Under the new rules, any government grant over £100,000 will have to be properly reviewed and all departments will have to set up a robust grants approval process.

At the same time, details of all current grant schemes and awards will be published on the government grants information system (GGIS)

There must be a senior responsible owner (SRO) for each grant scheme, while there are new definitions of high risk grants, which will need to be referred to the new grants advice panel (NGAP).

All government grants will be reviewed annually at a minimum with a focus on financial reconciliation, taking into account delivery across the period, resulting in a decision to continue, discontinue or amend funding.

The guidance makes clear that government grants should be competed by default and that all applications will require a business case to be produced.

There must be a clear description of the scheme and the aims and objectives of the grant, plus information about how money should be spent, including eligible expenditure terms, which prohibit paid for lobbying and improper expenses.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said the guidelines will be implemented on a recommended best practice basis with the flexibility to ensure that research and innovation grants are not adversely affected.

The new approach includes clear guidance for research grant managers that activities such as responding to select committees and consultations are appropriate for inclusion in their research grant terms. In addition, a number of specific activities are approved for all government research grants including, for example, those awarded to the national academies.

There will be new degrees of transparency and grant recipients will have to:

• publish and publicise the results of research paid for using taxpayer funded grants;
• costs of hosting science and research communication events, for example, science festivals, Royal Society’s summer science exhibition, visits, breakfasts, dinners or receptions, seminars, etc;
• the use of newsletters and campaigns; and
• sharing information with parliament to expound greater understanding of research outcomes or launch a research project or equipment.

Grant monies can also be used for working with or through a third party organisation or commercial partners, which are not professional lobbying organisations, to conduct, communicate or publish research findings and inform policy, as well as for contributing expert scientific and academic advice to inform government policy and funding or make the case for science, and for developing proposals for future research grants.

BEIS says the new standards do not alter the flexibility that departments and partner organisations have to offer multi-year grant awards and apply a risk based approach to their grant making.

The new standards apply only to general grants made by departments and their arm’s length bodies using Exchequer funding. They do not apply to grant-in-aid or formula-based grants.

The Cabinet Office guidance on grant standards for public sector contracts is here