Better Places Fund 4 - Information for Applicants

Introduction

To support the on-going implementation of Scotland’s visitor management strategy, Scottish Ministers have asked NatureScot to run a fourth round of the Better Places Fund (BPF4) retaining a focus on the “boots on the ground” provision that has made such a positive difference over the last two seasons.  

BPF4 will provide support for the employment of seasonal rangers and visitor operations posts to engage with the public and help manage visitor numbers, pressures, impacts and behaviours during the 2023 visitor season.  

Up to £1million has been allocated by Scottish Ministers for this round of funding, to be used to support seasonal posts that should be in place no later than end of June 2023.  Local authorities as well as community groups and NGOs will be able to apply.

Better Places Fund 4

The purpose of this fourth round is to fund additional visitor management posts in “hot spot” locations in Scotland up to the end of October 2023 over and above any other service improvements and provision already budgeted for or in place. 

The fund will support the following:

• Seasonal Rangers - visitor management: Funding for additional or new seasonal rangers with a visitor management remit leading on visitor engagement, promotion of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, dealing with issues, patrolling, monitoring impacts, liaison with communities, volunteers, landowners, agencies, police etc.
• Visitor operations staff: Funding for new and additional seasonal staff with a visitor management remit.  Providing practical management of visitors in the outdoors including tackling issues such as litter, parking, camping, campervan pressures etc. and including engagement with the public.

Applications should relate to a specific location or area with priority given to activity that addresses visitor management issues in “hot spot” areas including:

• North and West Highlands and islands (including NC 500)
• Highland Perthshire
• Cairngorms National Park area
• Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park area
• East Lothian and the Pentland Hills

Other locations across Scotland will be considered where significant visitor pressures and evidence of issues exists and a justification is made, and may include areas anticipating visitor management pressures resulting from the Cycling World Championships in August.

Single applications by one organisation are encouraged, even if covering more than one site or location.

Seasonal rangers and visitor operations posts:

Applicants need to ensure an equitable and fair process of recruitment has been undertaken, and this may include running a new recruitment process or using one already in place or underway. We will not fund posts already in place or already recruited and under contract.

The posts for which funding is sought must directly help with the management of people, pressures and issues, and are expected to include ranger roles that engage with the public and land managers, improve visitor experience and support responsible behaviour.

Applicants should consider the most effective use and deployment of any additional staff, including requirements for maintaining a good level of staffing during peak capacity times, holiday periods and/or in locations with anti-social behaviour issues.  Posts can be full-time, part-time, full season, part of season and the funding offered can include an amount for overheads

The fund is limited and therefore a realistic scale of application is strongly encouraged. We will make an assessment based on value for money and benefits.

The funding of staff posts is for the 2023 season only, posts should be planned to start anytime between mid-April and the end of June and finish no later than the end of October 2023.

Applicants must provide:

• A short recruitment statement:
  • detailing how the posts will be recruited including actions you will take to help us with our priority to increase the representation of Minority Ethnic people and people with disabilities who are employed as rangers
  • recruitment time-line and process including realistic anticipated start date for posts and the end date(s)
• A job plan:
  • post objectives
  • tasks
  • deployment plan/work patterns
  • management/supervision arrangements
• Map(s) showing the area that will be covered by the posts

We encourage seasonal ranger post-holders to meet the Scottish Countryside Rangers’ Association generic ranger competencies of:

• Working with other people
• Delivering results
• Communicating
• Learning and Applying

All posts (rangers and visitor operations staff) must actively promote the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, the supporting national campaign encouraging responsible behaviour, and any other relevant guidance or codes. Online training and information will be provided by NatureScot to support this.

Final reports and claims for payment must be submitted by 30 November 2023 at the latest.

Timescales

This is a challenge fund and applications must be submitted by 24 March 2023 (5pm) and projects be ready to start (if successful) between 24 April and 30 June 2023.

Who can apply?

Applications are invited from constituted organisations, including local authorities, registered charities, trusts and community groups (including community interest companies). Where applications are received from partnerships or organisations working collaboratively, a lead applicant must be identified.

Landowners/land managers can also apply where there is significant public benefit that outweighs private gain and does not conflict with state-aid rules.  Evidence of collaboration with the local community, local authority or public body or partnership will need to be provided in the application. 

Applications must be for activity delivery in Scotland.

Applications from the following groups will not be eligible.

• Scottish Government organisations
• Academic institutes

What kind of activity will we fund?

Your project must meet the essential criterion:

Visitor management focused staff posts are in place and operational at visitor “hotspot” locations, for the peak summer months in 2023.

Your project must contribute to the primary outcome:

Improved visitor experience, improved visitor behaviours and reduced impact on communities, land managers and the natural and cultural heritage.   

Your project should also contribute to at least three supporting outcomes:

• Communities and interested parties see, or are involved in, positive action to address issues and visitor impacts leading to improvements to local places and visitor experiences.
   
• Raise public awareness and encourage action to address the impacts that visitors can have on the environment, including climate-related, other visitors’ enjoyment, and resident communities.
   
• Communities, including landowners, land managers, businesses and visitors, are motivated or empowered to help deliver plans and action in a collaborative way.
   
• Places under pressure and suffering negative impacts from increased visitation are managed in a sustainable way that supports low impact responsible enjoyment.
   
• Under-represented and less confident visitors are particularly welcomed and positively supported by the seasonal staff posts.
   
• Activity aligns with strategic plans for the area or location and helps deliver priority actions.
   
• Activity that supports the agreed national communications messages for visitor management, including the Scottish Outdoor Access Code key messages.
   
• Data and evidence that informs NatureScot and its strategic partner agencies, including Scottish Government, about visitor management activity and action applied in 2023.

What we won’t fund

We will not fund…

• Infrastructure, materials and/or infrastructure maintenance
• Visitor management plans or feasibility/scoping work
• Events, website development, or promotional materials
• Marketing activity (commercial or membership marketing)
• Purchase of vehicles, tools or any capital items
• Contingency costs
• Activity that is not related to the public’s enjoyment of nature and the outdoors
• Activity that does not involve collaborative working with communities of place or interest
• Activity already being undertaken by the local authority, national park authority or others

Posts we will not fund…

• Core posts or permanent posts covering statutory roles or functions
• Posts already planned and budgeted for, recruited and/or deployed
• Posts not associated directly with managing visitor pressures in visitor hot spots
• Visitor centre or building-based staff posts

What costs can be funded?

1. Costs for employed staff  

• Staff costs inclusive of salary, National Insurance and Employee Pension Contributions
• Overheads to cover office accommodation, equipment (e.g. desks/phones/laptops) and running costs and wider staff support (e.g. recruitment/management/supervision, in-house training, finance, IT).  We will fund a fixed rate to cover overheads based on 10% of staff costs; we will consider 15% where need is demonstrated and can be justified.
• Training for staff – maximum £300 per person
• Uniform and PPE – maximum £500 per person
• Mileage – actual fuels costs or per mile rate
• Vehicle hire
• Irrecoverable VAT

2. Costs for contracted staff and services

• Contractor fees and appropriate associated expenses
• Costs linked to service provision
• Irrecoverable VAT

All grant applicants are expected to embrace fair work principles and practices in line with the Fair Work Action Plan.  It is expected that all directly employed staff of the grant applicant must be paid at least the real Living Wage, alongside any workers who are not directly employed but are directly engaged in delivering the grant-funded activity, whether they be sub-contractors or agency staff.

Funding parameters

The Better Places Fund 4 has a fund of £1million.

The primary focus of the fund will be rural locations in Scotland which suffer from excessive visitor pressures including those which suffer from capacity issues, damage to natural and cultural heritage, impacts on land-management activity, and anti-social behaviour issues.   Parks and reserves close to towns and cities that provide popular destinations for the public to enjoy the outdoors and experience nature within or close to urban areas will also be considered where these are experiencing significant visitor management issues.

We will fund up to 100% of costs associated with staff

BPF4 cannot fund contingency costs, but if agreed project costs rise due to inflation during the delivery of your project, BPF may consider increasing the value of grant awarded upon receipt of evidence.

We have provided an eligibility checklist on page 7 to help you assess if you are eligible to apply.  Projects that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be considered further.

Assessments

Applications that meet the eligibility requirements will undergo a quality assessment which will score the application based on:

• how well they meet the scheme criteria and outcomes (see page 4)
• deliverability and project management
• project costs and value for money

Reporting

Monthly updates - All successful applicants must provide short monthly updates which will include monitoring data, activities undertaken and issues encountered (an on-line report template will be provided).

Final report - must be submitted to NatureScot after completion of the project, summarising the activities undertaken including key monitoring metrics, successes and challenges, and how the BPF 4 essential and additional outcomes of the project have been met including photos and any lessons learnt.

Acknowledgements

You will be required to acknowledge NatureScot support as set out in the guidance:

Guidance for funding applicants - how to acknowledge our support for your project.

Questions

Any further queries not answered in this Information for Applicants can be sent to GreenRecoveryFund@nature.scot  

Application documents can be found on the How to Apply page.

Eligibility Checklist  

Please use this list of questions to check that your project is eligible before applying.

• Is your organisation eligible for funding (see “Who can apply”)?
• Is the application form complete?
• Does your project aim to meet the essential criterion: Visitor management focused staff posts are in place and operational at visitor “hotspot” locations, for the peak summer months in 2023.
• Does your project contribute to the primary outcome plus at least three supporting outcomes?
• Will your project start by end June and end no later than 31 October 2023?
• Have you included a map(s) of the area/location for project activity at a suitable scale and background?
• Have you included a recruitment statement – as detailed on page 3?
• Have you included a job plan(s) - as detailed on page 3?