Guidance

UK Seafood Fund: Infrastructure Scheme draft specification

Published 27 December 2021

This guidance was withdrawn on 2 February 2022

Feedback on the draft documents for the infrastructure scheme has now closed. You can find out about the UK Seafood Fund: Infrastructure Scheme.

This page outlines the draft specifications for round 1 of the Infrastructure Scheme of the UK Seafood Fund.

You can provide feedback on this specification by filling in a feedback form and sending it to uksfinfrastructure@defra.gov.uk by 26 January 2022.

You will be able to apply for this scheme from the week beginning 7 March 2022.

The Infrastructure scheme of the UK Seafood Fund will invest at least £65 million into infrastructure projects. It will be administered by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). Final decisions about funding will be made by Defra to make sure all nations are represented.

The scheme will strengthen the seafood supply chain through infrastructure projects. The scheme will bring social and economic benefits, while reducing the seafood industry’s impact on the environment.

The scheme will have several rounds over the next 2 years. Each round will be designed in response to feedback and the development needs of the sector. The completion date for the scheme is currently 31 March 2024 but this may be extended into 2025.

1. Who can apply

You can apply for funding if you are involved in fishing, processing or aquaculture and are:

• an organisation, business or charity
• a trade association
• a public body or local authority (including trust ports, local authority ports and public bodies, using funds for environmental improvements and fisheries management)
• a consortium member
• an officially recognised producer organisation

Your infrastructure project must be based in the UK to be considered for this scheme.

We expect to fund projects that will improve:

• designated landing sites and ports, to allow a greater proportion of the UK fleet to land produce
• processing and aquaculture systems and facilities
• the use of renewable energy
• the social and economic welfare of coastal communities

You can make only one application per round as the lead applicant, but you may be a consortia member for more than one application per round.

1.1 Project timelines - round 1

Date	Activity
26 January 2022	early market stakeholder engagement ends
Week beginning 7 March 2022	applications open
18 April 2022	applications close

You must set out clear timescales for your project when you apply.

2. Match funding

All applicants must secure match funding to be successful. You must state where this will come from when you apply.

It is your responsibility to source match funding. Seek independent financial advice before committing any private resources. Match funding must be in the form of a fiscal contribution. In-kind contributions, such as staff time or the use of existing equipment, is not considered as match funding.

The level of funding you can apply for depends on your business or organisation type.

The maximum level of funding from the Infrastructure Scheme as a percentage of total project cost is:

• public bodies: 75%
• private, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs): 50%
• private, non-SME: 30%
• private, fisherman’s associations: 75%
• private, producer organisations: 75%

3. Funding amounts

You can request between £250,000 and £5 million funding as the Infrastructure Scheme contribution to your project. The amount you can request does not depend on your business or organisation type but we will consider whether your organisation has sufficient funding to deliver the project without public assistance.

Requests for funding outside of these thresholds in round 1 will not be considered.

4. What to include in your application

Applications should include details of how the project will:

• strengthen and modernise the supply chain
• provide social and economic benefits by investing in coastal communities
• use renewable energy sources and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the seafood industry

You must also include in your application:

• a delivery schedule with all project phases including design, procurement, construction and commissioning
• details of the initial Project Execution Plan (PEP), which identifies the approach to procurement, the existing or proposed construction capability, and a plan for the works and project management
• project governance arrangements
• the assumptions made about consents or permissions in order to meet the timelines
• evidence that project delivery risks have been identified and mitigated
• a declaration that you have not already received any government funding for your proposed project (and are therefore not having the same aspects of one project double funded)

5. How applications will be assessed

Applications will be assessed in 3 stages:

1. Projects will be checked against eligibility requirements.
2. Eligible projects will be scored against assessment criteria, informed by the views of officials from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
3. A panel of Defra officials will decide which of the projects that meet the minimum score required should receive funding to make sure all nations are represented.

Unsuccessful applicants will be able to appeal if there is evidence of legal, administrative or human error in handling applications.

6. Report progress

You need to provide written progress reports to MMO in line with your agreed claims schedule.

Progress reports can include but are not limited to:

• a summary of work carried out up to the current point
• an updated risk register
• any unexpected delays or challenges and their impacts on the project deliverables or timescales

The number of progress reports will depend on your agreed claims schedule, key milestones and project duration.

MMO will conduct site visits where appropriate to confirm details of the project and progress.

Fraud checks will be conducted where appropriate. Any bids that fail these checks will be rejected.

6.1 Submit final report

You need to submit a final report to MMO at the end of the project with your final claim for payment. This must include:

• a summary of the project’s outcomes and outputs
• a grant usage declaration verified by an independent auditor
• financial reconciliation
• a proportionate operational report on how the funding was used

7. MMO performance monitoring

You will need to submit reports on the performance of your project. The details and frequency of these reports will be set out in your award of grant.

8. Receiving payments

All payments will be paid in arrears. To support your claim you will need to submit:

• original dated invoices showing the amount of money paid for each product or service (email invoices can be accepted but they must show the email trail from the supplier to the applicant)
• proof of payment (this should be a bank statement clearly showing the transaction between your bank account and the supplier - any unrelated transactions can be redacted)
• a progress report

We may decline to pay all or part of the funding if the information on the invoices is believed to be inaccurate, or if the products or services in the claim do not match what was approved in your grant award.

The MMO will carry out annual reviews on all multi-year grant projects to help decide whether to continue funding.

Payments will only be made to the lead partner for each project. The lead partner must then make payments to subcontractors or other partners. 

Payments under this scheme are subject to relevant subsidy control principles. These include the agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures, and Northern Ireland relevant state aid rules.

8.1 Total project cost

All reasonable project costs can be included such as salary, materials, capital equipment purchases, travel and subsistence and simplified costs. If there are other costs that should be shown separately, detail the type of cost and amount.

You must provide quotes for all goods and services that are part of your project in order to verify the costs and to demonstrate value for money.

The quotes and tenders you submit must:

• come from suppliers that trade independently of each other and do not share any ownership
• be from the last 3 months and be valid
• be comparable in terms of the quality, size, quantity and type of product if you are using multiple quotes to show you will get value for money when buying a product
• come from companies that are independent of yourself, and not from suppliers that you are related to or that your business is linked to

You must make sure that the companies who quote for items or services for your project know that it is being submitted as part of an application for funding under the scheme. They must consent to their information being shared as part of your application.

The number of quotes you need to send will depend on the fiscal value of the product or service.

Individual items with a value (excluding VAT) of:

• up to £1,500 need to send 1 quote
• up to £5,000 need to send at least 2 quotes
• up to £60,000 need to send at least 3 quotes

For items above £60,000:

• public sector applicants must send a formal tender including evidence of the evaluation system used, details of the chosen tender and scoring
• private sector applicants must send 3 quotes or tender exercise including evidence of the evaluation system used, details of the chosen tender and scoring

Costs must be submitted using the format £0:00, inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

The MMO will not pay VAT that you can recover from HMRC. Any irrecoverable VAT must be expressed as a cost in your proposal. No element of profit may be included in your application and will not be funded.

If you have a quote in a foreign currency, you must calculate the exchange rate at the time you submit the application.

Salary costs

A member of staff working directly on your project can be included in your project costs. However, staff time can only be reimbursed where the work on the project is not part of an employee’s regular job role. Staff costs for capital or revenue projects are considered running costs and therefore are not eligible.

Simplified costs

Simplified costs can be used for projects where evidencing the actual costs incurred is excessively time consuming or difficult, for example costs for utilities, postage, overheads or where there are many small items with little impact on the project. Simplified costs cannot be used for capital purchases. If you choose to use simplified costs you will need to demonstrate that the costs are reasonable and based on a sound calculation or evidenced methodology over the duration of the proposed project.

8.2 Expenses

All expenses should be in line with best practice government buying standards (GBS), and Defra’s travel and subsistence policy. This will be provided to successful applicants.

Claims need to be supported by valid receipts for audit purposes and must not exceed the stated rate. If you exceed the stated rate, MMO will only reimburse up to the stated rate.

Travel allowance

All rail journeys should be standard class rail unless a clear business case demonstrating value for money can be presented. This includes international rail journeys by Eurostar and other international and overseas rail operators.

Mileage allowance:

• private cars and vans (no public transport rate): 45 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles in a tax year and 25 pence for additional miles
• private cars and vans (public transport rate): 25 pence per mile
• private use car scheme rate: 11 pence per mile
• private motorcycles: 24 pence per mile
• passenger supplement: 5 pence per mile
• equipment supplement: 3 pence per mile (under HMRC rules this expense is taxable)
• bicycle: 20 pence per mile

You can only claim the ‘no public transport rate’ for car and van travel where the use of a private vehicle for the journey is essential. For example, on grounds of disability or where there is no practical public transport alternative. If the use of the vehicle is not essential, you should claim the ‘public transport rate’.

Subsistence

Accommodation (bed and breakfast) allowance:

• London: £130
• Bristol: £100
• Warrington: £90
• Reading: £85
• UK other: £75

9. Legal requirements

All applicants are expected to adhere to legal requirements within their own administrations.

10. How the scheme will be managed

The scheme will be managed by Defra’s Marine and Fisheries new Fisheries Funding Governance structure and administered by MMO.

All aspects of funding will be managed through the Defra Fisheries Funding Board. As these groups develop, the Infrastructure Scheme will be reviewed and where necessary modernised, simplified and aligned to the strategic outcomes. Costs will be reduced where possible.

11. Scheme evaluation

All applicants are required to take part in an evaluation of the Infrastructure Scheme.