(Last updated: 13th March 2025)
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 the deadline to submit forecasts for Q4 of 24/25 was Friday 31st January 2025 and that grants for 2024/25 cannot be accrued into 2025/26.
A reminder that spend updates should be submitted monthly by the last working day of each month (see table below).
This allows us to confidently report to Transport Scotland that forecasting is accurate and up to date.
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.
Thank you again for your assistance in ensuring that the programme can distribute funds effectively and maximise expenditure on active travel.
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.
| Date | Deadline |
| 9th April | All claims must be submitted by April 9th at 5:00 PM. Please note that, unlike previous years, there will be no flexibility regarding this deadline. Claims received after this time will not be processed for payment. These claims may also include accruals for which full evidence is not available yet. Any 2024/25 spend which is not accrued cannot be claimed against 2025/26 budgets, therefore please ensure that all eligible spend is included in your final 2024/25 claim. |
| 30th April | All Deliverables for projects not funded by PfE in 2025/26 must be submitted by April 30th. If deliverables are not finalised a draft version should be sent to demonstrate work in progress. Earlier submissions are appreciated and recommended, as they will facilitate the prompt completion of the Project Closeout Paperwork for submission to Transport Scotland. |
| 30th April | All evidence and clarification must be submitted by April 30th at 5:00 PM. Please note that, unlike previous years, there will be no flexibility regarding this deadline. Evidence and claims received after this time will not be processed for payment. |
| 13th June | All claims must be approved by PfE Partners Project and Financial Officers on the Portal by June 13th at 5:00 PM. Please note that, unlike previous years, there will be no flexibility regarding this deadline. Approvals after this time will not be processed for payment. |
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 1700 on 9th April 2025. If they are not submitted by this date, they will not be processed for payment.
Please note: 9th April falls within the Easter Holidays. We suggest you check that everyone involved in submitting the claim (colleagues from your organisation and also suppliers) are available to undertake their tasks within this process.
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 1700 on 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.
Finally, please note the deadline for final partner approval of claims will be 13th June 2025.
Please see the below important programme update which has been drafted in conjunction with Transport Scotland.
Grant Requests for 2025/26
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.
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.