Supplementary Guidance - Resource Funding (REPS)

Bid Rounds – 2009/10

Introduction

Procedures have been set out by the Department for Transport (Department) to make the best use of the resource budget available for the schemes which operate within the Sustainable Distribution Fund (SDF) in England. The procedures exist to facilitate the smooth operation of the SDF and maximise value for money for the taxpayer.

These procedures form part of the operational processes of the SDF and apply to applications for resource funding (the Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme (REPS)   [1] and the Waterborne Freight Grant (WFG) [2] administered by the Department. Full guidance relating to both schemes is available on the Department's web site.

Bid Rounds

The 2009/10 bid round closing dates for the allocation of resource funding are:

  • 12th June 2009 - for funding from 28 June 2009 (rail period 4)
  • 4th  September 2009 - for funding from 20th September 2009 (rail period 7)
  • 27th November 2009 - for funding from 13th December 2009 (rail period 10)
  • 19th February 2010 - for funding from 7th  March 2010 (rail period 13)

Details of restrictions that will apply

For all bid rounds, the Department will only consider applications for grant for flows that yield a Benefit Cost Ratio of 1.5:1 or above.

Prioritisation & deliverability

Prioritisation across all schemes in the SDF will be based on Value for Money as expressed in a Benefit Cost Ratio calculation. Where appropriate other criteria may also be taken into account. For example, before deciding whether to offer support to a proposal, the Department will consider any risks to its deliverability, or whether it might be viable long-term without grant funding.

It is important that applications for grant contain the required information as outlined in the relevant scheme guides. In cases where information or evidence is missing the application will be refused and returned to the applicant. In such cases, the applicant will be able to reapply at the next bid round.

In some cases it may be in an applicant's interest to apply for less than the maximum grant entitlement so that the Benefit Cost Ratio of an application and the likelihood of securing funding are improved. The decision to do this, or not, is at the sole discretion of the applicant. However, applicants should be careful to ensure that the amount of support sought is sufficient to ensure the commercial viability of the traffic.

All unallocated funding from any bid round will pass to the subsequent bid round.

Applications

Application forms for each of the schemes operating within the SDF are available in the 'Freight' section of the Department's web site ( www.dft.gov.uk).

[1] REPS: Assists companies with the operating costs associated with moving freight by rail instead of road

[2] WFG: Assists companies with the operating costs associated with moving freight b