We are aware that many of our grantees will be affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Our grants team remains in place, and we encourage you to get in touch if you are encountering difficulties or consider your organisation to be at risk.
Contacting the HES Grants Team
The HES Grants Team is currently working from home, and we aim to provide our normal service as far as possible. If you need to contact your Grants Manager, please do this by email, and a call will be arranged if necessary. If you are not an existing grantee and have a question, please contact us at grants@hes.scot, and we will reply as soon as possible.
Grant payments
Until further notice, existing grantees should send all grant payment claims to their Grants Managers by email, copying in grants@hes.scot. Please do not send claims or other correspondence by post as office closures will lead to an unacceptable delay in processing claims. If you are experiencing cash flow issues as a result of the crisis, please contact your Grants Manager to discuss the possibility of varying your current payment schedule.
Postponements or cancellation of activities
We understand that the timing of grant-funded activities may slip due to circumstances beyond your control. In these cases, we will aim to be as flexible as possible with regards to the postponement or cancellation of activities.
We expect grantees to act as responsible employers during the current crisis situation and honour contracts with self-employed persons wherever possible. Where it is not possible to continue delivery of the grant-funded activity, grantees should apply to ‘Support for Businesses under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ in relation to covering salary costs. All UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. Find out how to access the scheme
Changes to programmed activity
You may have ideas for different ways to deliver activities during this period (e.g. online instead of in person) which may still achieve your grant outcomes. If you have any proposals of this type, please get in touch with your Grants Manager to discuss.
New applications
Our intention is to run funding rounds as planned where possible, but updates will be provided in advance if changes are being made. Please see our website for the latest information regarding each funding programme.
Expressions of interest
Please continue to submit expressions of interests as usual, and we will respond to you as quickly as possible.
