We have had a huge response to the Music Fund and will therefore be closing it to new applications from 5pm on Thursday 30th April 2020. Any applications received after this time will not be assessed. If there is any funding left after the current round we will make a further announcement. We will endeavour to get back to existing applicants within the next week.
In response to the challenges brought about by Covid-19, a Liverpool City Region (LCR) Music Industry Support fund has been created to offer financial support to businesses within the Liverpool City Region Music sector who are at risk. Funded by the LCR Combined Authority’s Strategic Investment Fund, £150,000 is currently available and will be managed by the UNESCO City of Music Officer based in Liverpool City Council. The Fund will be overseen by the LCR Music Board.
Liverpool City Region covers the Local Authority areas of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. You can find out if a particular postcode is in these areas at gov.uk/find-local-council.
Who can apply?
The head office of the business needs to be in the LCR and should be a micro business or SME.
It needs to be directly related to the music sector.
The business needs to be able to demonstrate:
- How the coronavirus crisis has directly impacted them.
- Why the already announced Government support isn’t sufficient or why they aren’t eligible for these support measures.
- That the funding will ensure the survival of the business.
How much can I apply for?
The minimum award is £1,000 and the maximum award will be £10,000.
The first £5,000 of all agreed awards will be treated as a grant. Any investment over £5,000 will be subject to a 0% interest repayment based on a number of commercial factors over the coming 24 months. These will be treated on a case by case basis.
When can I apply?
The fund is open now and is a rolling fund so there are no deadlines for applications.
How do I apply?
We want to make this process as streamlined and simple as possible, so decisions can be made quickly and funding transferred to businesses without delay.
Applicants will need to complete a simple form, which outlines:
- Name/address of business and brief description of business activity.
- No. of employees/No. of years trading/most recent accounts or last year’s P+L.
- Why you have been particularly hard hit by the current crisis.
- Why the existing central Government support isn’t sufficient (or why the business isn’t eligible)?
- Are you in the process of requesting other public support and if so what?
- How much funding are you requesting?
- What would you use the funding for?
- Your plans for the business once we are out of this current crisis.
- A commitment to providing records of how the money was spent if requested.
- In the interests of transparency and to guard against conflict of interests we require a Declaration of Interest statement. Please declare any relationship with any of the following: a local authority within the Liverpool City Region, the LCR Combined Authority, or the Liverpool City Region Music Board.
- Bank account details for payments.
Following your submission, you will receive an email confirming that we have received your application, together with a tracking number to be used in all correspondence.
All applications are checked for completeness and eligibility against the guidelines. If your application is incomplete or ineligible, we will send you an email telling you why. We regret that we are unable to progress incomplete or ineligible applications.
Assessment & decision-making process:
Your application will be reviewed by the City of Music Officer and an evaluation made.
For grants up to £5,000, a recommendation for funding will be made to the Chair of the LCR Music Board (or another designated member of the Music Board) for approval.
Three LCR Music Board members will look at those applications over £5,000.
Declarations of interest will be requested and all records of applications/recommendations will be kept on file. All applications received which contain a declaration of interest will be subject to a secondary assessment by a third party external to the Music Board.
We expect a high demand to this fund and regrettably will only be able to support a proportion of the applications we receive.
Successful applications
If your application is successful, we will send you a standard funding agreement, together with any specific conditions relating to your award. Once you return a signed copy of the funding agreement, we will release the funding into the agreed bank account.
Feedback
We endeavour to make the application, assessment and decision-making processes as fair and transparent as possible. We welcome constructive feedback on any of our processes and procedures.
Retention of application materials
In order to comply with our audit processes, we will retain copies of the application form and supporting materials for declined applications up until 31 March 2021 and for successful applications for a further 10 years after which time they will be destroyed. Original materials will only be returned to you if a stamped self-addressed envelope is enclosed with them.
Re-submission
We can only accept re-submissions that have previously been declined if there have been significant and substantial new impacts for your business since the last application. All re-submissions must be discussed and agreed with us in advance.
Complaints
Our funding is discretionary and our decision in all matters concerning the assessment and selection of projects for investment is final.
You can make a complaint if you have good cause to believe that the correct procedures, as published in these guidelines, have not been followed or have been applied in such a way as to prejudice the outcome of your application. If you wish to complain, please contact the UNESCO City of Music Officer in the first instance at [email protected].
Freedom of Information
As a public body, we may be required to publicly disclose certain information concerning your application in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. During the process of deciding whether or not to publicly release some or all information requested by a third party, we may contact you and ask you to comment on the proposed release. Your comments will be taken into account in the decision on whether to publicly release, or withhold information, but the decision on whether to release the information ultimately rests with Liverpool City Council.
Data Protection & Privacy Statement
We require some personal information about you/your company in order to consider your application for investment.
We may share your personal information with third parties to comply with the law and/or for our legitimate interests and/or the third parties concerned.
Where the personal information you have provided to us belongs to other individuals, please refer to the above Privacy Notice. You must share this Privacy Statement and Privacy Notice with the respective individuals.
You have some rights in relation to the personal information that we hold about you under the General Data Protection Regulation. Information on how to exercise these rights is contained in the Privacy Notice.
If you have any concerns about how we process your personal information, you should contact the Music Officer in the first instance. If you are still dissatisfied, you can submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Whilst the information and advice in these guidelines is at the time of going to press believed to be accurate, Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority reserves the right to make changes at any time at its discretion. Neither Liverpool City Council or Liverpool City Region Combined Authority shall be responsible for any loss attributable to errors, omissions or other inaccuracies in the information contained in these guidelines.
