Community Services Programme: Conditions and Rules Version drafted January 2012 PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION STRUCTURE OF GRANT

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1 PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION The Community Services Programme is designed to address locally identified gaps in the provision of services to communities and to exploit the potential of community assets and resources already in place in support of the delivery of services to improve community well-being. The Programme can play an important role in addressing disadvantage and provides long term employment opportunities for certain Service Providers of people who have been previously unemployed. The Programme focuses on communities where public and private sector services are lacking, either through geographical or social isolation or because demand levels are not sufficient. The Programme also enables the benefit of other public investment to be realised as in the case of investment in community centres and resources. A core requirement of the Programme is that Service Providers generate non-public revenue from their operations by charging fees for services delivered or fundraising. Companies in contract with the Programme must be not-for-profit, social enterprise or community business in nature. The services provided are wide ranging and include facilities and activities for older people and those with disabilities, rural transport, community media, childcare, leisure facilities, home insulation and environmental projects. The Programme is managed for the Department of Social Protection (DSP) by Pobal, a not-for-profit company that manages programmes on behalf of the Irish Government and the EU. The Community Services Programme evolved from the Social Economy Programme and at the end of December 2011 provided funding support for around 430 Service Providers (community companies and co-operatives). Source and availability of funding STRUCTURE OF GRANT 1. The Community Services Programme is funded by the Department of Social Protection. A CSP contract is subject to funding being available from the Department. 2. CSP funding is expressed as a fixed annual contribution towards the costs of employing full time equivalent workers and in many cases a manager. The contract-holder is responsible for generating sufficient income from trading and other sources to cover all their costs and financial requirements including working capital/cash flow between grant instalments, to supplement wages, to build financial reserves, and to meet other contingencies, for example where a 53 rd payday occurs in a calendar year. Contribution to employing a manager 3. Where a CSP contribution is made towards the costs of employing a manager, the CSP grant amounts to 32,000 inclusive of the employer s PRSI contribution.

2 Contribution to employing workers 4. The contribution towards employing a stated number of full time equivalent workers ( FTEs ) is 19,033 inclusive of the employer s PRSI contribution. Service provider should pay the local labour market rate to employees with the costs being met by the employing Service Provider from the income generated from its activities. 39 hour working week 5. Each FTE award represents 39 hours of funded work a week throughout the year, net of breaks. Where a post is vacant or a post-holder is on long term sick leave, the grantee must either incur an under-spend for the weeks in question or appoint temporary cover staff (a guidance note on this is available). 6. It is up to the employing Service Provider to work out how they wish to allocate hours among full and part-time posts, and to determine the working hours of employees in line with their own policies and business needs. As noted below, all contracts of employment for individuals employed in CSP supported posts must specify the working hours (net of breaks) and all employees in CSP funded posts must keep time records (time sheets, signing in books or clocking in systems) which note breaks and are signed by the manager. Mis-applying the 39- hour rule 7. Service Providers which have determined that a 35 hour week represents fulltime and paid each employee the entire 19,033 will be deemed as not applying the grant correctly. They should either amend their working hours to be a 39 hour working week (excluding breaks) or apply the CSP contribution as 90% of the (this being 35/39ths of the contribution). The unspent 10% per FTE can be aggregated and put towards another post or should be surrendered to Pobal. 8. Where an entire FTE allocation is being paid for work totalling less than 39 hours a week, the contract holder will be required to repay the difference. Operational funding 9. The non-wage allocation has now been phased out for all Service Providers. An operational grant can be provided in limited circumstances where a Service Provider is operating in certain areas or sectors where other income generation is restricted, during the development of a new services, where short term financial difficulties are encountered or where other exceptional situations arise. The award of an operational grant is at the discretion of DSP. Service Providers in receipt of an operational grant will be advised of its purpose, duration and any restriction or special conditions of operational funding in the contract. 10. "Major capital" costs have been the main blanket exclusion for operational/ nonwage expenditure; Pobal interprets this as being capital in excess of 5,000, as this is the public procurement threshold. 11. Where operational funding has been approved it must be spent on real costs and must be vouched. This therefore excludes notional internal management charges and rent paid to related parties.

3 Pay levels Standard expenditure exclusions 12. The Department of Social Protection/Pobal does not determine or set the pay levels for CSP supported employees. However, Service Providers are expected to pay the local labour market rate per hour which in general is 20-25% above the minimum wage or the equivalent of other service providers operating in the same services sector (such as catering, caring, childcare, security). 13. There are some standard Pobal/governmental exclusions on expenditure of public funds including:- a. Bank Interest (including mortgage interest) b. Costs of Litigation c. Fines and Penalties d. Entertainment e. Pension contributions Grant conclusion accruals and redundancy payments 14. Where a CSP contract is concluded, a retention is made of 10% of the final year s grant against the submission of a final satisfactory return which may show monies owing to Pobal. As part of the final return procedure the Service Provider may submit a claim for accruals, typically audit costs or the January revenue bill. 15. Where the Service Provider is unable to meet the costs of statutory redundancy payments to CSP supported employees, the Programme may, if the circumstances are such that funding is considered necessary, advance the funding necessary to meet these costs.. The payment is based on the CSP contribution to manager s and FTE workers wages excluding employers PRSI and does not apply to salary top ups. Such a contribution is usually paid from the final year s grant but may be considered as post-contract funding and is assessed on a case by case basis. WHO CAN HOLD A CSP CONTRACT? 16. While traditionally referred to as Service Providers, CSP Service Providers must be a company limited by guarantee or an industrial and provident society (coop) and have provided their Memorandum & Articles of Association (or Rules for a co-operative). 17. Incorporation is not required at the time of application but contracts may be awarded only once the company/co-op is set up and the Memorandum and Articles of Association (or Rules) are acceptable to Pobal. 18. The Memorandum and Articles of Association must allow for the transfer of assets to a company of similar objects in the event of winding up (i.e. not transfer to members of the company). Exclusions and restrictions 19. For the avoidance of doubt, the following types of organisations are not eligible to hold a CSP contract:-

4 Unincorporated associations i.e. organisations defined by constitution, even if a trust or registered charity. Church or state, including local authorities and organisations set up by statute 20. Where there are two or more companies involved in delivering the same service or activity from the same address and having directors in common, there may be a requirement for the companies to consolidate their activities in one company to ensure transparency, value for money and easier administration. EMPLOYMENT CRITERIA TheService Provider company/co-op is the responsible employer 21. The Service Provider is the employer of all posts supported by CSP and is responsible for determining the following:- a. Contract of employment b. Distribution of an FTE allocation into full and part-time posts. c. Determination of the hours of full and part-time posts d. Terms and conditions of employment e. Duration of contract f. Salary scale and remuneration policy g. HR policies h. Holidays, opening hours and other local arrangements i. Grievance processes 22. (Pobal supplies some good practice guidance, a model contract of employment supplied and signposting to C&V supports e.g. CSP employment criterion 23. Ideally, all recruitment should be drawn from persons who are unemployed or listed in the following categories. At a minimum, 70% of CSP-funded FTEs should be drawn from the following employment target groups:- a. Person in receipt of Jobseeker s Benefit (JB), Jobseeker s Assistance (JA) or one parent family payment. b. Persons in receipt of disability allowance, invalidity pension, blind persons pension or other disability benefit. c. Travellers in receipt of Jobseeker s Benefit or Jobseeker s Assistance or one parent family benefit. d. Stabilised and recovering drug mis-users. e. People employed from Tús, Community Employment (CE) and Job Initiatives (JI) schemes are deemed eligible. RSS workers who are former CE placements are also eligible. f. Ex-prisoners % relates to FTEs (i.e. overall hours) rather than head count of employees. Pobal can provide worked examples, if required.

5 25. Requests for exemptions from the 70% criterion must be made in writing ( will suffice) to the Pobal case officer. Exemptions will be made in writing and must be retained by the Service Provider with their employment records. 26. The remaining 30% of employees may be recruited from the active labour market, i.e. people already in employment. They are nevertheless subject to the exclusions below. In any event, it is recommended that Service Providers aim for 100% recruitment from the above employment categories. CSP is not a placement programme 27. The programme requires all CSP supported posts be located in the company / co-op that holds the CSP contract. 28. It is not acceptable for an employee in a CSP supported post to be placed in or work for a third party or a related company, e.g. subsidiary or parent company, unless this is specifically approved as part of the company/co-op CSP business plan. Employment exclusions 29. An individual occupying a part-time CSP supported post may not also hold a Tús, CE or RSS placement, or vice versa, or hold employment with another organisation. [NOTE this condition is currently under review and may be subject to change] 30. Individuals who have reached their 66 th birthday and qualify for the state pension may not hold a CSP supported post (worker or manager post). The employer has the right to continue employing that person after their 66 th birthday from their own funds. 31. While the employer determines the hours of the CSP supported employees, an FTE allocation is not intended to be deployed solely as sessional or very low hours staff, for example the deployment of 2 FTES as 16 part-time staff is not acceptable Keeping evidence of the CSP employment criterion 32. The CSP Employment Eligibility Form is required to be completed at the time of recruitment, signed by Department of Social Protection, and retained by the employer for each employee under all employment categories except: Workers employed under the former Social Economy programme as long as the employer can evidence their continuing employment since Recovering drug misusers and ex-prisoners (requires a letter of referral from e.g. probation officer, drug task force or other specialist agency) A P45 from Pobal in relation to former Tús participants or from the CE sponsor group in the case of community employment. Keeping employment records 33. CSP employers are required to maintain the following records in respect of each CSP funded employee:-

6 a. CSP Employment Eligibility Form (as above) b. A signed contract of employment for each CSP funded worker which specifies the number of working hours per week. c. Evidence of the transparency of recruitment processes d. Payroll records e. Evidence of hours worked e.g. time sheets or other type of record. These should be signed by manager and employee e.g. monthly. Employing a CSPfunded manager Social Welfare entitlements 34. The Service Provider determines the terms and conditions of employment of a CSP-funded manager. The Service Provider may, for instance, determine whether this is a full or part-time post. This post is not subject to the 70% employment criterion or the 39 hour working week criterion. The same exclusion in respect of a manager who has reached their 66 th birthday and qualifies for the state pension applies. 35. Individuals in CSP supported worker posts may retain entitlement to secondary welfare benefits, as determined by the Department of Social Protection. 36. Individuals entering CSP supported posts are not entitled to Back to Work Allowance but they are entitled to this allowance on moving on from a CSP supported post to mainstream employment in the labour market. Accounting for state benefits 37. The employer must claim Sick/Maternity benefit in respect of employees in CSP supported posts when applicable. 38. If the employer decides to pay an individual their full salary while on sick/maternity leave, benefit must be payable to the company and set off against any CSP grant amount. This must be clearly indicated in the Pobal finance return. Pobal is obliged to recoup any amounts which have not been duly set off. SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ELEMENTS Earned income 39. The programme is designed on a social enterprise /community business model. By this we refer to many of the programme characteristics set out in this document: the independence and autonomy of the Service Provider, the flexibility of employment, grant funding as a contribution only to costs, and the income generating requirement from the services delivered. The CSP grant is not intended to represent full-funding. The Service Provider is responsible for their budgets, income, financial and other liabilities, recruitment and employment policies. 40. As individual business needs vary so much from service to service, no formal guideline is given on level of income that should be generated from other sources. However, targets may be set out by the Department which will be reflected in the conditions attaching to the contract. Ideally, all Service Providers should work to a situation where they generate the greater proportion

7 of their turnover from non-csp souces. CSP Service Providers can generate income from a variety of sources: sales and trading, fees (often with a sliding scale or pricing policy according to need and ability to pay), contracts, fundraising, room rental, events, grants and other sources. Viability, levels of surplus and reserves/ retained funds 41. Similarly, the programme considers all factors including balance sheets items, cash positions and retained funds in order to assess the viability of a Service Provider and the services provided. An apparent surplus in a Service Providers Income & Expenditure statement may be entirely accounted for by balance sheet movements e.g. depreciation / capital investment. 42. All Service Providers are encouraged to prepare business plans, even where the level of CSP funding is low. Service Providers in contact larger grants (where a manager s award is included) are required to prepare a business plan, assessment of which forms the basis for the award of CSP funding. 43. Service Providers are required to submit a reserves plan this is a practical plan to explain the purpose for which retained funds are being held and developed. Guidelines are provided to assist in drawing up a reserves plan. The reserves plan is intended to address two scenarios in particular: a. Where significant levels of cash and other liquid assets are retained, Service Providers are required to explain the reasons and future purposes for building up these retained funds (for example, they may be to cover cash flow shortfalls and contingencies and for the development of new services and assets); b. Where insufficient reserves exists, Service Providers should provide a plan to build up reserves to cover basic cash flow and contingencies so as to improve their financial viability. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES Community Service for disadvantaged people (Strand 2) Exclusions for new Community Service 44. This section sets out current CSP eligible activities as three strands. This is a rationalisation of previous lists of eligible activities. 45. Typical such practical services have included home insulation, repair and maintenance for the homes of elderly and people with disabilities; disability transport; meals-on-wheels and centre based day care and social activities; respite care, personal security and visitation services. The strand also funds community radio and other forms of community media. 46. Priority service users are intended to be from disadvantaged groups, including older people, people with disabilities, Travellers, island communities and recovering drug misusers. 47. The intention is that this is an economic service for which a price or fee is charged to users, even if this is only a partial fee or calculated on a needs-based sliding scale. 48. This strand will not fund services which the DSP considers to be more properly funded by other programmes or which are not suited to the social enterprise

8 applications model. Specific exclusions include:- a. childcare b. enterprise centres c. care assistants and medical services d. community development and youth workers e. citizens information and advice centres f. health service delivery g. IT or other training projects h. advocacy, mediation and counselling. 49. The programme has, at the discretion of DSP, continued to fund elements of some services from this list, which were formerly in the Social Economy Programme. Community Enterprises employing people distant from the labour market (Strand 3) Community halls and facilities (Strand 1) 50. This comprises community enterprises employing people with disabilities, Travellers, recovering drug misusers and/or ex-prisoners. The employing company or co-op must operate as a social enterprise and demonstrate some form of progression of the workers (e.g. personal development, progression in the company or in the labour market). 51. These community enterprises may not displace commercial activity and, in practice, they tend to generate a community benefit e.g. recycling and craft businesses, grounds maintenance and security of community areas, horticulture and food production, community cafes and other facilities. 52. The purpose of the community hall and facility strand is to enable the day-to-day operation of community infrastructure and to make them available for community use. 53. The majority of recent CSP grants have been award as small grants (up to 2 FTES) to support basic operations but not the direct provision of services or the employment of community development workers. 54. Larger grants for community facilities, including support for employing a manager, have been awarded only where a demonstrable case has been made that the facility serves a high density of population and disadvantage, with a commensurable level and range of activities. Former Social Economy Service Providers can stretch the definition 55. A large number of former Social Economy Service Providers fit broadly into the community facility. These include Service Providers who operate premises which might be broadly described as being for community use and benefit. They are often characterised by being open to the general public rather than serving a defined client base. Examples include:- Enterprise centres

9 Theatre and arts centres Some heritage centres Sports and leisure centres Parks and woodlands Exclusions for CH&F applications 56. In recent calls for applications, the following exclusions were applied:- The programme did not consider applications for premises which were at the planning stage and had not been built. The programme did not fund capital works. Community development activities and educational programmes were not eligible for funding. The programme did not consider applications for a manager grant only (e.g. to supervise existing CE workers). General exclusions (all strands) 57. CSP funding is not intended to replace an existing CE or other employment/work placement scheme unless expressly as part of a transfer agreed by the relevant Departments. GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT TCC (Tax Clearance Cert) 58. Service Providers must submit a current TCC in order to receive first and subsequent payments. TCC must match the company name as specified in Memo and Articles (or rules). Indemnification 59. Service Providers must indemnify Pobal and the Department of Social Protection throughout the life of their Pobal contract. CSP bank account 60. Service Providers must assign a bank account to receive their CSP funding. Related parties 61. Pobal requires sight of financial statements and memo & articles of association of related companies/companies under common control in order to accurately appraise capacity of Service Provider, value for money. Public procurement 62. Service Providers must sign and return a declaration to abide by public procurement regulations. VAT registration 63. Service Providers must advise and supply details of VAT registration where held. PUBLICITY AND LOGOS 64.. New guidance on the use of government logos is under preparation and will be included in the next edition of these rules and conditions. It is also a condition of Pobal s contracts that Community Service Providers use the Pobal logo in printed material and websites Acknowledgements 65. CSP Service Providers are required to acknowledge the support of the Community Services Programme and the Department of Social Protection in their literature, including websites and other media.

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