UK Government Announces CIF Funding
The UK Government’s Department for Education recently announced almost half a billion pounds (£483 million, to be precise) is to be set towards improving school facilities across England, as part of its Condition Improvement Fund (CIF). School-age children have been amongst the worst-affected by the Coronavirus, and this announcement from the Government comes as part of its pledge to ‘build back better’ following the pandemic. The team at Munday + Cramer, who offer extensive CIF funding application services in Essex, London and the rest of the South East, wanted to take a look at the announcement in a little more detail.
What is the Condition Improvement Fund?
We’ve written at length before about the Condition Improvement Fund and its particular details, but in brief, it’s a schools capital fund granted to those educational establishments looking to improve structural issues, efficiency issues and – in quite rare cases – even to aid with expansion projects, though it must be stressed that these are very unusual. This may take the form of a rewiring project, the implementation of a new, more energy-efficient boiler, emergency asbestos removal, re-roofings or any other number of things.
The Allocation
The £483 million has been set aside to go to a total of 1,199 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary-aided schools, with the largest proportion of funds going to schools in the North East and North West of the country, as these are areas that have typically lagged behind, educationally speaking, and are key geographical regions to the UK government’s “levelling up” agenda.
These two regions will receive over £90 million of the funding, in total, and this will be divided between over 270 successful schools. Closer to home, and Essex has had over 60 schools/academies/colleges successfully granted CIF funding. With site inspections and planning already well underway, the first works will commence in the autumn of this year.
Our Practice
As a firm, we continue to have great success with CIF funding, with Munday + Cramer having secured in excess of £130 million for clients in a variety of regions, including Essex, London, Kent, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and the other Home Counties, with funding secured for all types of projects, including heating, rewiring, new class bases and more.
Alongside our work with CIF, we also offer extensive other bid application services, for funds such as the Post-16 Capacity Fund, the Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF), the Public-Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) and more.
Rejected CIF Application? Don’t Panic!
If you’ve found yourself on the receiving end of a rejected CIF funding application, then don’t panic. We’ve got plenty of experience in taking failed applications, adjusting them and re-submitting them in the next round. Often, the content of a rejected application is actually quite good, it’s just that it lacks the technical heft, know-how and expertise in order to elevate it to the status of being a genuine contender.
Contact Us
So, if you’d like to find out more about our CIF funding services, then get in touch! Contact Munday + Cramer today on 01245 326 200 or by emailing us at info@mcessex.co.uk. Alternatively, you can fill out one of our online enquiry forms. However you wish to get in touch, we look forward to hearing from you.
