Q. When is my project’s “estimated completion date”?
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A LCF project is treated as completed on the date when the final instalment of LCF monies has been spent. This may be before or after the physical work undertaken on the project is completed.
Where there is only one payment of LCF monies (often the case when an organisation undertaking a project is reimbursed for its expenditure on the project following completion of the actual project works) then the date on which the funding EB makes that one payment will be both the LCF start date and the LCF completion date.
Q. When is my project’s “estimated start date”?
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When we ask for an estimated project start date (as we do on Form 2: Project Registration form) we are asking project applicants to estimate the first date on which there will be a LCF payment.
Q. Do I need to seek an extension of time to complete my project?
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Spending LCF funds on a project after its estimated completion date is non-compliant, including making retrospective payments. If you think you won't finish spending by the original end date, you must request a project extension beforehand.
Extensions must be requested before the project’s original completion date, as we cannot approve retrospective extensions.
You can extend your project by three months using ENTRUST Online (EOL). A guide is available in the 'Resources and How To Guides' section on our website. For extensions longer than three months or if you need a second extension, please contact our Helpline in writing.
Q. How many project extensions can I seek?
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An EB can seek a single three month extension for a project on ENTRUST online (EOL). Any further extensions will need to be sought by contacting our Registrations team in writing. EBs will only continue to be granted further extensions of time if there are good reasons for the continuing delay and the overall project extensions are together no longer than the original estimated length of the project.
Q. How should I notify Entrust that a project is complete?
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The EB responsible for the project should notify us when it's complete by updating the supplementary pages of its Statutory Annual Return (Form 4).
Enter the amount of LCF funds spent during the reporting period and the completion date (final payment date of LCF funds). A Form 9: Project Completion form will then be automatically generated and appear on your EOL dashboard for you to fill out and submit.
If other EBs have been involved in the project, ensure they have entered their LCF expenditures on their own Supplementary Pages before you mark the project as complete.
Q. When should I fill out and submit a Form 9: Project Completion form?
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The EB holding the project approval should notify us that the project is complete and submit the Project Completion form within three months of the project completion date. A project is marked as completed on the Statutory Annual Return which generates the Project Completion form.
Where the LCF project is part of a larger overall project and that overall project does not finish until sometime after the LCF element of the project has completed, we would ask EBs to fill out and submit their Form 9: Project Completion form as best they can from their understanding of the project thus far.
Q. Which Value for Money (VFM) questions will be asked on the Form 9: Project Completion form?
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The VFM questions asked on Form 9: Project Completion form are:
• Did this project receive funding from other sources?
If yes, how much other funding (in total) was received?
• Will any income be generated by the project?
If yes, how much income each year (to the nearest £1,000) is expected?
• Has this project reduced the total utility costs of the structure, building or amenity (e.g. through reduced energy consumption, energy efficiency measures or energy generation)?
If yes, please estimate the reduction in total utility costs (to the nearest £1,000) each year.
• Have any new jobs been created and / or existing jobs maintained, as a result of the project?
If yes, please provide the number of:
a) jobs created (use full time equivalent, e.g. 0.5, for part time jobs)
b) jobs maintained (use full time equivalent, e.g. 0.5, for part time jobs)
• Please estimate the number of visits to the project site each year prior to the project.
• Please estimate the number of visits to the project site after the project has completed.
• Did the project achieve its aims?
• Do you consider that this project has improved the lives of people living in the community of the project, and / or achieved environmental benefits?
• Do you consider this project directly brought together people in the community of the project who are from different backgrounds and who otherwise would not have been brought together?
• Is there any additional information you would like to provide about this project?
Q. In the assets section of the project completion form, how should I describe the LCF assets?
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We recommend that assets be grouped and listed as they would be listed upon your EB’s asset register. For example, if the project is to install a playground, we would encourage “playground equipment” to be listed as one asset rather than “slide”, “swing” etc. Wherever possible we would encourage EBs to record a collective asset rather than recording individual items. The value of the collective asset should then be the total value of all the individual items.
Q. Will the data about assets entered on Form 2: project registration form be transferred to Form 9: project completion form?
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Data relating to project assets will not be transferred from the project registration from to the project completion form. There are sometimes variations between what the project proposes and what the project delivers on the ground. As we wish to capture data about what has been delivered, we considered that the automatic population of asset data would not be appropriate for this section of the completion form.
Q. Is there any guidance on the value of assets to be recorded on the project completion form?
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All land, buildings, plant and machinery purchased with LCF monies should be recorded on the form, regardless of value.
