The details of the ICF fund (round 5) were announced in late October.
There are two grants –
1. The Infection Control Fund which this time also includes funding for support with vaccinations (but you don’t have to report separately)
2. Rapid Testing Fund
Both grants cover the period 1st October 2021 – 31st March 2022
There is £388 million available nationally but this is for a six month period and continues a pattern of reduced funding as the Covid restrictions have eased.
Infection Control Fund round 5 (including Vaccines funding)
· Surrey’s allocation is £7.9m.
· £4.3m (55%) is ringfenced for care homes.
· £1.2m (15%) is ringfenced for CQC community care providers.
· £2.4m (30%) is discretionary within the grant conditions.
· As with ICF4, it is no longer possible to use ICF for costs to limit the use of public transport.
Rapid Testing Fund round 4
· Surrey’s allocation is £3.8m.
· £2.9m (70%) is ringfenced for care homes.
· £0.9m (30%) is discretionary within the grant conditions.
· As with RTF3, this grant covers costs associated with both lateral flow and PCR testing.
LAs have 20 days from receiving the grant to pay providers who are compliant with the grant conditions.
What you need to do:
To comply with the grant conditions providers are required to:
- Continue to complete the Capacity Tracker weekly (organisations need to be registered in Surrey
- Report actual expenditure to SCC.
Payments to providers will be made in two instalments in line with funding received from DHSC and subject to compliance with the grant conditions.
The first 60% of both grants were paid to SCC in October 2021 and has been disbursed to providers
The remaining 40% of grants will be paid to Surrey County Council in January 2022 subject to them completing the first reporting return to DHSC due by 14th January 2022. It will be very important for providers to complete the Capacity Tracker weekly and report your actual expenditure to SCC by the deadline.