poor, poor, acceptable, good, or very good). Ask the same users before the project commences and after to measure this change in perception.

• Applications for REPF funding are required to demonstrate their impact and the positive changes that your project makes to the REPF outcomes/outputs selected in your application (as stipulated within the grant agreement).
• You will be required to monitor your project and report to Folkestone and Hythe District Council. It is important to build monitoring, evaluation and reporting into the project from the beginning to understand what has worked well and what has not worked so well. This will be determined at the start of your project.
• Depending on the nature and length of the project we will ask you to provide us with progress updates on spend, milestones and outcomes. This is likely to be midway through your project and at the end of the project and may be more often for longer, larger or more complex projects. An initial monitoring requirement at the start of your project is likely to be required, to establish a baseline position and to enable you to monitor any increase in jobs, growth, perception, use of facilities etc.
• Projects must deliver specific outcomes and support the interventions and objectives of the Rural England Prosperity Fund. Please make sure you have read the definitions guidance and have understood the evidence that will required as part of your reporting and monitoring.
• The application form requires you to specify important stages of your project. These milestones give us an indication that you have carefully planned your project and are likely to be monitored too.

Stage 1 – Expression of Interest

• Applicant to review funding eligibility criteria
• Applicant submission Expression of Interest (EOI)
• FHDC officer Review of EOI. If eligible, FHDC officer will confirm with applicant within 7-10 working days and invited to complete full application. If not eligible, applicant to repeat steps above.

Stage 2 – Full Application

• Application submitted along with supporting information including financial accounts, quotes for the investment(s), and relevant planning permissions (if applicable)
• Upon receipt, an FHDC officer will commence review. A site visit may be made at this stage and discussions had on suggested output/outcome evidence.
• FHDC officer compiles full scoring report based on information given, ready for a decision on the grant request.

Stage 3 – Decision Panel

• Decision panel schedule with relevant invitees in attendance**. Scoring document evaluated and either approved or rejected.  Please note: Decision panels are to be scheduled quarterly or until the funding allocation for that specific period has been reached, whichever is sooner. At this point, application invites may be temporarily paused until the next funding round is opened (announced on website). EOI’s can still be submitted during this time.
• If approved, a grant offer will be issued. If rejected, the reasons why will be provided.
• When a grant offer is issued, if accepted, the applicant needs to enter into the GFA.

Stage 4 – Project Review

• Applicant submission of signed grant offer acceptance

———————–Project can commence——————–

• Beneficiary submission of claim post defrayal of expenditure.
• FHDC officer to review. If approved, payment can be arranged. If rejected, the appropriate evidence will be requested again.
• Submission of output/outcome evidence to be reviewed and collated by FHDC officer.
• FHDC officer submission of case study information.

Please Note:

Projects cannot start and expenditure incurred until the project has been approved by FHDC, and a Grant Funding Agreement has been signed. The GFA is in the Council’s standard format and no negotiation / amendments will be accepted.

Any project activity started, or expenditure incurred before the GFA is signed will render the project ineligible.

Projects will need to be completed and final grant claims submitted by 15 February 2025 subject to remaining funds.

**Decision panel invitees to include Leader, Cabinet Member for Place Plan, Heritage, Tourism and the District Economy, Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Biodiversity, all Ward Members for the given area and relevant FHDC Officers.

In the application form we ask you to confirm that you have a number of pieces of information, permissions, and finance in place. If you are provisionally successful, we will need to see this evidence before we are able to confirm your grant offer.

Planning permissions and licenses

If you are applying for any physical upgrades or improvements that will require planning permission, grants will only be approved if planning permission has already been provided or if there is evidence that planning permission is currently being sought. The grant will be awarded on a conditional basis that planning permission is approved, and the project can complete before 15th February 2025.

To find out more about how to gain planning permission and the regulations, please visit:

www.planningportal.co.uk

To submit an application within Folkestone & Hythe district, or to check progress of one already submitted, visit:

www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/planning

You will also be asked within the application form to declare any other permissions or licences that are required for your project and when they will be obtained.

If your project is taking place on rented / leased / tenanted land or premises, please ensure you submit a letter of authority from the land or premises owner. If you do not own the building/land you will be required to supply written permission from the landlord/landowner within a month of any grant award, if your grant application is successful.

If you are successful and awarded a Rural Grant and wish to request any changes in cost or focus of the project you must apply in writing to the REPF Project Manager at economy@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk though please understand this may be declined.

As a condition of the grant, all capital (physical assets) expenditure must follow the procurement procedures below.

We will require evidence of three quotes, as a minimum, to ensure value for money on all expenditure over £5,000.

This shall include adopting the following minimum procedures:

• £0-£5,000              One quote or cost to be obtained from a supplier.
• £5,000 an over      3 written quotes or prices from relevant suppliers of goods, works/services and lowest quote used.

If you have received/ will be receiving funding from other DEFRA schemes towards this project, you will not be eligible to apply for further funding from this scheme. This includes, but is not limited to:

• The farming in protected landscapes programme (FIPL)
• The farming investment fund (FIF)
• The platinum jubilee village hall improvement grant fund
• Support for farmer owned businesses is available under the Farming Investment Fund (FIF).

Please be aware that all applicants are expected to complete a subsidy declaration within the application form.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council will be providing this grant to the business / organisation as a Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA) subsidy under the Subsidy Control Act (2022). MFA subsidy limit is £315,000 over a three-year period (including your current financial year and the previous two financial years).

For more information on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund subsidy control please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-subsidy-control-7

Projects will need to be completed and final grant claims submitted by 15 February 2025 subject to remaining funds.

Additional information is available on the DEFRA website, click here to access

For general queries about this scheme or help with completion of forms, email economy@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk or call Andy Markwell on 07816 989171.