天美影院

1. Introduction聽聽

1.1. This document provides guidance to accountable bodies for English Investment Zones wishing to award grant subsidies under the (鈥渢he Scheme鈥�).

1.2. The Scheme enables accountable bodies to subsidise activity under 4 investment categories: local infrastructure, research and innovation, skills and business support.听聽

1.3. This guidance explains the terms and eligibility conditions for the awarding of grant subsidies under each investment category.听

1.4 Public authorities considering awarding a subsidy under the Scheme should familiarise themselves with the UK subsidy control regime: statutory guidance.听

1.5. Accountable bodies for English Investment Zones that satisfy themselves that a grant subsidy award complies with the Scheme and this guidance are not required to conduct their own assessment of the award against the subsidy control principles.听

1.6. Grant subsidies given under the Scheme must comply with:聽

1.6.1. the general conditions in paragraph 3, and聽

1.6.2聽 the conditions specified under each investment category.听

1.7. The English Investment Zone subsidy scheme and this guidance may be聽modified from time to time.听

2.鈥疓eneral definitions聽

2.1. In this guidance:聽

2.1.1.鈥�鈥淭he Act鈥�鈥痬eans the Subsidy Control Act 2022.听

2.1.2. 鈥淓ligible activity鈥� means the activities eligible for grant subsidy that deliver the objectives and outcomes of the Investment Zone programme, further detailed聽聽 under each investment category.听

2.1.3.鈥�鈥淏别苍别蹿颈肠颈补谤测鈥�鈥痬eans the enterprise receiving a grant subsidy under the Scheme.听

2.1.4.鈥�鈥淓ligible costs鈥�鈥痬eans the eligible costs listed under each investment category.听聽

2.1.5.鈥�鈥淓苍迟别谤辫谤颈蝉别鈥�鈥痬eans the definition taken from section 7 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.听

2.1.6. 鈥泪苍迟别谤惫别苍迟颈辞苍鈥� means levers available under the different categories of grant funding, which will achieve specified outputs and outcomes.听聽

2.1.7.鈥�鈥淟ocal infrastructure鈥�鈥痬eans the infrastructure built, developed or restored at a local level to improve places.听

2.1.8. 鈥淧re-development costs鈥� means activities in progress or completed in advance of physical works commencing and include activities such as site investigations, preparing cost estimates, progressing design work, obtaining planning permission, or negotiating land and/or building acquisitions.听聽

2.1.9.鈥�鈥淧ublic authority鈥�鈥痬eans mayoral combined authorities and other public bodies awarding grant subsidies under the Scheme.听聽聽聽

2.1.10. 鈥淩esearch and innovation鈥� means planned research or critical investigation aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new or improved products, processes or services (or a combination thereof).听聽

2.1.11. 鈥淩esearch and knowledge organisations鈥� means an entity such as universities or research institutes, technology transfer agencies, innovation intermediaries, research-oriented physical or virtual collaborative entities, the primary goal of which is to conduct fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development.听

2.1.12. 鈥沦办颈濒濒蝉鈥� means sector-focused skills activity where the local labour market need, as identified by the Investment Zone, is not being met by existing programmes.听聽聽

2.1.13. 鈥樷�漷he Scheme鈥� means the English Investment Zones Subsidy Scheme.听

3.鈥疓eneral conditions聽聽

3.1. Accountable bodies and relevant public authorities may award grant subsidies to any enterprise in order to deliver the objectives of their Investment Zone. Enterprises that are businesses will range from large companies to small companies聽

3.2. Grant subsidies must only be for activity in Investment Zone areas under the 4 investment categories: skills, local infrastructure, research and innovation, and business support.听

3.3. A public authority may not give a grant subsidy for activity that has started, except where:聽

3.3.1. the beneficiary has begun incurring or has incurred pre-development costs, but physical works and other eligible activity haven鈥檛 been legally committed to or commenced.听

3.3.2. the public authority is of the view that activity would not be viable unless it starts before the subsidy is awarded and the public authority has provided written authorisation to the beneficiary for the activity to start before the subsidy is given.听聽

3.4. Before giving a grant subsidy under the Scheme, a public authority must, as a minimum, obtain from a beneficiary the following information:聽聽

3.4.1. name and size of the enterprise, company registration number, registered company address.听

3.4.2. description of the proposed activity, including its location (including which Investment Zone site and/or tax site), start and end dates, and a summary of the costs.听聽

3.5. Public authorities must use objective and transparent selection criteria that are available to potential recipients in advance of giving a grant subsidy and be subject to the public authority鈥檚 existing accountability frameworks.听聽

4. Subsidy type and valuation聽

4.1. The maximum grant subsidy awardable to a single beneficiary over 3 years under each of the 4 subsidy categories is as follows:聽聽

• skills: 拢20 million
• local Infrastructure: 拢45 million
• research and innovation: 拢35 million
• business support: 拢25 million

5.鈥疶谤补苍蝉辫补谤别苍肠测聽

5.1. Public authorities must comply with the transparency requirements set out in Chapter 3 of Part 2 of the Act. Any subsidy awarded under the Scheme that exceeds the value of 拢100,000 must be uploaded to the subsidy database within 3 months of the legal commitment to award a grant subsidy. The relevant accountable body for the Investment Zone is responsible for ensuring that transparency requirements are met. The Scheme maintains its ongoing commitment to comply with Article 369 so checks will be undertaken to ensure subsidy awards are uploaded to the transparency database.听

6.鈥疌耻尘耻濒补迟颈辞苍聽

6.1. The maximum grant subsidy cumulating to a single beneficiary under each investment category is set out in paragraph 4.1. Subsidies awarded to a single beneficiary under multiple categories, or in multiple Investment Zones, do not cumulate.听聽

6.2. Where a subsidy will or may exceed the maximum grant awardable to a single beneficiary over 3 years set out in paragraph 4.1聽 for the 4 investment聽categories, that subsidy will fall out of scope of this Scheme.听聽

7.鈥疓eneral prohibitions聽

7.1. Public authorities must comply with the general prohibitions set out in Article 367 of Part 2 of the Agreement and Chapter 5 of the subsidy control regime statutory guidance, including the relocation of activities prohibition in paragraph 5.22 of the guidance.听聽

8.鈥疢isuse of subsidy聽

8.1. A public authority should ensure that any subsidy given under this Scheme is given subject to a condition allowing the public authority to recover the whole or part of the subsidy amount to the extent that the subsidy is used for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was given, and not for double funding, and to the extent that a beneficiary does not follow the rules of the Scheme thereby misusing the subsidy. A public authority must also include in legal agreements with beneficiaries an appropriate mechanism to recover subsidies where it becomes necessary to do so.

9. Investment categories聽聽

1.鈥疘苍迟谤辞诲耻肠迟颈辞苍听听

1.1. Subsidies awarded under this category will support the delivery of specific local infrastructure improvements including local transport schemes, digital infrastructure schemes, unlocking development sites and bringing local assets into use for investment and employment.听

2.鈥疎nterprise eligibility聽聽

2.1. Public authorities may give subsidies to beneficiaries investing in local infrastructure in Investment Zone areas.听聽

3. Eligible activity聽聽

3.1. Eligible activity funded under this category is:聽聽聽

• subsidies that improve highway access for a particular business or businesses
• subsidies that improve active travel routes to areas of employment for a particular business or businesses
• subsidies for specific capital interventions that enable better join up of development sites with utilities and access to the grid, such that a particular business benefits
• subsidies needed for a business to develop necessary innovation infrastructure
• subsidies needed for a business to fund new or improved digital infrastructure capacity to improve connectivity and facilitate the adoption of new technologies

4. Eligible costs聽

4.1. A grant subsidy for local infrastructure can support expenditure associated with delivering an eligible activity.听

4.2. Subsidies must only be given for costs incurred directly as a result of the activity, must be limited to costs that are strictly necessary for the activity, must be limited to the specified time period of the activity, and must not compensate for expenditure the beneficiary would have funded in the absence of any subsidy.听聽聽

5.鈥疭ubsidy thresholds and ratio聽聽

5.1. The maximum subsidy awardable to a single beneficiary over 3 years for eligible activity is 拢45 million.听

5.2.听 Subsidy may be awarded at a ratio of up to 100% of the eligible costs of eligible activity.听聽聽

6.鈥疭ubsidy type聽聽

6.1. Subsidies will be provided in the form of grants.听

1.鈥疘苍迟谤辞诲耻肠迟颈辞苍听听

1.1.听 Subsidies under this category will take the form of grants to support product and process innovation, bringing products to market, commercialisation, and improving translation and uptake.听

2. Enterprise eligibility聽聽

2.1. Public authorities may give subsidies to beneficiaries investing in Research and Innovation activity in Investment Zone areas in the target sector(s) specific to each Investment Zone.听

3.鈥疎ligible activity聽聽

3.1. Eligible activity funded under this category is:聽聽聽

• direct R&D grants to specific firms to support them to bring products to market or improve uptake
• subsidies for the purchase of capital equipment to support businesses鈥� R&D activity
• subsidies to support the development of spinout companies from research institutions
• subsidies to enable companies, researchers and academics in the Investment Zone to work with a Catapult on specific R&D activities

4. Eligible costs聽

4.1. A grant subsidy for research and innovation can support expenditure associated with delivering an eligible activity.听聽

4.2. Subsidies must only be given for costs incurred directly as a result of the activity, must be limited to costs that are strictly necessary for the activity, must be limited to the specified time period of the activity, and must not compensate for expenditure the beneficiary would have funded in the absence of any subsidy.听聽聽

5.鈥疭ubsidy thresholds and ratio聽聽

5.1.听 The maximum subsidy awardable to a single beneficiary over 3 years for eligible activity is 拢35 million.听

5.2.听 Subsidy may be awarded at a ratio of up to 100% of the eligible costs of eligible activity.听聽聽

6.鈥疭ubsidy type聽聽

6.1. Subsidies will be provided in the form of grants.听

1. Introduction聽

1.1. Subsidies under this category will take the form of grant funding for specialist sectoral-focused skills activity where the local labour market need, as identified by the Investment Zone, is not being met by existing programmes.听聽聽

1.2. Investment Zone skills activity/provision must relate specifically to the Investment Zone sector(s), take account of the local labour market, target existing skills gaps, facilitate access to high real-wage jobs for those of low and middle skill levels, and are needed beyond existing national and local skills provision, as per the co-development process and the proposals signed off by government.听

2.鈥疎nterprise eligibility聽

2.1. Public authorities may give subsidies to beneficiaries investing in skills activity in Investment Zone areas in the target sector(s) specific to each Investment Zone.听

3.鈥疎ligible activity聽

3.1. Eligible activity funded under this category is:聽聽聽

• subsidising employers to provide sector-specific skills
• subsidising companies to provide retraining to support people into high knowledge sectors
• providing localised apprenticeship incentives for employers linked to the sectoral focus of the Investment Zone

4. Eligible costs聽

4.1. A grant subsidy for skills can support expenditure associated with delivering an eligible activity.听聽

4.2. Subsidies must only be given for costs incurred directly as a result of the activity, must be limited to costs that are strictly necessary for the activity, must be limited to the specified time period of the activity, and must not compensate for expenditure the beneficiary would have funded in the absence of any subsidy.听聽聽

5. Subsidy thresholds and ratio聽

5.1.听聽 The maximum subsidy awardable to a single beneficiary over 3 years for eligible activity is 拢20 million.听

5.2.听 Subsidy may be awarded at a ratio of up to 100% of the eligible costs of eligible activity.听聽聽

6.鈥疭ubsidy type聽

6.1. Subsidies will be provided in the form of grants.听

1.鈥疘苍迟谤辞诲耻肠迟颈辞苍听听

1.1. Subsidies under this category will fund sector-specific tailored support for businesses鈥� productivity and growth and business support that leverages local research strengths and facilities (for example, Catapults), and is additional and complementary to the national offer.鈥�聽

2.鈥疎nterprise eligibility聽聽

2.1. Public authorities may give subsidies to beneficiaries investing in business support activity in Investment Zone areas in the target sector(s) specific to each Investment Zone.听

3. Eligible activity聽聽

3.1. Eligible activity funded under this category is:聽

• subsidies to provide seed funding to support the creation of angel/venture capital investor funds
• subsidies to support start-ups through the early stages of development and growth, including for account management, training, and access to workspace
• subsidies to support city regions to grow clusters, hosting international business events and conferences that support wider local growth sectors

4. Eligible costs聽

4.1. A grant subsidy for business support can support expenditure associated with delivering an eligible activity.听聽聽

4.2. Subsidies must only be given for costs incurred directly as a result of the activity, must be limited to costs that are strictly necessary for the activity, must be limited to the specified time period of the activity, and must not compensate for expenditure the beneficiary would have funded in the absence of any subsidy.听聽聽

5.鈥疭ubsidy thresholds and ratio聽

5.1. The maximum subsidy awardable to a single beneficiary over 3 years for eligible activity is 拢25 million.听

5.2.听 Subsidy may be awarded at a ratio of up to 100% of the eligible costs of eligible activity.听聽聽

6.鈥疭ubsidy type聽聽

6.1. Subsidies will be provided in the form of grants.