Please find in this news item a few things we would like to provide an update for.

EntrustOnline

EntrustOnline has seen several amends and improvements after early feedback, such as the following that are of note for EBs:

– Projects can now be extended by the EB for three months without the need for approval, using the actions tab on projects that are approved and not yet completed. Please note, this will not work if the project has already been extended in the past, either by the EB or Entrust. We are aware of a small number of projects which were approved on the old system, that the extension tool does not work for. Please contact Entrust if you find you cannot extend as expected, and we will process this for you.

– You may have also noticed that there have been some text changes to rename all post-completion forms, Value for Money Forms, for consistency.

– There will soon be some new videos ready to add to each section of the site, with guides on how to fill out the forms and things to look out for.

We believe that most if not all the initial issues have been resolved, but new ones can always crop up especially when making improvements. Please keep us informed if you spot anything unusual or that does not look quite right.

The Entrust Website

The website has been amended with new search tools and a Landfill Lookup tool. These were made possible by connecting the EntrustOnline data with the website in a more intelligent way. These tools should allow more user-friendly searches for information and enable Project Applicants to easily find out if their project site is within 10 miles of a licenced landfill site.

The resources page has also been amended, combining several resources into single pages, so they are easier to find or browse.

Online Tools Survey

As these tools have been recently upgraded, we would like to run a very short survey to gather some feedback on the tools, and whether they are working as intended. This survey will be available to complete in the next few weeks, which we will email to all active EBs to take part if they wish.

Competitive Tendering

There have been several discussions with EBs over the definition of competitive tendering over the last few years, and the guidance manual does give some advice on this. However, in the interests of transparency, we wanted to share with you the sentence that is now given to Compliance Inspectors in their evidence standards guidance:

Competitive tendering ensures that companies can compete fairly for the works, either through public/industry board posting of the intention to carry out works, or by a process of acquiring numerous quotations in a fair and transparent manner to ensure proper competition.

We hope by sharing this, it will further guide on what is the standard expected of LCF spending above £25k.

Satisfaction Survey Report

The 2025 EB Satisfaction Survey Report is now available on the website – https://www.entrust.org.uk/eb-satisfaction-survey-report-available/

We are delighted to announce that satisfaction has risen again from 92% to 95% overall.

Call for Evidence

In July, we ran a call for evidence survey as the first stage of a consultation on Administration Costs. The response was excellent and focus groups and conversations will follow in the next few months before the December Entrust Board where next steps will be discussed. We will of course keep EBs updated as to any developments.

We will be looking to send a brief update such as this on a quarterly basis, unless there is a specific item that needs highlighting more urgently, of which we will send additional messaging as appropriate.