(Last updated: 20th December 2024)
Spend and Claim Forecasting – Reminder
Thank you to all those who have been completing monthly spend and claim forecasting on the Project Portal. A reminder that this is a condition of grant funding for all projects which have had funding confirmed.
A reminder that grants for 2024/25 cannot be accrued into 2025/26 (see section later in this article called ‘Grant Claims and Accruals‘). In the current funding climate it is even more important that where funding is unlikely to be drawn down within the financial year, we receive timely notice so that these funds can be reallocated. Failure to forecast underspend in a timely manner may impact funding decisions for 2025/26.
Forecasts should be submitted monthly by the last working day of each month.
Important; please note:
- You should take 2 minutes to log in and provide a positive response even if you have no change to your existing claim and spend forecast.
- If your quarterly claim is more or less than previously forecast, please ensure that you update your Q4 claim forecast accordingly or your total forecast may not be as intended.
This allows us to confidently report to Transport Scotland that forecasting is accurate and up to date.
Thank you again for your assistance in ensuring that the programme can distribute funds effectively and maximise expenditure on active travel.
Change Controls
Available budget from identified project underspend is being reviewed monthly and reallocated as quickly as possible.
We welcome the submission of any change requests via the Project Portal change control form.
Change controls were to be submitted by 5th December 2024 to be considered in the December change control review.
Post-5th December 2024, we advise as early submission of change control forms as possible. Due to the stage of the financial year we are in, earlier submission will ensure reallocated funds have potential to be spent by March 2025.
Grant Claim Deadlines – 2024-25
Sustrans continue to draw down funding from Transport Scotland to cover Places for Everyone grant payments, following receipt of grant claims from partner organisations. A reminder that the following grant claim deadlines are in place to ensure that funds are available to pay grants in a timely manner.
Timely processing of grant claims also continues to be dependent on:
- All claim information submitted being clear and sufficient to substantiate the funding requested;
- Prompt response to any necessary resubmission requests;
- Timely sign-off of the claim by the organisation submitting the claim;
- A valid legal agreement being in place at time of submission.
| Grant claim and forecasting deadlines remaining for 2024-25 FY | |
| November | 29th November 2024 |
| December | 10th January (updated to allow greater leeway following Christmas and New Year leave) |
| January | 31st January 2025 |
| February | 28th February 2025 |
| March | 9th April 2025 |
Sustrans Accrual and Claim Information 2025
Please see the below important programme update which has been drafted in conjunction with Transport Scotland.
Grant Claims and Accruals
The end of year deadlines for accruals and claims. are different to last year. Please adhere to them as, if you do not do so, your claims may not be able to be paid.
Unlike previous years there is not the opportunity to move funding from one year to the next nor draw down funding for work undertaken in 2025-26 from the budget you have been allocated in 2024-25. This is because Transport Scotland budgets are allocated on an annual basis and does not permit the movement of budget between years.
Please ensure that your claims to the end of March are submitted via the Project Portal by 9th April 2025. If they are not submitted by this date then we cannot guarantee that we will be able to pay these.
If you will not have invoices or supporting evidence to support the full value of your 2024-25 claim by the deadline, please submit your claim anyway with a clearly labelled balance to be accrued. Please note that accruals are only for work undertaken in the 2024-25 financial year. These require to be accompanied by the following information to be valid and able to be claimed at a future date.
- Overall amount;
- A breakdown of the amount accrued with description of each element and how it relates to the project e.g. list of expected invoices and a few lines on what they are for, or other expenditure incurred and a description of what it is. Please ensure that it is clear in this how it relates to the project.
Where claim values are accrued, resubmission of the grant claim will be requested and supporting evidence must be submitted to Sustrans by 30th April 2025.
As highlighted in previous programme communications, this year all Transport Scotland grant funding has been claimed in arrears following receipt of partner grant claim evidence. This has increased the time taken to process and pay grant claims and we would therefore encourage all partners to submit claims with all supporting evidence wherever possible, and at the soonest opportunity.
Grant Requests for 2025/26
As part of the continued transition of projects from Places for Everyone to the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF), we would now like to capture any final grant requirements to take projects to the end of the stages currently funded.
All projects which require funding from the 2025/26 budget to complete the project stages currently awarded must submit a Change Control via the Project Portal, with the latest project programme and budget information, by 17th January 2025. However please note that funding for 2025-26 has not been confirmed therefore no commitment to fund can be made at this stage and we would strongly encourage you to complete as much as you can this financial year.
All work to be completed with 2025/26 grant funding should be completed by 30th September 2025 to allow final grant claims to be processed ahead of the programme drawing to a close in December 2025. Where work has been delayed and isn’t forecast to be completed until after 30th September 2025, requests to support this work should be made directly to the ATIF.
Except where already legally committed by Sustrans, all funding requested is subject to availability of funds from the Scottish Government, to be confirmed in the 2025/26 budget.
Applications for funding of future stages in 2025/26, not currently awarded funding by Places for Everyone, should be sent directly to Transport Scotland when applications open in the new year.
2024/25 applications awaiting a response
Due to budgetary pressures, we were not able to award pre-construction funding for this year (2024-25) through Places for Everyone. For those who applied, feedback will be provided in the New Year. As outlined above, if you have completed the project stages for which you have been awarded funding, future applications should be made directly to ATIF. Please note that ATIF will be open to applications from Local Authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Authorities. If you are not one of these bodies then any application will need to be made through them.