Narcotics Division, Security Bureau

Applications open for Beat Drugs Fund Special Funding Exercise

Beat Drugs Fund Special Funding Scheme Application Form
Guide to Beat Drugs Fund Special Funding Scheme
Project Brief on Anti-drug Resource Kits for the School Sector

Objectives and Scope of the Fund

To promote community efforts to beat drugs, the Government established a Beat Drugs Fund in March 1996 with a capital outlay of HK $350 million. The decision to set up the Fund was made at a drug summit meeting in 1995, which brought together Government Bureaux and departments, as well as many organisations in the voluntary sectors engaged in the fight against drug abuse to discuss and to formulate a comprehensive and co-ordinated strategy against drug abuse.

Income generated by the Fund is used to provide financial support to those worthwhile anti-drug projects which meet the funding criteria set down by the Fund. Community-wide anti-drug activities covering preventive education and publicity, treatment and rehabilitation, and research are within the ambit of the fund.

The Fund is administered by the Beat Drugs Fund Association which is a non profit-making limited company incorporated under the Companies Ordinance (Chapter 32). The Narcotics Division provides secretarial support to the Association.

A Governing Committee under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary for Security is set up to decide on the applications to the Fund on the advice of the ACAN. Its terms of reference are :-

	a.	to oversee the administration and investment of the Beat Drugs Fund
	b.	to consider applications for financial support from the Fund
	c.	to decide on the grants having regard to the recommendations of the Action Committee Against Narcotics

To provide expert advice on the investment of the Association's funds, an Investment Sub-committee chaired by the Director of Accounting Services is also set up with the following terms of reference:-

	a.	to advise the Governing Committee on an appropriate investment strategy for the Association
	b.	within the investment strategy approved by the Governing Committee, to formulate proposals for the acquisition and disposal of investments
	c.	to recommend to the Governing Committee the appointment of external investment managers and the terms and conditions of their appointment
	d.	to monitor the performance of external investment managers when appointed and to ensure that the guidelines laid down for them are observed

	Projects approved in 1996-97
	Projects approved in 1997-98
	Projects approved in 1998-99
	Projects approved in 1999-00
	Projects approved in 2000-01
	Projects approved in 2001-02
	Projects approved in 2002-03
	Projects approved in 2004-05
	Projects approved in 2005-06
	Projects approved in 2006-07
	Projects approved in 2007-08

Project Statistics

Organisations and individuals can apply for the Fund, provided that the projects under application are of a non-profit-making nature. Individual applicants must provide proof that they have obtained support from their affliated organisations for the projects under consideration.

In case the applicant is a branch/district organization affiliated to or under a mother organisation in Hong Kong, it must submit its application via that mother organisation. Should the mother organisation receive more than one application from its district/branch agencies or organisations, it must prioritise the applications before submitting them to the Association. Each mother organisation is allowed to submit a maximum of three applications.

Grants disbursed by the Fund will not normally exceed $3 million and the funding period will not normally exceeds two years, except for projects which are regarded by the Association as exceptionally innovative, in which case the maximum grant can be $5 million and the maximum funding duration, three years.

The total maximum grant receivable by a mother organisation and its branch/district organisations or agencies will not normally exceed $3 million. However, the grant may be raised to $5 million under the circumstances stated above.

All applicants are required to fill in an application form. Late applications and applications with insufficient details will not be accepted.

Applications for grants are invited once a year. Processing of the applications takes about three months to complete. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their applications in writing. Decisions of the Association in respect of project approvals and disbursement of grants will be final.

Advice on the support-worthiness of the applications is first sought from relevant Government departments before consideration by a vetting panel and the Action Committee Against Narcotics. A final decision is made by the Governing Committee of the Beat Drugs Fund Association.

Successful applicants are required to sign an undertaking to ensure, amongst other things, that the grants are spent specifically for the scope and purposes approved by the Association.

An approved project should be carried out by or under the general direction of the responsible person named in the application form as the grantee who shall be responsible for the conduct of the project.

Applicants provided with grants should start the projects within six months after approval. They should expedite their work on the project and complete them within the indicated time schedule. Applications for extension of deadline will normally not be entertained.

All the information provided in the application is binding on the successful applicants. Successful applicants are required to note in particular that the projected cash flow and implementation schedule of the approved projects should be strictly adhered to.

The grantee shall give appropriate acknowledgement to the Association in the implementation of the approved project, including in all publicity or published materials associated with the project.

The ownership, copyright and all other intellectual property in all AV products, reports, handbooks or such materials so created as a result of the project shall be vested in and belong to the Association. The Association may use the reports or other such materials for any purpose at any time, and the grantee is allowed to use the reports or other such materials for academic pursuits or other good cause with the prior approval of the Association.

Prior approval of the Association is required if the grantee wants to make changes to an approved project's implementation plan or budget (any variations to the cost breakdown should be reported to the Association and the necessary prior approval be sought.)

Successful applicants are requested to publicise or give due acknowledgement to the Fund in their programmes / products where appropriate.

To ensure that grants from the Beat Drugs Fund are spent cost-effectively, approved projects are monitored by means of:
		half-year progress reports and full project report submitted by grantees within two months after completion of projects;
		visits by Members of the Governing Committee of the Beat Drugs Fund Association, Action Committee Against Narcotics and staff of the Narcotics Division.

Agenda of Meeting