NIHR Capital Investment Call 2023/2024 - Applicant Guidance

Published: 10 January 2024

Version: 2.0 January 2024

Aim and Purpose of the Call

The purpose of this competition is to provide funding for tangible fixed research assets (capital) to NHS trusts across England. It is the first in a series of annual capital investment calls with each providing funding of up to £30m.

Eligibility

All NHS Trusts based in England are eligible to apply. A single application should be submitted by each NHS trust. For a full list of eligible trusts please see Annex 1. If you think your trust is eligible and cannot find it on the list, please contact us.

We anticipate that capital requested by an NHS trust would enhance the trust's capacity and capability to conduct research. Applications for equipment from Higher Education Institutions are not permitted in this call.

Please note that successful applicants will not be able to apply for the NIHR Capital Investment Call launching in the 2024/25 Financial year.

Competition Process and Timetable

08 January 2024: Publication of applicant guidance
10 January 2024: Research Management System (RMS) portal open for application form submission
2 February 2024: Webinar
19 March 2024: Closing date for receipt of applications
August 2024: Outcomes sent to applicants
August/September 2024: Review of contracting arrangements
October 2024: Funding commences

Selection Criteria

An independent committee will be established to make recommendations to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on Capital Investment Call funding. The committee will be composed of experts and lay reviewers. Please ensure the entire application is written in plain English.

The committee will review the applications received and make recommendations on the basis of the following selection criteria:

how the capital investment will enhance the trust’s capability and capacity to carry out innovative research, including plans for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the investment;
the suitability of the requested investment to enhance the trust’s research; and
value for money.

For this call, the following areas of priority have been identified and will be taken into account by the committee when making their recommendation, should the call be oversubscribed:

reaching underserved communities and improving access to research;
pharmacy, imaging and other clinical support services;
improving capacity and capability for research in smaller NHS trusts in rural and coastal areas; and
decentralised study delivery.

Please note that submitted applications will be reviewed by a committee of experts and assessed according to the selection criteria. For an outline of the application form please see Annex 2.

Funding

NHS trusts may apply for funding between £50,000 and £1.5 million including input VAT, if payable, for purchase of equipment and modular buildings (e.g. portacabins). Refurbishment costs may be included, providing these are an absolute requirement for the equipment purchased.

A total of £30 million is available for this call. The number of successful applications has not been predetermined and the number of the awards will reflect the quality of the applications, and the priorities set out above once the quality threshold has been reached. Funding will be awarded over a period of up to 30 months starting on 01 October 2024. All funding awarded to successful applicants must be spent by 31 March 2027.

Requirements

Bids may consist of multiple items to reach the minimum £50,000 threshold but the minimum cost per item is £15,000.

Applicants must provide recent two quotes for equipment, modular buildings and refurbishment, from multiple suppliers where possible, and use these as the basis for costings.

Refurbishment costs must be itemised in the application and fully justified.

NHS trusts will need to demonstrate that their plans for spending the investment are realistic and can be delivered in the required timeframe, as we cannot guarantee reprofiling will be approved. Funding awarded through this competition will not be provided beyond March 2027, so it is essential that NHS trusts applying for this investment can ensure all equipment has been purchased and costs are processed within the funded period, starting 01 October 2024. Payments for equipment and building refurbishment need to match the spend profile in the financial plan.

While NHS trusts may use the equipment or facilities for clinical practice, the equipment and enhanced building capacity should predominantly be used for research purposes. Its use should be at least 50% for research purposes in the first five years, and at least 20% from year six.

An NIHR contribution of up to 100% of the total cost can be requested. Contributions from institutional or partner trusts are encouraged but not essential. Any financial contributions must be secured at the time of application and should be detailed in a letter of support from the host or partner.

It is the responsibility of the NHS applicant to assess whether cash received from NIHR meets the classification of a capital grant under IAS20, including in agreement with their auditors where transactions are material. If the NHS applicant determines the cash received does meet the definition of the grant, the FAQs contain information on how NHS capital returns can be completed to reflect this; and remove any capital or revenue impact of depreciation associated with the grant-funded spend from the provider's CDEL position.

Ineligible costs

Construction of permanent buildings, scoping work, building purchases and equipment maintenance costs are not permitted. It is expected that these costs will be met by the NHS trust.
Depreciation costs will not be met by this funding.
We will not accept applications of the same nature that have been submitted to other award schemes.
NHS Trusts are not eligible to pass on funding to partners.

For further information on eligible and ineligible costs please see Annex 3.

Submission Deadline

The closing date for submission of the application is 1pm (GMT) 19 March 2024. Applications must be submitted electronically via the RMS.

Please note, it is the applicant’s responsibility to allow sufficient time to submit an application. Applications submitted after the closing date and time will not be accepted.

Applicants should contact the NIHR infrastructure team (infrastructure@nihr.ac.uk) immediately if there is a problem with their submission.

Review and Monitoring

The payments for this award will be made on a quarterly basis. Note that this funding should be spent in addition to a trust's core NHS CDEL allocation. It should not displace other NHS capital funding that the trust is due to receive.

The use of funding and the benefits leveraged will be monitored through quarterly financial statements, and case study reports on request. Requests for case studies may vary depending on the type of equipment.

Please note, the NIHR reserves the right to request additional information about this funding and its use at any point. In particular, the NIHR reserves the right to ask the host trust to provide proof of purchase for the items/refurbishment that were incurred as part of this award, while any surplus from equipment/refurbishment purchased at a lower value will need to be reimbursed.

Annex 1: Eligible Trusts

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Barts Health NHS Trust
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust
Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust
East Cheshire NHS Trust
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
East London NHS Foundation Trust
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Foundation Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Isle of Wight NHS Trust
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
North Bristol NHS Trust
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
North East London NHS Foundation Trust
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust
Solent NHS Trust
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust)
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust
South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust
The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
West London NHS Trust
West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Whittington Health NHS Trust
Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
Wye Valley NHS Trust
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Annex 2: Information to be Provided in the Application

Applications must be submitted electronically via the RMS. The following information will be requested.

Applicants are asked to use plain English and avoid jargon where possible. Abbreviations should be spelled out and technical terminologies explained in the first instance.

Details of the NHS organisation

1.1 Please provide the name of the NHS organisation applying for capital funding.

1.2 Details below show the NHS Organisation Lead. This person must be directly employed by the host NHS organisation.

1.3 Total value requested

NHS Organisation Authorised Signatory

2.1 Please state the name of the lead who will manage the award. This person must be directly employed by the host NHS organisation.

2.2 Please provide the email address for the lead.

NHS Organisation Communications Lead

3.1 Please state the name of the lead who will be responsible for any communications and press releases regarding this award.

3.2 Please provide the email address of the NHS organisation communications lead.

NHS Organisation Finance lead

4.1 Please state the name of the Finance Lead who will be responsible for managing and reporting expenditure for this award

4.2 Please provide the email address of the NHS Organisation Finance Lead

Plain English summary

In plain English, provide a justification for the items/refurbishment requested in the proposal. This should include how the funding will enhance the research capacity and capability of the NHS organisation and how this will lead to patient and public benefit.

Max 400 words.

Justification of costs

Applicants are asked to provide:

A justification for the overall items/refurbishment requested in the proposal, including a brief summary of the research to be carried out using the equipment or in the proposed facilities; and how the funding will enhance the research capacity and capability of the NHS organisation.
An explanation of how each of the selection criteria specified in the call guidance document is met.
Details of how the equipment will be managed and maintained. How the applicants will cover ongoing consumable spend where relevant should also be included.
Details of any matched funding that will also support this investment if appropriate.
Justification of how requested items meet the call priorities, where applicable.

Max 1200 words.

Priorities

Please tick any of the following priorities that your application addresses:	-
Reaching underserved communities and improving access to research	-
Pharmacy, imaging and other clinical support services	-
Improving capacity and capability for research in smaller NHS Organisations in rural and coastal areas	-
Decentralised study delivery	-

Financial plan

Please complete the finance section.

This should include costs for equipment and modular building purchases and any building refurbishment that is an absolute requirement for the equipment purchased. Applicants are required to provide recent quotes for equipment, modular buildings and refurbishment, from multiple suppliers where possible, and use these as the basis for costings. You will be asked to upload these on the next page, compiled into one PDF document.

Construction of new buildings, maintenance and depreciation costs are not eligible in this competition.

We recommend that applicants seek appropriate VAT advice before applying. Your individual circumstances may vary depending on your organisational structure and specific VAT arrangements. Input VAT on purchases: for any VAT that the organisation is able to recover, this should not be included in the NIHR application costings. Vice versa, for any VAT that the organisation is not able to recover, this may be included in the NIHR application costings.

Multiple requests for the same item can be grouped together on a single row (e.g. if you would like to request four of the same item, these can be grouped together with the cost per item specified in the relevant box).

Please order the items by priority, with the items that are the highest priority at the top of the financial plan and the items that are the lowest priority at the bottom.

Please use the comments box to state if a proportion of the funding for a piece of equipment or building refurbishment is being provided from another funding source i.e. matched funding. Any financial contributions must be secured at the time of application and should be detailed in a statement of support from the host or partner.

Please note: For capital funding all organisations may claim up to 100% of the requested costs. If applicants wish to discount costs, they can adjust the rates column percentage down from 100%, which will affect the rate calculation columns i.e. the amount charged to the award.

Please note: the NIHR Capital Investment Call Offline Finance Spreadsheet is available to download from the RMS only.

Quotes

Applicants are required to provide two recent quotes for equipment, modular buildings and refurbishment, from multiple suppliers where possible, and use these as the basis for costings. Please compile quotes covering all items into one PDF document before uploading.

Letters of support

Please upload any letters of support from partners who are match funding any of the equipment, modular buildings or refurbishment. If you have multiple letters, these should be compiled into one PDF document before uploading.

Declaration and signature

Authorised signatory of the NHS Organisation

In ticking this, you as an authorised signatory for the host NHS organisation, confirm that the trust fully endorses the application for an NIHR Capital Investment award and assert that appropriate support will be provided to the Capital Investment award should the application for funding be successful. You also confirm that the NHS organisation will comply with all NIHR research governance initiatives, including uptake use of model research agreements/contracts and compliance with the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research requirements.

I confirm that I have checked the financial details of this application and that this organisation is prepared to provide appropriate support should the application for funding be successful.

Ticking this box constitutes an electronic signature of the supporting role with regard to this application.

NHS Organisation Lead

In ticking this, you as the proposed NHS organisation lead confirm that the information given on this form is complete and correct and that the organisation fully endorses the application for an NIHR Capital Investment award and assert that appropriate support will be provided should the application for funding be successful. You also confirm that the Capital Investment award will comply with all NIHR research governance initiatives, including use of model research agreements/contracts and compliance with the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research requirements.

Ticking this box constitutes an electronic signature of the directorial role with regard to this application.

Annex 3: Eligible and Ineligible Costs

The purpose of this funding call is to provide investment in tangible fixed assets (capital): Applicants may seek funding for purchase of equipment and modular buildings, and any refurbishment costs, where these are an absolute requirement for the equipment purchased. We would expect standard accounting policy relevant to your trust setting to be used in determining the appropriate costs to be charged to this funding, e.g. as set out in the NHS Finance Manual. Applicants are required to provide recent quotes for equipment, modular buildings and refurbishment, from multiple suppliers where possible, and use these as the basis for costings. Value for money will be an important selection criterion.

Once an award has been made, DHSC will require quarterly financial statements. DHSC reserves the right to send independent auditors to the trust to confirm the actual use of funds. Award holders should apply their trust’s fixed asset controls policies and ensure that significant capital purchases are reflected, tracked and monitored via a fixed asset register.

Eligible Costs

Applicants may apply for funding for tangible fixed assets (capital) to support the delivery of high-quality research. Capital costs are fixed, one-time expenses. For this competition it includes purchase of equipment and modular buildings and any refurbishment costs, where these are an absolute requirement for the equipment purchased. The expectation is that the equipment purchased with this award should be for research purposes, although if not in use for research for periods of time it may be for clinical use. The research teams within the NHS trusts who purchase the capital should have primary oversight and management of the equipment.

All equipment shall be owned by the purchasing NHS trust as allocated in the financial plan. DHSC reserves the right to determine the outcome of any equipment purchased with this investment.

We recommend that applicants seek appropriate VAT advice before applying. Your individual circumstances may vary depending on your trust structure and specific VAT arrangements. Input VAT on purchases: for any VAT that the trust is able to recover, this should not be included in the NIHR application costings. Vice versa, for any VAT that the trust is not able to recover, this may be included in the NIHR application costings.

Eligible items include:

Purchasing new equipment for research purposes or study delivery.
Replacing old equipment that was used for research or study delivery.
Appropriate costs incurred in the purchase, delivery and installation of pieces of equipment.
Refurbishment of facilities if essential to host the equipment purchased through this investment.
Purchase of modular buildings (e.g. portacabins).

If you have any queries about whether an item is in scope, please submit the query via the NIHR Capital Funding Call Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Form.

Ineligible Costs

The primary purpose of any equipment purchased with this funding should be for research activities and not used for frontline services or to inform patient care.
Funding will not be provided for:

Refurbishment of facilities that are not hosting equipment purchased through this capital investment. This includes office space.
Costs of safely disposing of older equipment that is being replaced via this scheme.
Depreciation costs.
Software and cloud-based technologies.
Equipment maintenance costs.
Disposal of equipment being replaced.
Insurance costs.
Extended warranties for new equipment.
Support staff posts and salaries.
Travel.
Subsistence.
Conference fees.
Consumables i.e. non-reusable items specific to a programme of work.
NHS support costs.
NHS treatment costs for research.
Leasing costs.

Funding will not be provided to support capital investments that support the delivery of animal research in line with NIHR policy.

Annex 4: Essential Information for Applicants and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Could you confirm the mechanism for allocation of the Capital Investment Funding?

This funding should be spent in addition to a trust's core NHS CDEL allocation. This is a separate pot of funding through a separate research contract to the applying trust, and it should not displace other capital funding that the trust is due to receive.

Can the award be adjusted to include VAT post-outcome?

We recommend that applicants seek appropriate VAT advice before applying. Your individual circumstances may vary depending on your trust structure and specific VAT arrangements. Input VAT on purchases: for any VAT that the trust is able to recover, this should not be included in the NIHR application costings. Vice versa, for any VAT that the trust is not able to recover, this may be included in the NIHR application costings. The award cannot be adjusted post-outcome.

Is there a recommended ratio for refurbishment versus equipment costs?

There is not a recommended ratio for refurbishment costs to equipment costs. Applicants will be required to make the case for why refurbishment is essential for an equipment purchase, if they wish to apply for funding for refurbishment. Value for money is one of the selection criteria.

Are software and cloud infrastructure costs eligible?

No, software and cloud infrastructure costs are ineligible in this competition.

Do applicants have to apply for funding over three financial years?

No, applicants can apply for funding up to March 2027. It is essential that NHS trusts applying for this investment provide a realistic spend profile and can ensure all equipment has been purchased and costs are processed within the funded period. Please note that successful applicants will not be able to apply for the NIHR Capital Investment Call that will be launched in the financial year of 2024/25.

How do NHS trust and NHS foundation trusts account for the cash received from NIHR in their Provider Finance Returns (PFRs)?

If NHS providers conclude that the cash received from NIHR meets the classification of a capital grant under IAS20, in agreement with their auditors where transactions are material, they should account for the cash received in Tab ‘06. SoCF (Statement of Cash Flows)’, Tab ‘08. Op Inc (source)’, and the capital spend and grant received in Tab ‘15. (Capital Analysis Schemes)’. Grant funded capital spend nets out to nil for CDEL purposes, if the recognised amount of grant fully matches the amount of spend, and both are undertaken within the same accounting period – any resultant impact due to differences in amounts or timing of spend will need to be managed within system capital allocations. Depreciation on grant funded assets is shown separately in Tab ‘10. Op Ex.’

Correctly recording the entries in the PFRs will ensure that any capital and revenue impact of depreciation associated with grant-funded spend is removed from the provider’s CDEL position in Tab ‘18. Capital Funding-GrsCpxCDEL’ and Tab ‘44. Capital CT Analysis’, plus the adjusted financial performance surplus or deficit in Tab ‘04. SoCI’ (Statement of Comprehensive Income).

NHS trusts, and those foundation trusts notified that a capital resource limit (CRL) applies, receive a capital resource limit (CRL) for each financial year. If an NHS trust was successful in bidding for this NIHR capital funding, would that increase its CRL for each financial year of the award?

If providers treat the income from NIHR as a capital grant, and associated capital expenditure fully matches the grant in terms of both amounts recognised and accounting periods, there is no CDEL impact and therefore no CRL impact, as there is no spend that needs to be covered by capital sources of finance. i.e. NHS trusts, and those foundation trusts notified that a capital resource limit (CRL) applies, will not receive a capital resource limit (CRL) amendment, as it would not be needed, where spend matches.

If an application is successful, is there flexibility to use the funding in a different way to what is profiled in the original finance form?

It would be permissible to use any savings from any equipment that was recommended for funding and eventually purchased at a lower value to make up for any increases in the price of other equipment, as long as this is within the agreed envelope and for items recommended for funding by the Committee. Please note award holders will not be permitted to purchase any piece of equipment, which was not reviewed and recommended for funding by the Committee.

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