Trust Capacity FundApplication Form

April 2020 Insert the name of your trust, or school, below using BLOCK CAPITALS

ContentsThe application form explained 3

Sections 3

Submitting the application 3

Data protection 4

Application checklist 5

Application form 6

Section A – Organisation details for existing trusts only 6

Section B – Details of school applying for strand D 8

Section C – Application details 9

Section D – Project details 10

Tender assessment criteria and instructions 10

Deliverability 10

Value for money 13

Sustainability 13

Costs 14

Compliance and Governance 15

Resource management 17

Annex A - Declaration of interests 18

Annex B - Declaration 19

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The application form explainedThe Department for Education (DfE) has published a guidance document alongside this form for the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF). The guidance provides information on the aims of the fund, assessment criteria and funding available. Please ensure you have read through the requirements carefully before completing this application form.

Please also ensure that you complete all the relevant sections, as failure to do so may mean we will be unable to consider your application.

For the avoidance of doubt, ‘DfE’, ‘the Department’ and ‘the Authority’ in this application form refer to the Secretary of State for Education.

SectionsThe main body of the application is made up of the following sections:

Section A – Details for existing trusts applying to strands A-C Section B – Details of school applying for strand D Section C – Application details Section D – Project details

Some of these sections will not be applicable to you, depending on which strand of funding you are applying for. For clarity:

existing trusts applying for strands A-C should complete sections A, C, D and both Annex A and B

schools applying for funding under strand D should complete sections B, C, D and both Annex A and B

Submitting the applicationThere are two application windows in which applicants can submit their completed application form to the relevant Regional Schools Commissioner ’s (RSC) office, as detailed in the guidance document. To be considered for the first funding window, the completed Word application form needs to be submitted no later than the deadline given by your RSC office in advance of their HTB meeting in July 2020. All growth decisions on applications submitted in the first funding window need to be made by 31st July 2020.

To be considered for the second funding window, the completed Word application form can be submitted from 1st September 2020, and no later than the deadline given by your RSC office in advance of their HTB meeting in December 2020. All growth decisions on applications submitted in the second funding window need to be made by 31st December 2020.

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When submitting your application please include your organisation’s name and the words ‘Trust Capacity Fund Application’ in the email subject field. The application must be submitted by the applicant directly, rather than by a professional adviser on their behalf.

Applicants must also submit a related growth application to their RSC for discussion at Headteacher Board (HTB). We will consider growth applications that were approved by RSCs between February and December 2020. For the first funding window, the associated growth application must be approved by the RSC no later than 31 st July 2020. For the second funding window, this must be approved by the RSC no later than 31st December 2020.

For the purposes of TCaF 2020-21, growth applications refer to trust growth, such as applications to convert to academy status or take on a sponsored school. For further information on what will be considered as eligible growth, particularly in relation to strand D, please consult the information for applicants guidance document.

The closing date to submit your growth application will vary according to the date of the HTB you are submitting it to. Please contact the relevant RSC team to confirm the deadline for submission. Applications will be assessed whether or not the related application has at that time been considered by RSCs at HTB. A final decision on the TCaF application will be made once the outcome of the growth application has been determined.

Data protectionPersonal data is collected in the templates in order to consider your application and will not be used for other purposes. For the purposes of the Data Protection Act, the department is the data controller for this personal information and for ensuring that it is processed in accordance with the terms of the Act. The department will hold all personal information you supply securely and will only make it available to those who need to see it as part of the TCaF application process.

The full privacy notice for TCaF can be accessed here.

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Application checklistTask to complete

Have you provided information on all of the following areas (where appropriate)?

Yes No

Section A – Organisation details for existing trusts only ☐ ☐

Section B – Details of school applying for strand D ☐ ☐

Section C – Application details ☐ ☐

Section D – Project details

Deliverability Value for money Sustainability Costs Compliance and Governance Resource management

☐ ☐

Have you sent an email to your RSC office, entitled:

Trust Capacity Fund Application – [insert institution name]

with all relevant sections of your completed Word application form?

☐ ☐

Annex A - Declaration of interests signed ☐ ☐

Annex B - Declaration signed

This must be signed and submitted by the applicant In so doing, they acknowledge that they have read the accompanying guidance document and that this application does meet the criteria, and to the best of their knowledge, that the information provided is accurate.

☐ ☐

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Application form

Section A – Organisation details for existing trusts only1. Name of trust organisation Click or tap here to enter text.

2. Companies Registration Number

You can find your Companies Registration Number by searching for your trust under Find an Establishment Group on

Get information about school s

Click or tap here to enter text.

3. If you are a registered as a supplier with the Supplier Registration Service for Government, please provide your DUNs number

You can find your DUNs number by signing into your dashboard on

Supplier Registration Service for Government

4. If known, please provide the Group ID of your trust

You can find your Group ID by searching for your trust under Find an Establishment Group on

Get information about school s

Click or tap here to enter text.

5. Applicant contact name Click or tap here to enter text.

6. Position held by applicant named above

Click or tap here to enter text.

7. Full address Click or tap here to enter text.

8. Telephone number Click or tap here to enter text.

9. Email address Click or tap here to enter text.

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10.RSC region your trust is based in

Choose an item.

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Section B – Details of school applying for strand D11.Name of school Click or tap here to enter text.

12.Applicant contact name Click or tap here to enter text.

13.Position held by applicant named above

Click or tap here to enter text.

14.Full address Click or tap here to enter text.

15.Telephone number Click or tap here to enter text.

16.Email address Click or tap here to enter text.

17.RSC region your trust will be based in

Choose an item.

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Section C – Application details18.Please indicate which strand of

the fund you wish to apply for

Application guidance and criteria for the different strands of the fund are set out in the Information for applicants document and eligibility checkers. Trusts should apply for the highest strand for which they are eligible.

Strand A1 - Support strong trusts to grow and innovate in areas of long-standing need

Strand A2 - Encourage strong trusts to grow by taking on and improving weaker maintained schools and academies

Strand B - Accelerate the development of mid-sized trusts with the potential to be strong

Strand C – Support the merger of smaller trusts to form new strong trusts, as well as priority projects from RSCs which do not fall under the other strands

Strand D – Support good or outstanding LA maintained rural schools to collaborate and create new, strong multi-academy trusts (MATs)

23.Regional HTB Choose an item.

24.Date at which your project was / will be discussed by HTB (if known)

Click or tap here to enter text.

25.URN and name of your project Click or tap here to enter text.

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Section D – Project details

Tender assessment criteria and instructions

Assessors will evaluate each project using the information contained within the application and data generated from DfE centrally held sources to make a relative judgement. . All bids will be treated fairly and assessed on merit only. Funding is limited and applications will be assessed and prioritised according to the extent to which they meet the selection criteria. Only strong, viable applications that clearly demonstrate how the trust will grow effectively and sustainably are likely to be successful for funding.

The initial assessments will then be moderated by a national moderation panel to ensure consistency. Where bids exceed the level of funding available, the moderation panel will prioritise applications according to our scoring criteria.

Please Note: The Department reserves the right to reject any tender that does not provide sufficient or satisfactory evidence on any question.

The Department reserves the right not to assess any text provided above the specified word limit for each question. Answers must only contain text and numbers where appropriate. The Department will not assess any links, pictures or other media included in any answer.

Each question must be answered in relation to the relevant question and not refer to information provided in response to any other question.

Deliverability

Please detail, in no more than 200 words per section, your response to the following questions:

26.Please provide an outline of the growth application you have submitted/will submit to the HTB

Click or tap here to enter text.

27.Please outline how you will use any TCAF funding awarded by the Department to implement your proposal

Click or tap here to enter text

28.Please identify all risks to successful delivery of your proposal and demonstrate how you will mitigate these risks

Click or tap here to enter text.

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26.Please provide an outline of the growth application you have submitted/will submit to the HTB

Click or tap here to enter text.

27.Please outline how you will use any TCAF funding awarded by the Department to implement your proposal

Click or tap here to enter text

For schools applying for strand D only

29.Please provide further details of which schools intend to join your trust and confirm your acceptance that 50% of those listed must have an approved academy order by 31st March 2021 and that they will have joined your trust by 31st March 2022

Click or tap here to enter text.

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Action Plan & Timeline –

Please state below the high-level action plan, detailing the main activities and milestones for your proposals (please add more rows as required). Please note that all activities must start no earlier than 6th April 2020 and must be completed by 31st March 2021.

Start date (dd/mm/yyyy) End date (dd/mm/yyyy) Main activity / Milestone

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Value for money

Please detail in no more than 200 words:

30.How will you demonstrate value for money?

Please provide evidence of the ways in

which this work will bring capacity to your

trust and the consequential benefits that

this will bring to students across your trust

and in the geographical area in which you

are working. Consider in your response the

importance of using benchmarking to

demonstrate the efficient use of public

funds.

Click or tap here to enter text.

Sustainability

Please detail in no more than 200 words:

31.How you will ensure that your proposed project is sustainable and will continue beyond the life of this programme of work?Please provide evidence how any funded activities will be embedded in your business as usual operations, including accountability for making it happen. Please also provide details of how your trust will be able to afford to pay for any newly funded capabilities beyond March 2021.

Click or tap here to enter text.

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Costs

Please use the table below to provide a firm cost breakdown [including a sub-itemised

spend] of how this money will be spent and when (add more rows as required). Please note that all activities must start no earlier than 6th April 2020 and must be completed by 31st March 2021.

ActivityStart date

(dd/mm/yyyy)

End date

(dd/mm/yyyy)

Costs incurred in the 2020/21 FY

TOTAL

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Compliance and Governance

Trust members

Please provide details of the trust’s members, including their email address and the date they were appointed. If you are forming a new MAT, please provide details of the proposed trust members (please add more rows as required).

Member name Member email address Date member was/will be appointed (dd/mm/yyyy)

Trust trustees or directors

Please provide details of the Trust’s trustees or directors, including their email address and the date they were appointed. If you are forming a new MAT, please provide details of the proposed Trust’s trustees or directors (add more rows as required).

Trustee name Trustee email address Date trustee was/will be appointed (dd/mm/yyyy)

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Trustee name Trustee email address Date trustee was/will be appointed (dd/mm/yyyy)

If these details are not listed on the Get Information About School s website please ensure you update them prior to submitting your application, or upon setting up the new trust.

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Resource management

To ensure that applicants are managing their resources effectively, we require all applicants to have completed the resource management self-assessment tool dashboard. The completed self-assessment must be submitted along with your application. If you have completed the self-assessment within the last 6 months, submit it to your RSC team along with this application. If you have not yet completed the self-assessment dashboard, or completed it more than 6 months ago from the point of application, you will need to do so and submit it to your RSC team along with the application.

We will assess the return from the self-assessment dashboard. Depending on the outcome from this assessment, your application may either pass, conditionally pass, or fail. Note that the action taken on the basis of your self-assessment will form part of our assessment and may affect your score.

Please note that all trusts will need to complete the self-assessment tool by 31st March 2021 as part of the mandatory reporting requirements. More information is available here.

If you have already done this self-assessment, please detail in no more than 200 words:

32.What further investigation or follow up action have you undertaken since completing the self-assessment dashboard, based on the results of your self-assessment?

Click or tap here to enter text.

If you have had an SRMA visit, please detail in no more than 200 words:

33.When the SRMA visit took place

34.Whether you have received an SRMA report

35.How many of the report’s recommendations have been implemented

36.Where recommendations have not been implemented, what was your rationale?

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Annex A - Declaration of interests DfE requires that applicants declare any conflicts of interest.

The Department for Education defines a conflict of interest as ‘a situation in which someone in a position of trust either within the department, or from a future or existing contractor or grant holder, has competing professional or personal interests that may have the potential to distort competition. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfil his or her duties impartially.’

In deciding which interests to disclose, those affected by this declaration should ask whether, in the opinion of a fair-minded and informed observer, the interest would suggest a real possibility of bias.

If you declare an interest, we will take a decision on how these will be managed.

Could the personal interests of any party to this application or those of family members or friends be deemed to benefit from this application should it be funded?

Yes

No

If yes, please provide details. Click or tap here to enter text.

If you have declared a conflict, please explain how this will be managed.

Click or tap here to enter text.

Are there any other interests you wish to disclose?

Yes

No

If yes, please provide details: Click or tap here to enter text.

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Annex B - Declaration**This must be signed by the trust’s accounting officer, or the headteacher of the

applying school**

I confirm that the information provided in this application is correct to the best of my knowledge and meets the criteria. I further confirm that if the application is successful, we will:

agree to a School Resource Management Advisor (SRMA) visit as a condition of

funding, where deemed appropriate by the department;

agree to update the Get Information About School s website with trust members

email addresses, where required;

deliver as per the requirements outlined in the guidance document;

agree to use the allocated funding to deliver the named project(s), in line with this

application and according to the terms and conditions of the grant;

have appropriate systems and processes in place to secure delivery and achieve

value for money;

start and complete the project by the dates set out in this application and notify the

department at the earliest possible opportunity if any slippage or delay occurs, or if

any underspends emerge;

accept all of the Department for Education grant funding agreement terms and

conditions, effective from 6th April 2020;

acknowledge all costs associated with our bid are borne by us and the Authority is

in no way liable for any costs incurred in responding to this tender

acknowledge the Authority may vary or cancel this tender at its sole discretion at

any time.

acknowledge that this application may be declined should any information be

deliberately withheld or misrepresented that is later found to be material in

considering the application.

I confirm that the organisation named in this application has given me the authority to

complete this application on its behalf.

Signature

PositionPrint name

Date (DD/MM/YYYY)

Please Note: Signature must be either an E-signature or a real signature (scanned document)

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