General

These are the standard Terms and Conditions applying to Grants given by the National Autistic Taskforce (NAT) and apply to all grant awards alongside any special conditions relating to an individual award set out in the Grant Award Letter. Deviations from the conditions described herein are valid only if stated in writing and approved by the NAT. The NAT, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to award grants pursuant to any terms or conditions it deems appropriate. Grant applications from groups or organisations will nominate a ‘grant recipient’ to take responsibility for the application and any award. It is the responsibility of the grant recipient to ensure that all parties, including collaborators, comply with these Terms and Conditions and that all grant-funded activities are conducted in a safe, responsible and ethical manner.

The NAT Founders Award will accept applications only from autistic people. All grant recipients must, therefore, be autistic people. For the avoidance of doubt the phrase ‘autistic people’ shall include all people who consider themselves to be autistic whether or not they have been formally diagnosed as such.

Grant recipients must be resident in the UK and have a UK bank account. In accepting a grant award, the grant recipient undertakes that they are resident in the UK and have a UK bank account.

The decision of the NAT in relation to awards made is final.

Grant Period and Payments

The NAT typically awards grants with a duration of less than twelve months. Grants will be paid in full upfront.

The funding period for each project will start either on the date specified in grant proposal, or an alternative date that has been approved, in writing, by the NAT. Grant payments will be usually disbursed to the grant recipients in the month following acceptance of the terms and conditions of the award.

Employment

The NAT does not act as the employer with respect to any grant recipient or collaborator. The grant recipient shall undertake to ensure a contract of employment is in place between themselves and any employed staff, in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations.

Compliance with Founders Award Proposals

The grant recipient must use their best endeavours to ensure that the agreed activity is completed within the agreed period and within the overall amount of grant awarded or any overall budget, if additional funding from other sources is involved. The use of grant monies for any purpose other than that specified in the Grant Award Letter is not permitted without the NAT’s prior written approval. Deviations from agreed timelines and budgets should be discussed with the NAT at the earliest point in time and agreed in writing.

The grant shall be taken up as soon as all approvals required by the conditions of grant are in place. The NAT must be notified immediately if the grant recipient is unable to commence the project at the time of the first grant payment, after which the NAT may, at its sole discretion, choose to terminate the grant. Funds provided by the grant are for the purposes of undertaking the activity described in the proposal (unless modified by written agreement between the grant recipient and the NAT as a condition of the award) and may not be used for any other purpose without the express written consent of the NAT. Allowable expenses by category shall be specified in the budget included in the proposal submitted to the NAT. Funds that are unexpended or uncommitted at the termination of the grant shall be remitted to the NAT within sixty days of the date of termination.

A grant which is conditional on successful applications for funding from other sources may not commence until the grant recipient has provided the NAT with written confirmation that the activity is fully funded.

Overlap Funding

The grant recipient is responsible for ensuring that the activity described in the grant application is not simultaneously sponsored or funded by any other entity or organisation. The grant recipient agrees to immediately notify the NAT if support for the research project is obtained from another funding source during the term of the NAT award. Any funds awarded by the NAT may be withdrawn should funding be received for the same purposes from other sources.

Progress and Financial Reports

Progress and financial reports will be required in line with any requirements set out in the grant award letter. In all cases, the grant recipient will provide a final report, including details of how the grant has been spent and any proof of activity or expenditure reasonably required by the NAT.

The final report, and any interim reports required by the grant award letter, will provide written confirmation that the grant has been used for the specified purpose for which it was awarded by the NAT. All reports are required to report expenditure against the budget the grant recipient submitted to the NAT in the grant application. Anything equal to or greater than a 20% underspend of the grant will be remitted to the NAT. The NAT at its sole discretion may request additional clarification of any issue in final reports (including financial reports) and the grant recipient must use their best endeavours to clarify any issue in response to such a request.

The grant recipient shall, as soon as they become aware of any significant problems, which may delay the progress of the project for period of more than three (3) months or any significant deviations from the activity outlined in the approved proposal, immediately and without delay, notify the NAT of said problems or deviations. Failure by the grant recipient to comply with this protocol for reporting significant problems and deviations may result in cancellation of the grant and the grant recipient may, in the sole discretion of the NAT, become liable to repay the grant to the NAT.

The grant recipient shall be responsible for submission of the final report to the NAT at the time specified in the grant award letter and, in any case, no later than thirty (30) days after the stipulated end date of the grant. A Final Report of Expenditures must accompany the Final Progress Report along with a refund of any unexpended funds awarded by The NAT. The final report should include a brief summary of the outcomes of the project.
The grant recipient may request, in order to complete any necessary work on the final report, a one-time extension of the grant period which is at no further cost to the NAT. This extension can be for up to fifteen (15) days. The NAT will evaluate any such request on a case-by-case basis. Should the NAT grant such a request for a no cost extension, the final progress report shall be due on the revised date agreed in writing by the NAT. Grant recipients who fail to submit a final report within thirty days of the completion of a NAT-funded project, may be barred from submitting new grant applications to the NAT, at the NAT’s sole discretion.

Publicity and dissemination of outputs

The grant recipient should be aware that the NAT, at its sole discretion, will post summaries of grant awards, including the amount and purpose of any award, and outcome summaries on the NAT website and may also publicly disseminate similar details of grant awards via other media.

Grant recipients may be asked for photographs, audio recordings and/or video for publicity purposes. By supplying photographs, audio recordings and/or video to the NAT, grant recipients give the NAT full rights to use the images, recordings or other media, and any reproductions or adaptations of the images or recordings for fundraising, publicity or other purposes to help achieve the NAT’s aims.

If the grant recipient wishes to remain anonymous, the NAT will seek to respect this anonymity and will attempt to generalise this publicly disseminated information to disguise the identity of the grant recipient. However, the NAT cannot and does not undertake to prevent the identification of grant recipients and will not be liable in the event a grant recipient is publicly identified. Further, the NAT cannot and does not undertake to prevent the identification of grant recipients as autistic people and will not be liable in the event a grant recipient is publicly identified as an autistic person.

The NAT shall be free to publish the title, summary and outcomes summary of any grant on its website or annual report or other publications from time to time. The NAT may be willing to assist the grant recipient further in the dissemination of any project outputs but does not undertake to do so.

The NAT is committed to the involvement of the autistic community in its work and to its work being for the benefit of the autistic community. As part of this commitment, we ask that grant recipients report on how they involved autistic people in their funded activity and/or how autistic people benefitted from their activity.

Site visits and meetings

As a condition of the award, the grant recipient agrees that upon reasonable prior notification, a representative of the NAT may visit (or remote visit, if more practical) the location where the NAT-funded activity is taking place and/or meet with the grant recipient.

Termination/Cancellation of the Grant Award

A grant award may be terminated or cancelled by the NAT upon thirty (30) days written notice to the grant recipient if it is the case or the opinion of the NAT that : (a) the grant recipient is unable to carry out the agreed activity for any reason or to carry out the agreed activity in a timely manner; (b) the grant recipient or any collaborator, partner or organisation, is found by any body or organisation to have committed misconduct or fraud; (c) the grant recipient has failed to comply with any of the terms and conditions of this award; (d) the grant recipient has received funding from another source that duplicates or significantly overlaps the NAT award during the term of the award; (e) the awarded funds are not being used for the purposes originally outlined in the grant proposal; or (f) the grant recipient has been dishonest in the conduct of their activity or with the NAT. In the event of cancellation or termination, all unexpended funds as of the termination/cancellation date must be returned to the NAT within thirty (30) days of such written notice.

If for any reason during the lifetime of the grant, the NAT is of the opinion that funds have been misspent by the grant recipient, the grant recipient shall have thirty (30) days to either (a) repay the total amount in question in full or (b) provide evidence to refute the allegation.

Changes to the grant recipient

If prior to the termination of the grant, the grant recipient wishes to end their involvement in the proposed activity, the grant will be terminated, and all unexpended or uncommitted funds shall be returned to the NAT within thirty (30) days. Grant awards may not be transferred to another individual or organisation without the prior written consent of the NAT. If the transfer of a grant is approved, the NAT will specify, in its sole discretion, whether and in what amount funds must be returned to the NAT or transferred to the agreed replacement grant recipient within thirty (30) days of receipt of written agreement from the NAT.

Ownership of Equipment and Intellectual Property

Title to all equipment purchased with the NAT’s funds in the course of activity approved within a grant award shall vest in the grant recipient during the award and following termination of the grant funded activity.

Any intellectual property developed during the course of a project funded by the NAT shall vest in the grant recipient, but the NAT shall be granted a royalty free, non-exclusive license to use this intellectual property solely for non-commercial purposes. For the avoidance of doubt, grant recipients are free to commercially exploit any intellectual property developed during a project grant funded by the NAT.

Responsibility for any financial outcomes from the grant

Any profit or financial gain resulting directly or indirectly from the grant shall belong to the grant recipient.

Any loss or financial liability resulting directly or indirectly from the grant shall be the responsibility of the grant recipient.

Publication Policy, public acknowledgement of the NAT support and lack of responsibility for support

The findings of any NAT-funded research shall be made freely available to the broader scientific and autism community through publication of such findings. Publication should not be unduly delayed unless the protection of intellectual property demands it.

The grant recipient may publish material resulting from the grant-funded project. Any publication shall publicly acknowledge the funding support provided by the NAT. The grant recipient may not state, imply or infer endorsement of their views, findings or statements by the NAT. The grant recipient may not use the NAT logo or branding without the written permission of the NAT, but such permission will not be unreasonably withheld.

The NAT would like to be informed of such publications and would encourage grant recipients to provide details of any resulting publications or other project outputs to the NAT.

The NAT shall not be responsible for any support or assistance the grant recipient may require to undertake their project or activity, other than the financial award set out in the grant award letter.

Ethical and Legal Requirements

The grant recipient shall bear full responsibility for the management, monitoring and control of grant-funded activity, together with any insurance or indemnity required. The grant recipient shall ensure that all legal, ethical and regulatory requirements are met and all necessary licenses and approvals obtained. If the grant proposal involves work with any vulnerable groups, including autistic people, it is the responsibility of the grant recipient to take appropriate steps to safeguard vulnerable adults, including, if required by law, relevant DBS checks. A grant may not commence until all the necessary requirements have been met and the NAT has been provided with documentary evidence to confirm this.

Grant awards may potentially impact on the receipt of social security benefits. It is the responsibility of the grant recipient to make any required disclosures of the grant award in line with the requirements of any benefits they may receive. The NAT accepts no responsibility for any impact of the grant award on the grant recipients’ benefits, or those of any other party.

Statement on the Limitation of Liability

The NAT accepts no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for expenditure (or liabilities arising out of such expenditure) or liabilities arising out of the activities funded by the award. The NAT will not indemnify the grant recipient or any other person working on the project or activity (including employees, collaborators, partners and subcontractors) against any claims for compensation or against any other claims (whether under any statute or regulation or at common law) for which the grant recipient may be liable as an employer or otherwise or for which any such person may be liable.

Indemnification

To the extent allowed by English law, the grant recipient agrees to defend, indemnify and hold the NAT, its officers, trustees, employees and agents harmless from and against any and all damages, claims, liabilities or demands which may be made or asserted by reason of: (a) any injury or loss to persons or property sustained for any reason whatsoever by the grant recipient or their organisation, collaborators, partners, officers, employees, agents, subcontractors, participants, visitors or other individuals who may be involved in the activity outlined in the Grant Award Proposal, and (b) any injury or loss to persons or property sustained for any reason whatsoever by any person caused by or otherwise attributable to acts of omission or commission of persons performing work pursuant to the grant-funded activity.

Fraud and Misconduct

The grant recipient must undertake good faith efforts to minimise the possibility for fraud and misconduct and must investigate any allegations promptly. The NAT must be notified immediately that fraud or misconduct is suspected.

The grant recipient is responsible for immediately notifying the NAT, in writing, of any investigation by any body or organisation into the conduct of the grant recipient, any collaborator, partner or person involved in the grant-funded activity, and for keeping The NAT informed on a timely basis of the progress and outcome of any such investigation.

Notices

Any notices or other communications between the NAT and the grant recipient shall be sent by email to k.brook@nationalautistictaskforce.org.uk or by first class post to the NAT, 22 Wester Inshes Place, Inverness. IV2 5HZ and to the grant recipient at such email or postal address as appeared on the grant proposal submitted to the NAT or to such other address as shall have been specified in writing by the other parties and delivered in accordance with this section.

Governing law and jurisdiction

The conditions of this award shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. The grant recipient irrevocably submits to the jurisdiction of the English courts to settle any disputes in connection with the conditions of this award.