How to apply
1. All applicants should begin by completing a brief enquiry form. These are located on each Funding Opportunity page, or on the Contact page.
2. The Good Growth team will assess your enquiry and will be in touch with further information within five working days.
- If your project is considered a potential fit for a current opportunity, we will send you an application form and details on how to proceed.
- You may be informed that your project is potentially a better fit for a future opportunity or a delegated grant scheme, and you will be signposted accordingly.
3. Application forms should be returned to the Good Growth team via email in advance of the application deadline. Deadlines differ for each funding opportunity so please make sure to check the dates for the opportunity you are applying to.
Documents and Guidance
It’s important that you read these documents before submitting an application. Not only will they help you build a strong application, they also set out expectations regarding what to expect if you are successful.
Note: This information may be updated periodically so please check back for the latest versions.
- Good Growth Investment Plan and Rural Prosperity Fund Investment Plan
- Application Form Guidance
- Example Application Form
- FAQs
- Good Growth Policy
- UKSPF Indicators
- UK SPF Indicators: Outputs & Outcomes evidence bank
- Procurement Policy Guidance
- Audit and Compliance Guidance
- Monitoring and Evaluation framework
- Business Case Template and Guidance
- Example Grant Funding Agreement
- Example Claims Form
- Project Change Request Form
- Good Growth Branding and Publicity Policy
- **NEW** How To Videos covering different sections of the application process
Applicant Support
There is a single point of contact for enquiries to the Good Growth Fund, with all queries to be directed to the GoodGrowth@cornwall.gov.uk mailbox. Please note that if you would like to apply for funding, you must complete an enquiry form in the first instance, and the team will respond within 5 working days.
If you are awaiting a response on your enquiry form and it has been more than 5 working days, please check your spam/junk folders first before contacting the team.
Specialist Support
If you wish to benefit from the specialist support offer, please contact us well in advance, and at least 10 working days in advance of an application deadline you wish to respond to. This support can be offered to suit the needs of individual applicants, whether through face-to-face meetings, telephone conversations, via email or webinars. All engagements are treated in confidence and can include;
- Providing specialist guidance and support to applicant at all stages of the application process, including offering guidance on the early stage ‘design’ of projects, support on application forms and required policies, and best ‘fit’ in terms of current or future invitation to bid processes.
- Helping to resolve more complex call/programme related queries on behalf of applicants that cannot be solved through an initial enquiry.
- Sign-posting to existing support providers that may be helpful to projects applicants when developing technical details of their applications such as cashflow projections, or climate change impact assessments.
- Providing overview support on the production of business cases, as required.
- Informally commenting on aspects of draft applications where applicants feel they need programme or application-related guidance/support.
- Sharing best practice and suggesting areas where applications could potentially be strengthened and/or helping to flag areas that may benefit from clarification or additional explanation.
- Reducing compliance risks for the programme and applicants by providing clear guidance on key aspects of the application process by interpreting programme policies and interrogating the deliverability and cost certainty of projects early in the development process
- Promoting and integrating the Good Growth principles within projects to ensure that they meet the requirements of the programme.
- Sense check on projected outputs, results and positive outcomes, to scrutinise forecast and methodology for evidencing achievements.
- Where practical, facilitate collaboration and networking between organisations and advise on emerging partnerships.
Webinars & Events
The team will deliver regular webinars and events to provide support to applicants. Through these events you will be able to learn more about the outcomes sought by specific funding opportunities as well as gateway criteria, timeframes and support available.
- Thursday 7th September, Saltash: Good Growth – Shared Prosperity Funding opportunities and how to apply
- Tuesday 12th September, Wadebridge: Good Growth – Shared Prosperity Funding opportunities and how to apply
- Webinar: What do we mean by Good Growth?
This webinar covers the 3 Good Growth Principles of ‘Clean and Green’, ‘Business and Economy’, and ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ – and how these should be embedded into applications.
> Visit our YouTube channel for a list of recordings from past events.
UK Subsidy Control
We have a responsibility to ensure that taxpayers money is spent well and that any grants given by the Good Growth Fund do not distort competition or conflict with the UK’s international commitments. In order to be compliant with UK Subsidy Control rules, we need to ensure that all grants given under the Good Growth Fund:
- Contribute to level up CIoS and make it a more prosperous place
- Are proportionate to achieving this aim and limited to what is necessary to achieve this
- Bring about a change in economic behaviour that would not have happened without the grant
- Don’t fund anything that the grant recipient would have funded in the absence of the grant (i.e. grants cannot be used to fund business as usual, but must lead to additional impact)
- Is the right tool for bringing about the outcome (e.g. not using grant funding when a loan could have been sought from a bank – it must be demonstrated that the Good Growth Programme is the funder of last resort for the activity/project in question)
- Minimise any negative impact on competition
- That the benefit of the grant outweighs any negative impact on competition.
The more information you can provide in your application, the quicker we will be able to get a grant to you if you are successful in your application. If your project is compliant with any of the 3 streamlined routes published by government then this will greatly ease the subsidy control assessment of your project and make the process more straightforward.
For further information, visit the UK Government’s Subsidy Control Act website.
