The aim of the employer grants is to provide financial support and incentives to employers to enable them to encourage sustainable modes of commuting or in-work travel (including site visits and meetings) amongst their staff.

Pre-requisites:

• Any grant payment will be equally matched by the employer (50:50)
• The facility or equipment must be located in Bristol or in selective cases within the West of England region.
• Necessary quotes (1 for amounts at or below £2,500 and 3 for amounts above £2,500) are received prior to the grant being awarded, in order to demonstrate value for money to the council. Applications will not be accepted without the necessary quotes.
• The scheme must be completed within 6 months of the grant being awarded, and the facilities funded by the grant must be available for at period of 3 years from the date of grant approval.
• Grants will not be awarded retrospectively.
• It is favourable that provision of goods or services should be sought from the West locality where possible and when offering best value.
• The organisation receiving the grant must participate in future annual Travel to Work Surveys organised by Bristol city council as part of their monitoring requirements

Changes to the agreed project / scheme

• The council will be informed of any proposed changes or amendments to the project and reserve the right to withdraw support should these be considered unacceptable.  If so, the council will require the grant to be either fully or partially refunded depending on the extent of the changes.
• If, for any reason, the project does not take place, the funding will be returned in full to the council.
• Should the project be aborted prior to completion then the council will assess the work done so far, and determine the amount of funding to be returned to the council.

Evidence of completion and final costs

•  Photographs of the project before, during and once completed and evidence of the final costs (i.e. a copy of the final invoice for the work) must be provided to the council within 6 months of the grant agreement being signed.
• If the actual final costs are less than anticipated, the balance must be repaid to the council within 2 months of completion.
• Original receipts must be provided to the council within 2 months of completion, failure to do so could result in grant payments having to be repaid to the council.

Monitoring of impact and benefits

• If your organisation has taken part in a previous Travel to Work Survey this will be used as the baseline data for monitoring purposes.
• If your organisation has not taken part in the Travel to Work Survey previously, we will require a set of baseline data to reflect how employees are travel to work prior to your project.
• The council will be supplied with any information reasonably required in addition to that detailed above.

Publicity and promotions

• The council’s contribution will be acknowledged in any publicity generated by the employer.
• The council’s name/logo must not be used without permission.
• The employer agrees that the council may use this project in future publicity/promotions;
• The employer will fully cooperate with the West of England’s initiatives to promote sustainable travel, such as the commuter challenge, hosting road shows and promoting support services available to their staff.

Please note:

• Any relevant permission (i.e. planning consent or landlord permission) must be sought to install facilities as necessary.
• The grant funding cannot be used to pay for facilities that should be provided as part of any planning application or planning obligation.
• Applications for grants covering high cost support facilities such as showers and lockers will need to provide evidence of demand and potential usage if requested.
• The grant covers the net price of the measure only – the Council is unable to provide funding for VAT. The VAT cost must therefore be covered by the applicant company.