Application Process

All applicants for Lottery film funding must complete a specific Film Finance application form. The forms contain a general information section which is applicable to all applicants and separate specific sections for Development, Production and short film Distribution and Promotion. Only one category can be sought on any one application.

The Arts Council will take steps to recover its grant in full where it discovers evidence that knowingly false statements have been supplied or where the project is not completed or no acceptable reason for non-compliance is forthcoming.

What is the process?

• Complete and return 2 copies of the application form and enclosures. Applicants may seek advice from the Lottery Department on any aspect of the form;

• The Lottery Department will acknowledge receipt of the application form;

• The Lottery Department will provide the applicant with a unique reference number and the named officer responsible for the application;

• The application will be assessed by the Lottery officer. Eligible film applications are also normally assessed by the Northern Ireland Film Commission, except when a conflict of interest may occur, e.g. it has previously assessed the application for another fund, in which case an alternative assessor will be appointed;

• The application will be presented to the Lottery Panel for considered recommendation and to the Council of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for a decision;

• The Lottery Officer will contact the applicant with the Council’s final decision.

How are decisions made?

All applications will be assessed on their merits against the criteria. Depending on the level of Lottery funds available it may not be possible for the Arts Council to approve all applications which simply meet the relevant criteria. Under such circumstances applications which - in the opinion of the Arts Council - best meet the criteria set out in the guidelines, will be successful. Applicants rejected by Council, may not reapply for the same project.

Is the decision final?

The Arts Council operates an appeals procedure. An appeal will only be considered by the Council if there is additional information to be supplied which was in existence but which was not made available to the Council at the time it considered the application and which might have materially influenced the decision.

How long will it take?

Normally the outcome of the application will be decided within a minimum of three months of receipt of the application, this is

dependant upon:

• The scale of the project;

• The complexity of the project;

• The level of assessment;

• Satisfactory completion of the full application form;

• Receipt of all the enclosures;

• Response time to queries and clarifications.

Potential applicants are advised to apply well in advance of the

project commencement date to facilitate application form processing and contractual agreements between the Arts Council and successful applicants.

Post - decision & monitoring information

All applicants will receive notification of Council’s decision via the Lottery Department.

Successful applicants should note the following:

• Development and Production recipients will receive a ‘Heads of Agreement’ letter which will include: conditions specific to the project; standard Arts Council conditions and Standard Conditions of Grant issued by Government;

• Relevant information will be passed to the Arts Council’s solicitors. An agreement will only be developed and entered into when full production and financing arrangements/contracts, and suitable distribution arrangements are concluded. Funds cannot be released until a contract has been agreed and executed;

• Short Film Distribution and Promotion recipients will receive a formal letter of offer together with Standard Conditions of Grant issued by Government;

• An offer of Lottery funds for film Development and Production funding will remain open for one calendar year from the date of the Council’s decision. Organisations which are unable to take up an offer in this period are eligible to reapply for the same project;

• The Arts Council will require all grant recipients to acknowledge Lottery funding publicly. For Production and short film Distribution and Promotion grants screen and publicity credits in an agreed form will be required. The Arts Council reserves the right to approve all such credits. The Arts Council will accept a credit jointly with the other principal financiers. All credits will be agreed with the Arts Council at the commissioning contract stage;

• The Arts Council will need to approve all funding arrangements. It also reserves the right to approve significant changes to the project - such as changes in key personnel - and may withdraw or reduce funding in the light of such changes;

• In some cases, appropriate arrangements will need to be made for an independent completion guarantee, the terms of which are subject to the Arts Council’s approval;

• The Arts Council will require a regular flow of information and reports, including statements of income and expenditure, for all grants. Failure to submit the required reports may result in payment being withheld;

• An Arts Council representitive may visit each production during principal photography;

• The Arts Council may exercise the right to appoint, at its own cost, an executive/associate producer or monitoring representatives to the production to protect the Lottery Fund investment in the case of Production funding;

• The Standard Conditions of Grant issued by Government specify that the applicant must notify the Arts Council if a project supported through Lottery funding realises a distributable profit, or contributes to the applicant’s overall distributable profit. Under these circumstances an appropriate share of the profit must be repaid to the Arts Council. For film production this means a full equity share of any profits. Financial and other arrangements will be the subject of an individually negotiated contract in each case. The Arts Council does not seek recoupment on Development and Short Film Distribution and Promotion grants;

• The Arts Council will require a final cost report audited by a firm of Registered Auditors for all productions;

• A proportion of projects will be randomly selected for detailed monitoring by the Lottery Department;

• All successful applicants will be required to fill in a self-appraisal form detailing how the project’s objectives have been met. This will also include, but is not limited to, quantitative measures such as numbers and profile of those involved in the development, production, distribution and promotion, audience numbers, box office statistics and the number of screenings in various territories. Producers should plan for evaluation from the start of the project;

• The Arts Council will seek annual returns detailing continued ownership and ongoing use of the film.

Government standard conditions of grant

Each grant is awarded upon the recipient’s acceptance of the following standard terms and conditions issued by Government.

1. The grant must be used for the purpose set out in the approved application (as amended or varied with the agreement of the Council);

2. The appropriate share (normally the proportion of the total project costs that the Lottery has contributed) of any underspend on the project or scheme must be returned to the Council;

3. The successful applicant or (where different) the recipient of grant (whichever is the most appropriate) must:-

(a) supply the Council with regular progress reports as required and with any further financial or other information that may be required by the Council, to monitor its Lottery expenditure; and

(b) take steps to monitor the success of the project or scheme and provide the Council with any information it requires to satisfy itself that the project or scheme has been completed properly and in accordance with the conditions of grant;

4. The grant may have to be repaid in full or in part if any of the grant conditions are breached. In determining whether or not the grant should be repaid, and the amount to be repaid (if any), the Council may have regard to whether, in its opinion, the breach resulted from factors outside the control of the success of the applicant;

5. Where there is a change of purpose, ownership or recipient, either during the project or within a reasonable period after its completion (as determined by the duration of the conditions):

(a) the application must be re-considered by the Council; and

(b) the grant may have to be repaid in whole or in part if the change is such that in the Council’s view it seems unlikely to fulfil the purpose for which the grant was made.
The Council may specify in advance examples of what it will or will not regard as a "material change";

6. In addition to the above, and subject to the provisos below, the Lottery grant shall become repayable and any future payments stopped:-

(a) where the recipient ceases to operate (unless it merges with, or is replaced by, another body which is able to fulfil the purposes of the grant to the Council’s satisfaction;

(b) where the recipient is declared bankrupt, or is placed into receivership or liquidation;

(c) where the recipient fails to apply the grant for the purposes for which it was awarded;

(d) where the recipient fails to complete the project or scheme (unless such failure was due to factors beyond the recipient’s control);

(e) where the application form was completed fraudulently, incorrectly or misleadingly in any material particular;

(f) where at any time during the completion and in respect of the completion of the project or scheme, the applicant has acted:-

(i) fraudulently; or

(ii) negligently, to the extent that in the opinion of

the Council, it has a material effect on the project or scheme;

Provisos to condition (6)

(1) Where the Council considers that a default(s) at (a) to (f) above is or is likely to be rectified within a reasonable time and to its satisfaction it shall have the discretion not to require repayment and/or to continue to fund the project;

(2) In the event of default of a scheme which has a number of discrete elements (e.g. umbrella schemes) the Council has the discretion to continue to fund unaffected elements of that scheme; and

(3) Where the Council is seeking repayment, the amount which is repayable should take account of any part of the project or scheme that may have been successfully completed.

7. The successful applicant accepts that the provision of Lottery finance can only be guaranteed to the extent that the National Lottery continues to operate and the Council receives funds from it;

8. The grant will not be increased (above de minimis levels to be set by the Council) in the event of an overspend on the project or scheme. Any variation in the level of support would have to be the subject of a revised application and re-assessment by the Council;

9. Where procurement of goods, services or works is proposed, competitive tendering should be applied unless there are overriding reasons why this would be inappropriate (e.g. de minimis levels, technical or artistic reasons, protection of exclusive rights). Public bodies must comply with relevant domestic and European legislation on procurement.

In addition, the following conditions shall apply to all capital or mixed projects:

10. Assets or goods wholly or partly acquired, restored, conserved, or improved through Lottery funding (including historic assets) shall not be sold during the period of duration for conditions of grant unless their full current market value is realised and the Council is given prior notification (see Government Accounting Chapter 32). The Council may determine the form of such prior notification. Such notifications may be given in advance by reference to specific categories of disposal providing that:-

(1) the full market value of individual assets within the specific categories is not greater than or equal to £10,000 or 5% of the total value of the Lottery grant whichever is the smaller; and

(2) the proceeds of the disposal are used to benefit the project for which the grant was made;

11. Notwithstanding (10) above, assets or goods wholly or partly acquired, restored, conserved or improved through Lottery funding can be sold at less than full market value with prior written permission of the Council. (The Council should only allow assets to be sold at less than their full market value in exceptional circumstances, and such a disposal should be fully defensible);

12. Any proposal to raise a mortgage or legal charge on land or buildings, or on the strength of any other asset during its agreed economic life, will require the approval of the Council if that asset has been or is to be financed by the Lottery. This provision applies only where the Lottery has contributed more than £25,000;

13. In the event of the sale or disposal of assets or goods acquired, restored, conserved, or improved through Lottery funding, within their agreed useful economic life or the agreed useful economic life of the improvements to them, the Council shall receive an appropriate share of the net proceeds (i.e. the cash sum remaining after payment of prior debt, pari passu payment of equivalent ranking debt, any tax consequent upon disposal and other costs of disposal) from the disposal of all types of assets purchased, restored, conserved or improved with the assistance of Lottery funding within the useful economic life of the assets or such improvements. Such repayment should generally be calculated in direct proportion to the share of the costs met from Lottery funding (after prior-ranking debt, if any, has been deducted). The Council may waive this requirement if it considers that this would be inappropriate having regard to all the circumstances. The Council may waive the requirement in advance of any actual proposal to dispose or sell, provided that:-

(a) the proceeds of the disposal are used to benefit the project for which grant was made; and

(b) there are arrangements in place for dealing with the proceeds of sales being either greater or less than the Council had anticipated.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland Standard Conditions

1 It is the responsibility of the recipient to comply with any statutory and European Union legislative regulations which are relevant to the project (eg: Public Works Contracts, Services Contracts Regulations, Fair Employment Legislation);

2 The recipient will afford equality of opportunity throughout the project;

3 The Arts Council of Northern Ireland and its nominees will be granted full access at any reasonable time to the site of a Lottery funded project and to any books, records, papers and assets related to such a project;

4 Appropriate acknowledgement of financial support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Fund must be made on any assets created, purchased or improved with Lottery assistance and in the recipient’s general publicity material and annual report and accounts;

5 It is the responsibility of the recipient to comply with current legislation regarding Health and Safety, Public Liability Insurance, Child Protection and Disability Discrimination;

6 Producer must ensure the maximum use of NI labour, facilities throughout the project. Producer should liaise with Northern Ireland Film Commission in this regard;

7 The company must provide regular progress reports to the Lottery Department of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Film Commission;

8 The company must liaise with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Film Commission prior to production, during production and after delivery on publicity and distribution;

9 The Northern Ireland Film Commission will monitor the production on behalf of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.