BIS Ref: 01.05.05.02/242P Cheshire West and Chester 58 ... · Enquiries +44 (0)20 7215 5000 | Email...

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8 April 2011

Scambuster Project 1. I am pleased to inform you that subject to the terms and conditions of this Offer

Letter, the Secretary of State for BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (“the Secretary of State”) is prepared to pay Cheshire West and Chester Council (“the Lead Authority”) and Project Partners (listed in the attached schedule) a grant not exceeding £275,000 over 1 year, under section 274 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The grant is to enable the Lead Authority and Project Partners to continue to run a regional Trading Standards “Scambusters” team in accordance with the information outlined in Annex A (“the Project”) and your proposal dated 11 February 2011 and Sharon Coe’s letter dated 9 March 2011 confirming your application has been successful.

Conditions of offer

2. This offer is subject to the terms and conditions of this letter and its Annex

and is based on the following key details: The Project start date: 1 April 2011 The Project completion date: 31 March 2012 Final claim to be submitted by: 31 March 2012 Maximum grant offered: £275,000

3. This offer is conditional on the Secretary of State receiving within two months of the date of this letter the grant offer acceptance signed by a duly authorised signatory of the lead Authority. If this condition is not met, the grant

offer will lapse automatically. The grant offer may be renewed or extended at the discretion of the Secretary of State.

BIS Ref: 01.05.05.02/242P Vanessa Griffiths Cheshire West and Chester 58 Nicholas Street Chester CH1 2NP

Fair Markets Group 3rd Floor, Victoria 1, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET http://www.bis.gov.uk/

Direct Line +44 (0)20 7215 5000 | Fax +44 (0)207 215 0480

Enquiries +44 (0)20 7215 5000 | Email [email protected]

4. The Secretary of State is under no obligation to pay more than 85% of the

maximum grant offered until the Project has been completed to his satisfaction.

Financial

5 . Unless the Secretary of State agrees otherwise, claims for payment of the

grant must be submitted in arrears on a quarterly basis commencing with the claim for the first quarter 2011/12. The grant is payable on costs incurred and defrayed covering the period that the expenditure took place. The lead Authority is responsible for ensuring that payments made do not exceed the agreed expenditure limits for that funding period.

6. Unless the Secretary of State agrees otherwise, claims for payment of grant

must be submitted on an invoice to include a full breakdown of expenditure for that period by the Authority.

7. Claims must be submitted in writing to: Sandra McNeish

BIS - Department for Business Innovation and Skills Consumer and Competition Policy Level 3 – Victoria 1 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET

8. Once a fully documented claim has been received payment will normally be

dispatched (or the claim rejected) within 30 calendar days, unless the Secretary of State deems it necessary to seek further information to support the claim.

9. The Secretary of State shall be under no obligation to make any payment in respect of Value Added Tax on any claim. The lead Authority shall be responsible for meeting any demand for payment for VAT from the grant funds provided. 10. The Lead Authority must submit the final claim by 31 March 2012. The

Secretary of State shall be under no obligation to make payment on claims received after this date and the Lead Authority should assume that such claims are unlikely to be met, unless the Secretary of State has previously agreed in writing to an extension.

11. Any overpayment of the grant, whether disclosed by a report or otherwise, must be refunded forthwith to the Secretary of State on his first demand or upon the lead Authority becoming aware that the grant has been overpaid, whichever comes first.

12. The Secretary of State will not necessarily conduct a formal audit at the end of the Project, beyond an examination of the financial reports, although he reserves the right to conduct a formal audit as he considers appropriate. The lead Authority is required to keep papers relating to the Project for six years after the end of the Project in case an audit is required. The lead Authority will also be required to produce a list of assets bought by the Project at the project end, so that the Secretary of State may consider how to dispose of large assets. Ownership of assets bought by the Project will lie with the Secretary of State.

Withholding and repayment of grant

13. The Secretary of State shall be under no obligation to make any or all payments of grant under this Offer Letter, and any grant already paid may become repayable, in whole or in part, at his discretion, if:

(i) he considers that the future of the Project is in jeopardy; (ii) in his opinion progress towards completion of the Project is

unsatisfactory or if the Project is not completed by 31 March 2012, or if in his opinion there is no longer any reasonable prospect of the Project being completed by that date, unless he has previously agreed in writing to an extension;

(iii) there is a change in the nature or scale of the Project, which in his opinion is substantial and to which he has not given his prior written agreement;

(iv) the lead Authority or any Project Partner does not comply with any condition of this letter.

(v) any grant or other payment has been received, or is likely to be received, from any public authority1 for the same project that was not notified prior to this offer letter.

14. The lead Authority shall inform the Secretary of State promptly in writing of any

cessation of work on the Project and of any event or circumstance likely to affect significantly the satisfactory completion of the Project. The lead Authority shall also inform the Secretary of State promptly in writing as soon as it knows that any of the events referred to in this paragraph are likely to occur or have occurred.

1 This includes any of the European Communities or their Institutions, any other government department, research

council, local authority, or body wholly or partly supported by public funds or charitable contributions.

Monitoring

15. The Secretary of State and his representatives and advisers shall have the right to inspect the Project at any time and to require such further information about the Project to be supplied as he or they see fit.

16. Representatives from BIS will aim to meet on a quarterly basis to discuss progress.

17. The Lead Authority shall submit to BIS

• A performance statistics quarterly report

• A quarterly report highlighting the work of the project.

• An end of year report highlighting the work of the project during the previous 12 months.

18. Each team will also submit a financial report (breakdown of expenditure and

forecasted expenditure) at the end of each quarter.

19. At the end of the financial year the Lead Authority must submit an independent

audited financial statement within 3 months to the Secretary of State detailing the disbursement of the grant or paid proportion of the grant for the period (1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012) and certifying that such payment has been used in accordance with the terms of the Project.

20. All reports must be provided by the 10th of the month following the end of the relevant period.

21. In the event that the Project is not completed, the Authority must make a report to the Secretary of State. The report should outline all objectives achieved during the Project lifetime, reasons as to why the Project was not completed and an audited financial statement detailing disbursement of the paid proportion of the grant.

Redundancy Costs

22. BIS agrees that any redundancy costs, or the appropriate proportion of redundancy

costs attributable to the Scambuster Project, can be met using funds attributed to the Running Costs Budget Line detailed in this letter. BIS further accepts that in the event that notice of the termination of the Project is announced or in the event of possible termination, that the need to cover redundancy costs, in addition to other operational reasons, will lead to the scaling down of the Project earlier than the termination date in

the Grant Offer Letter, thus resulting in some terms of the Grant Offer Letter not be fulfilled for a period of time and that the continuation of the grant will be provided during this period until the end of the agreed termination date.

23. The Lead Authority shall manage the Project in accordance with the terms set out in Annex A.

24. If this offer is accepted, the Project will be monitored on behalf of the Secretary of State by:

Sandra McNeish BIS - Department for Business Innovation and Skills Consumer and Competition Policy Level 3 – Victoria 1 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET

[email protected]

General

25. No amendment to the terms of this offer will be effective unless and until agreed in writing by or on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Acceptance of Offer

26. Acceptance of this offer constitutes agreement in full to the terms and conditions set

out in this letter.

27. The offer should be accepted by a duly authorised signatory of the Lead Authority by signing the duplicated copy of the offer letter and returning it to:

Sandra McNeish BIS- Department for Business Innovation and Skills

Consumer and Competition Policy Level 3 – Victoria 1 1 Victoria Street

London SW1H 0ET [email protected]

28. This offer letter shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of English law in all respects.

Yours sincerely Sarah Chambers Director, Consumer and Competition Policy On behalf of the Secretary of State for Department for Business Innovation and Skills ACCEPTANCE

Cheshire West and Chester Council accepts the offer set out above and in the Annex to this letter. Signed for and on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Council …………………………………… Date ……………………………………. Name of authorised Signatory ………………………………..…... Position within organisation …...…….…………………………

SCHEDULE

Local Authorities in the North West Chief Trading Standards Officers Group (TSNW)

1. Cheshire West and Chester Council 2. Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council 3. Liverpool City Council 4. St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council 5. Sefton Council 6. Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

7. Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

8. Manchester City Council 9. Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council 10. Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council 11. Salford City Council 12. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council 13. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council 14. Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council 15. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council 16. Blackburn Borough Council 17. Blackpool Borough Council 18. Halton Borough Council 19. Warrington Borough Council 20. Cumbria County Council 21. Lancashire County Council 22. Bury Metropolitan Borough Council For and on behalf of Liverpool City Council

Date

…………………… accepts the offer set out above.

Signed

For and on behalf of Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council Date …………………… accepts the offer set out above. Signed

For and on behalf of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council

Date …………………… accepts the offer set out above. Signed

For and on behalf of Sefton Council

Date

…………………… accepts the offer set out above. Signed

For and on behalf of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Date


For and on behalf of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council


For and on behalf of Manchester City Council

Date


For and on behalf of Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council


For and on behalf of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council


For and on behalf of Salford City Council

Date


For and on behalf of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council


For and on behalf of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Date


For and on behalf of Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council


For and on behalf of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

Date


For and on behalf of Blackburn Borough Council


For and on behalf of Blackpool Borough Council

Date


For and on behalf of Halton Borough Council


For and on behalf of Warrington Borough Council

Date


For and on behalf of Cumbria County Council


For and on behalf of Lancashire County Council

Date


For and on behalf of Bury Metropolitan Borough Council

Date


Annex A

Continuation of the Scambuster Project

APRIL 2011 Introduction 1. This paper sets out information about the continuation of the Scambuster Project Background 2. On 29 December 2010 the Government announced further funding for the

Scambuster project in 2011/12. Funding for future years will be considered at a later stage.

3. Funding for 2011/12 will be provided by BIS (Department for Business Innovation

and Skills) for the continuation of the Scambuster project throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The funding allocation will enable the teams to continue operations throughout the financial year at existing levels of capacity.

Budget lines 4. The grant will be awarded in accordance with the indicative breakdown given

below. The Authority will inform the official designated in paragraph 24 if any of those budget lines are likely to be overspent or underspent by more than £3,000 or if it proposes to move more than £3,000 to a different budget line (£2,500 in the case of marketing costs or counsel, legal and professional fees).

Staff Costs Salaries

2011-2012

Total 208,000

Capital Costs 2011-2012

Serviced accommodation/Internal Building Maintenance

4000

Furniture and Equipment 3000

ICT/Telephones/Mobile 2000

Total 9,000

Running Costs 2011-2012

Mileage/Car Allowance 10000

Travel, subsistence and vehicle hire

5000

Office Expenses 3000

Total 18,000

Legal/Professional

2011-2012

Legal/Consultancy Fees 10000

Internal Legal Charges 10000

Other Contracted Fees I.e. Forensics, RIPA

20000

Total 40,000

Grand Total

275,000

BIS Ref: 01.05.05.02/242P Cheshire West and Chester 58 ... · Enquiries +44 (0)20 7215 5000 | Email...

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