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Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) FAQ’s

What is the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF)?

The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is an annual bidding round that academies and multi academy trusts can apply for Capital Funding. The main priority for this fund is to ensure that school buildings are safe and in good working order.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund

Who is eligible to apply?

Stand alone Academies, Small Academy Trust’s (less than 5 schools, or less than 3,000 pupils across the trust) and schools with a signed academy order (before September 1st) are eligible to apply.

Large Multi Academy Trusts (with 5+ schools and more than 3,000 pupils) are ineligible to apply as they receive their own capital funding allocations.

What can we apply for?

Each academy in the trust can apply for two projects each, ranging from £20,000 to £4,000,000. There are a number of projects that can be applied for, please see below the project priorities from the last CIF round:

Highest Priority:

 Compliance and Health and Safety including:

  • emergency asbestos removal
  • gas safety
  • electrical safety
  • lift safety
  • legionella
  • fire safety
  • safeguarding

High Priority:

Significant Building Condition in a teaching environment or key support spaces including:

  • building fabric (weather tightness)
  • mechanical and electrical systems (heating and water supply)

Medium Priority

Significant Building Condition in a teaching environment  or key support spaces including:

  • building fabric (integrity of building fabric, fittings and fixtures and / or Health & Safety of key support spaces eg to include toilets and kitchens)
  • mechanical and electrical systems (not heating and water supply)

Low Priority:

Energy Efficiency in a teaching environment and key support spaces including:

  • insulation/draft proofing
  • lighting

Other works: Evidence must provide a clear condition and value for money case. This might include:

  • accessibility improvements (teaching and non-teaching)
  • building fabric (non-teaching, eg external sports equipment stores etc)
  • mechanical and electrical systems (non-teaching)
  • insulation/draft proofing (non-teaching)
  • lighting (non-teaching)

How likely are we to be successful?

In the last round, the fund was heavily oversubscribed with over 3800 applications, with only 1,435 projects having a successful outcome.

Do not let this put you off. Maun Funding Services and their chartered surveyor partners specialize in Academy surveys and expert bid-writing services. In the last round, this partnership had a project success rate of 85%.

How can Maun Funding Services help us?

The Academy Support Team at Maun are there to assist you every step of the way during the application process. They also develop a Funding Plan, which prioritizes your projects and links these to an appropriate fund. Their surveyors are CIF Specialists, that have been successful with CIF and its predecessors for many years, whilst delivering projects to the highest standard. Working on a No Win No Fee agreement, if successful, all fees are included in the funding you receive (Professional Fees section of the application). Give their Funding Services a call on 0115 837 3210, to discuss your projects and start your path to success.


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