Policy paper

2026-2029 Strategy for Government Grants (HTML)

Published 18 May 2026

Our Strategy

Vision

We will empower grant-makers to deliver the best outcomes for citizens and the economy.

Mission

To be a leading grants function that maximises the effectiveness and efficiency of grant funding and builds a highly-skilled and collaborative profession.

Strategic Outcomes	Strategic Enablers
1. Maximising impact for citizens and the economy	A culture of empowered leadership and shared accountability.
2. Driving efficiency and reform in government grant-making	System-wide collaboration to embed best practice and learning.
3. Building a highly-skilled, inspired and resilient grant-making profession	Digital and data transformation of the grants lifecycle.

Proportionality - We commit to a proportionate application of the strategic outcomes, reflecting the breadth, diversity and changing landscape of government grant-making.

Our future state

Strategic outcome	Future state 2029
Maximising impact for citizens and the economy	We are a more mature community of grant-makers, firmly committed to continuous improvement. Our scheme design is transparent, agile, and innovative, backed by the confident and robust provision of Functional expertise and support. We value the insight gained from evaluation, which allows us to optimise the design of grants, maximise their impact, and minimise risk before any payment is made.
Driving efficiency and reform in government grant-making	Grant funding delivery is measurably more effective and efficient, driven by policy reform and a proportionate, innovative, and customer-centric approach to scheme design. This success is underpinned by the collective use of shared tools and services, which are themselves powered by advancements in AI, automation, and standardisation.
Building a highly-skilled, inspired and resilient grant-making profession	We are highly-skilled members of the Grants Profession, with our expertise formally recognised across government. Our clear career pathways and accredited training programmes ensure continuous professional development and career opportunities. We actively cultivate a professional culture that champions innovation, collaboration, and diversity, which is essential to our collective success.

Maximising Impact

Strategic outcome 1

Objectives

Raise the baseline for continuous improvement

• From April 2026, we will review the Functional Standard, Minimum Requirements, and Blueprint to support the principles of both RESET and leading in partnership.
• Between June and October 2026, undertake the refreshed Grants Continuous Improvement Assessment exercise to establish a new baseline for continuous improvement.

Strengthen and embed grant evaluation

• Gather and develop a common set of methodologies and case studies for more effective evaluation of grant delivery.
• Use data to evidence efficiency savings being made in departments.
• Update evaluation toolkit and run professional masterclass to share best practice.

Enable customer insights to inform delivery and policy

• Draw insights from internal customers and grant recipients to strengthen the Functional offer and improve policy and delivery.

Strengthen provision of expert support

• Strengthen expert advice and support for the most complex and high-risk schemes at the Complex Grants Advice Panel.
• Share insights derived from common challenges and solutions to foster continuous improvement.

Strategic outcome 2

Objectives

Increase transparency of pipeline and awards

• Build public trust by increasing transparency of grant opportunities and funding allocations to facilitate independent scrutiny and better decision-making.

Establish Government Grants Managed Service as a mandated service

• From April 2026, implement the mandatory referral requirement to the Government Grants Managed Service to support delivery of £342m in grants and achieve £28.4m in efficiency savings.
• Relocate the Government Grants Managed Service to another department to run as a business as usual service.

Optimise use of standardised digital and data tools

• Drive the uptake of Find and Apply for a Grant, Spotlight and Grants Lifecycle Utility.
• Seek new opportunities for efficiency in the effective use of AI.

Establish Policy Lab        

• Set up a dedicated space for creative problem-solving in grant-making, focused on improvements that can be enacted through policy design, enabled by a test and learn approach.

Strategic outcome 3

Objectives

Deliver and embed professional standards

• Establish a common framework for competencies and behaviours to ensure fair recruitment and recognition of expert skills.

Develop and provide accredited training

• Develop and pilot an Advanced Licence to Practise for skilled and expert practitioners.
• To ensure high standards are maintained across the wider ecosystem, we will also pilot a version of the Licence to Practise specifically for local government and the broader public sector.

Build strong community and connection

• Expand the Community of Practice to include local government grant-makers, breaking down silos and enabling social learning.
• Move the Centre of Excellence to the new collaboration platform to create a single learning platform for grants and commercial.

Establish career and talent pathways

• Create clearer career pathways that allow professionals to grow and move between teams without needing to leave the grants community to progress.

Strategic enablers

Three strategic enablers to support systemic change and enable effective delivery:

Empowered leadership and shared accountability

Leading in partnership

Responsibility for delivery of this strategy will be shared with departments.

Shared accountability

The Government Commercial Agency will deliver the Digital and Data strategy and provision of services driving value across the public sector.

Functional experts

Continue to collaborate closely with Commercial, Finance and other Functions to draw on expertise to optimise effectiveness of delivery.

System-wide collaboration

Unified not siloed

Ensure success in one area is turned into success for the whole government regardless of where the idea originated.

Nationwide

Professional offer made available across the public sector and devolved nations to maximise value to all.

Funding shaper

Proactively engage with grant recipients and external funders both locally and internationally to share best practice and optimise impact of UK government grant funding.

Digital and data transformation

Citizen-centric

Use data as a strategic asset to maximise value and improve outcomes for citizens and taxpayers at every stage of the grant funding process.

Standardise the core

Use common tools, templates and services for grant-making which will be automated where possible to provide the bandwidth to use expertise to support more complex and high-risk schemes.

Accessible and user-friendly

Development of digital products will consider users from across government to maximise their usability and impact.

Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS

© Crown copyright 2026

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For more information, visit Grants Centre of Excellence