Has anyone heard anything back regarding LIBOR grant opportunity that was emailed to Sqns on 31 July 2017?
We placed our bid on time but have heard nothing. It’s important because we want to go ahead with some equipment purchases but would be breaking the T&Cs of most grant providers to “double bid” for funding.
I’m close to putting in an FOI request as the CoC isn’t responding…
Nothing heard other than reportedly, the RAFAC has overbid, the ACF underbid and the CCF ain’t getting nothing. I’d guess they are now going through a painful sifting exercise to match suitable bids to available budget.
Don’t do a FOI request, they just slow things down. It means instead of working on what they should be, someone has to be taken away from that to answer your FOI request, so the whole thing takes even longer.
If the sifting exercise is painful, they are doing it wrong.
I don’t understand what’s difficult about sending some information down the chain - even if it’s just “wait, out”.
I agree, it ain’t difficult. But they still don’t
In October I emailed and was told they are waiting on more money hopefully being available.
I thought I’d seen something since then, quite recently, but can’t find it. Something along the lines of wait for the new financial year.
I also bid in that round - I haven’t even been able to get my Sqn OC to chase it up tho… 
We’re fairly certain that Wing ‘stole’ our individual application and put in for it themselves…
I got a good few bids done - heard nothing back.
I fear it will end up propping up 2FTS empire with a batch of PTTs and Flight Sims at AGSs in favour or underwriting one off National Aeroapace/STEM camps for ~250 cadets.
It could be being spent on some smaller but none the less credible grass roots funding - helping Sqns and Wgs generate some long term and sustainable activities where they have identified a need.
Info about this from my Regional Commandant:
“In response to a recent and repeated question whilst I have been out and about the Rgn I have the latest information regarding the short notice LIBOR bids that the ATC was invited to submit last year. Despite regular hastening and correspondence we have learnt that the goalposts have shifted. Bottom line, the total available across the Cadet Forces is now only £1m, our pro rata share being some £360,000, with no funds going to CCF at all. Worse still, despite expectations that funds would go direct from LIBOR to the successful units (bank details were provided), the funding will now come to HQAC and it disperse and provide the audit trail to show where the funds went and how they were spent, with reports and photos back to satisfy NAC requirements to demonstrate governance of public funds.”
Propping up RFCAs and work service requests then.
The instructions I saw were for bids to go direct to HQAC, with Wg OC and Regional Cmdt CCd for info…
But some Wgs are scared of this process, write their own admin instructions so they can “vet” people’s ideas, then filter the special few through. Sadly, you wouldnt know any different at the coalface unless you’d seen the full email trail, or had a friendly neighbour.
Hence why we have 6 regional policies for the same stuff - and further wing level interpretations of said messages. Why people cant just use sharepoint or “send all” i know not!!!
Apparently the bids are currently with HM Treasury and HQAC is waiting to hear back.
Yeh - I have links with a couple of different Wgs (in different Rgns) and it’s amazing how much is changed in stuff that’s just meant to be distributed down the CoC, and the difference in how much info is actually cascaded
£360k, 36 wings… I can see a possible simple way of doing it.
Yup - £10,588.23 per wing…
Or better still £360K / number of units.
There by every unit gets a share and cuts out all the BS of bids and so on. The biggest bonus then is not getting squandered on HQAC/Region/Wing white elephants and only a few cadets getting to see the benefit.
If units want to put it toward a longer term spend the money gets ring-fenced for that or add it to something already in the pipeline to complete.
I would sooner a large pool of money went to RFCA to support estate repairs, than the squadron pick up a few hundred quid.
I am not up to speed with LIBOR but when placing a bid is there a request for a Set sum (ie we wish for £2000) or it a case of we have this project and wish for support?
if the latter than an equal split makes sense.
if the former more of a challenge to justify if Wing A has £15k worth of bids, while Wing B has only £3k…
i could understand looking at each Wing in turn, finding the lowest sum and indicating each Wing gets that much, then look at the next lowest bid and indicate those 33 Wings get up to that much and keep going until there is no money left.
For example
Wing B - Asks for £3k, gets £3k
Wings C, D, E, F - Ask for £5k, gets £5k
Wings M, N, O, P Ask for £8k, gets 8K
Wing A - Asks for £15k, gets £10k as that was all that was left in the pot
The problem with this is they waste money hand over fist and it would be better given to squadrons to benefit all cadets.
As for the state of the estate, this is a case of not dealing with things in a timely fashion, which then results in small problems becoming big problems and finally becoming so big they can’t be dealt with, or, not doing things and when they do the cost has gone up. Running builds, they seem out of their depth and the finish / quality leaves a lot to be desired. They look all sparkly at the beginning, but a couple of new huts that are only 8/9 years old I’ve visited to do courses, look decidedly aged and I doubt either, which apparently cost £300K to put in, will last anywhere as long as the ‘Spooners’. A lady from one of them said the roof has leaked, because of the poor workmanship and their noticeboards are all warped.
From my experience as a CO, this would only be advisable if they competitively tendered, rather than giving copious amounts of money to their yahoo mates, who seem to charge the earth for work, that I’m pretty certain could be done better and a lot cheaper. I refused to sign off work when I was a CO as it wasn’t even good enough to be regarded as shoddy. Wing and RFCA didn’t like it as it was going to cost more, but as I told the AdO (pre ExO) if it was done properly first time, it wouldn’t be a problem.
I always look at the names on vans, as a note not to employ these people if I wanted something done at home. So give the money to RFCA via HQAC you must be joking, they can’t use what they get wisely.