Guidance

Better Futures Fund: Delivery partner competition guidance

Published 30 April 2026

Applies to England

1. This guidance document is intended to support applications from prospective grant recipients and covers:

• an introduction to the Better Futures Fund
• information on grant recipient expectations
• information on the application process including assessment and scoring
• information on the grant awarding process

Summary

2. The £500 million Better Futures Fund (BFF) will support up to 200,000 children, young people and their families over the next 10 years. It will do this by bringing together government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, investors and philanthropists, to deliver place-based solutions to complex social problems. The funding will primarily be for the commissioning of Social Outcomes Partnerships (SOPs), with government payments tied to the achievement of measurable improvements in people’s lives, such as school attainment, improved youth employment, and reduced youth reoffending. 

3. The fund will aim to raise up to an additional £500m in match funding for outcomes over the full duration of the programme, working with partners including local government commissioners and philanthropists. It will also bring in additional upfront funding from social investors creating total funding of up to £1 billion.

4. The BFF will fund projects which support the government’s ambitions to tackle the structural and root causes of poverty for children, young people and their families - projects that reduce the short or longer term impacts of poverty on the life chances and outcomes for children. 

5. The specific outcomes the fund will look to deliver are currently being determined. The specific metrics will be decided in local places, aligned to local needs, but will be guided by an overarching set of outcomes that align with evidence on tackling child poverty.

6. DCMS is anticipating a two-stage roll out. For Round 1 (launching in summer 2026) we are seeking a proposal that will support the launch of a small number of locally-based outcomes-focused partnerships that are match-funded by external partners. These social outcomes partnerships will need to involve organisations with a proven track record of SOP delivery. The successful grant recipient(s) for Round 1 will receive just under c.£40 million of funding between summer 2026 to March 2036 to support Social Outcomes Partnership (SOP) provision in priority areas in England only.

7. Subsequent rounds that will cover the remainder of the BFF’s funding will be from 2027 onwards, designed to significantly scale up the number of SOPs and widen participation across the market. These will be open to all applicants, whether or not they have experience of SOP delivery.

8. DCMS is seeking to select a grant recipient(s) (either a single organisation, with or without delivery partners, or as a joint application) who is able to deliver the objectives of the Better Futures Fund Round 1. This competition guidance sets out the DCMS’s requirement for delivering Round 1 of the BFF only.

BFF objectives

9. Over its 10 year lifetime the BFF will deliver the following objectives:

• Deliver positive outcomes for up to 200,000 children, young people and families living in relative poverty.
• The fund will aim to raise funding from local government and philanthropists on top of the government’s funding on a 1:1 match basis, whilst also leveraging in millions of upfront funding from social investors to support organisations to deliver. This would create potential funding of up to £1 billion.
• Grow and diversify the market for SOPs.
• Develop the evidence base on SOPs and Child Poverty.

10. It is an ambitious programme and a key delivery component of the Government’s efforts to tackle Child Poverty. The fund will aim to deliver positive outcomes for individuals, as well as wider benefits for public service reform. 

11. Funding the launch of locally-led SOPs is a key objective of the BFF funding. SOPs of this type have been well supported to date via grant funding that provides ‘top-up’ match funding with local project budgets to pay for locally commissioned outcome based contracts (versus fee for service or output based contracts). Specific outcomes (with metrics) are decided in local places, aligned with local needs, but guided by the overarching set of outcomes that align with evidence on tackling wide-ranging social issues, like child poverty.

12. The BFF will be an equal contributor to outcome payments with the match outcomes payments made by the local commissioner and in some cases philanthropists. The fund aims to provide an incentive for local commissioners to develop SOPs, particularly when savings fall to other parts of the public sector. Pilot central top-up funds, such as the Life Chances Fund, made average contributions of 35% towards local budgets. In BFF the contribution will be an average of 50%.

13. DCMS is seeking to award a grant which the successful applicant(s) will need to align with the BFF’s Objectives. The BFF’s overarching target social outcomes will be communicated in due course.

Round 1 objectives and outcomes

14. The grant recipient(s) should seek to deliver the following objectives for Round 1 of the BFF:

• Deliver a successful Round 1 application process, programme and programme closure, achieving Round 1 outcomes, set out below.
• Demonstrate the efficacy of the SOPs mechanism to tackle child poverty to projects who may bid for funding in future rounds of the BFF.
• Inform DCMS’ policy design and delivery of future rounds of the BFF.

15. The grant recipient(s) should seek to achieve the following Round 1 outcomes;

• Deliver measurable positive outcomes for children, young people and families living in relative poverty, for example, by supporting SOP projects which seek to improve outcomes for children, young people and families living in relative poverty.
• Improve locally led expertise across England in delivering SOPs, for example by;
  • Supporting projects with demonstrable prior experience in delivering a SOP.
  • Targeting support towards projects delivering through the SOP model.
• Improve the evidence base and wider understanding of what works in delivering a SOP between central and local government, VCSEs and Social Investors, for example by;
  • Capturing evidence on outcomes delivered by projects including for each individual participant.
  • Ensuring that learnings from Round 1 projects are shared transparently and proactively across Round 1 projects and prospective future BFF projects.
  • Ensuring that learnings from Round 1 directly informs DCMS’s design of future rounds of the BFF.
  • Capturing learning and case study material from Round 1 projects.
  • Contributing to the independent evaluation and post event assurance of the BFF including through cleaning data and sharing it with the evaluator.

Period of agreement and funding profile

16. The grant recipient(s) for Round 1 will be expected to start work in July 2026, with exact dates to be agreed. The grant agreement will cover ten financial years, 2026/27 to 2035/36, and will include participation in post event assurance and evaluation processes. The funding available will be split into three tranches with £8.45 million over years 1 to 3, £15.3 million over years 4 to 6, and £16.03 million over years 7 to 10:

	Tranche 1: 2026/27	Tranche 1: 2027/28	Tranche 1: 2028/29	Tranche 2: 2029/30	Tranche 2: 2030/31	Tranche 2: 2031/32	Tranche 3: 2032/33	Tranche 3: 2033/34	Tranche 3: 2034/35	Tranche 3: 2035/36	Total
Admin	£0.70	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£0.20	£2.5
Outcomes	£0.0	£3.0	£4.4	£4.9	£4.9	£4.9	£4.9	£4.9	£4.4	£1.1	£37.3
Total	£0.70	£3.18	£4.58	£5.10	£5.10	£5.10	£5.10	£5.10	£4.58	£1.25	£39.8

17. The funding for tranches 2 and 3 will be made available subject to a review of the scheme’s effectiveness to that point.

18. Grants cannot be paid out for any work undertaken by any applicant or the notified preferred bidder prior to countersignature of the agreement.

19. All funding must be committed by December 2026. Due to the nature of outcomes-based commissioning, funding commitments will not be spent until outcomes are achieved, with payment claims to DCMS expected to mirror outcomes claims achieved by projects.

Key milestones	Date
Deadline for application delivery organisation submission	June 2026
Evaluation of delivery organisation applications and interviews	June 2026
Funding award provisional notification	July 2026
Funding award and start of delivery organisation mobilisation period	July 2026
Launch application process	July 2026
Assessing applications and Awarding grants	September - December 2026
Project monitoring	December 2026 to February 2036
Handover of audit information and assets, including all data collected. Majority of financial reconciliation activities complete.	February 2036
End of agreement	March 2036

20. The proposed timetable is only a guideline. DCMS aims to launch the call for onward grants as early as possible and reserves the right to make any changes it deems necessary to the proposed timetable.

21. Please note, release of this funding and any subsequent agreement is dependent on DCMS securing sufficient approvals and is not guaranteed. DCMS will confirm the availability of funding as soon as possible. Bid costs incurred by those submitting a tender will not be funded by DCMS.

Grant recipient overview

22. DCMS is seeking a grant recipient(s) who can:

• Demonstrate ability to deliver the objectives and expected outcomes of Round 1 of the BFF and to be strongly aligned with the overarching BFF objectives and outcomes.
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of the SOP model, including administration, social outcomes partnership project management.
• Demonstrate knowledge of measures to alleviate child poverty, and an understanding of ‘what works’ from prior SOP projects and funds.
• Design and deliver a scheme that meets the Round 1 objectives and outcomes outlined within the set timescales. Encourage engagement and buy-in to BFF Round 1 at the local and national level with the ability to: 
  • Work across diverse areas in England, with the exact places yet to be determined.
  • Demonstrate strong understanding of and relationships with key stakeholders in the SOPs delivery space, including social investors, delivery organisations and sector. experts. Additionally demonstrate an understanding of how these relationships will be built and strengthened to ensure a successful Round 1 competition.
  • Demonstrate understanding of the local VCSE sector to reach a variety of organisations across England - including those who tend to be excluded from this level of partnership working.
  • Deliver a cohesive and accessible communications plan to encourage applications to Round 1, build necessary sector expertise, share lessons from exemplar Round 1 projects with prospective future BFF projects, and encourage information sharing and networking between prospective Round 1 bidders and among successful Round 1 projects. Foster shared learning and peer support; bringing in existing best practice and expertise at the local level. 
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of the challenges and risks to successful delivery of Round 1’s objectives and outcomes.

23. The successful grant recipient(s) will be required to: 

• Demonstrate effective financial management, value for money and quality assurance.
• Demonstrate they are able to manage a ‘payment by results’ Social Outcome Partnership fund, including monitoring and analysis of outcomes and payments data.
• Provide regular reporting and monitoring to DCMS on delivery progress and projects outcomes achievement.
• Support DCMS’ evaluation of the fund in line with BFF objectives. This should involve:
  • Cooperating with the independent evaluators appointed by DCMS.
  • Receiving and monitoring the feedback and reporting from participating stakeholders in local areas / their beneficiaries.
  • Reviewing delivery and adopting lessons learned internally.

Eligibility, criteria, and due diligence 

Eligibility requirements

24. Please see the application form for information on mandatory requirements and documentation. 

25. Applicants will be asked to explain how they meet the eligibility requirements, referencing the mandatory documents. Applications which do not meet the eligibility requirements will not have their scoring continued as they will not be eligible to deliver the funding.

Due diligence

26. Please see the application form for information on due diligence requirements. 

Essential criteria

27. In addition to the mandatory requirements and due diligence requirements, we expect applicants to demonstrate in their application that they have:

Section 1: BFF objectives

• Outlined how their proposal aligns with BFF Round 1 objectives and outcomes. 
• Outlined a clear design proposal which includes how they will establish Round 1 of the BFF at pace, delivering a SOP fund to support established SOP projects between Summer 2026 and March 2036. This will include any evidence the applicant can provide related to previous delivery or the previous success of the proposed model. Projects supported should have demonstrable past SOP delivery expertise and capability. 
• Demonstrated how they would support experienced SOP projects that are aligned with the objectives of the BFF and Round 1, and are able to achieve measurable outcomes for target beneficiaries over the full lifetime of the BFF. This includes explaining what their approach is to running a process to select experienced, relevant, established projects, based on clearly defined criteria.
• Demonstrated how they will target support to projects that address Child Poverty across England in the places where there is demonstrable need. Applicants should demonstrate clear understanding of issues related to children, young people and their families living in poverty, including references to the Child Poverty Strategy. Applicants should provide details of their proposed methodology to not exclude project applications from the most in need areas provided they can demonstrate sufficient SOP capability. For example, scoring project applications x points if they’re ranked in the top x areas that have demonstrated highest need. Areas of highest need can be determined using the DCMS place analysis tool (the coincidence of the Community Needs Index and the Index of Multiple Deprivation) and child poverty metrics (e.g. Children from Low Income Families, DWP).

Section 2: Social Outcomes Partnerships and sector knowledge

SOP knowledge 

• Demonstrated their knowledge of Social Outcomes Partnerships and outcomes based commissioning and how this will apply to their assessment of Round 1 project selection. Applicants should explain how they plan to identify strong SOP projects that firmly link metrics for success to intended BFF Round 1 policy outcomes.
• Outlined their plans to develop appropriate criteria for projects, ensuring that perverse incentives are avoided in the outcomes delivered in the SOP projects they support. In doing so they should demonstrate sufficient technical experience to assess, award and monitor any activities.
• Demonstrated an understanding of learning from previous SOP funds like the Life Chances Fund or Commissioning Better Outcomes and how this can be applied to improve delivery of funding for the BFF.
• Demonstrated an understanding of related fields (e.g. outcomes based commissioning, social investment) and the relative benefits or drawbacks of this working mode.

Sector knowledge and capacity

• Demonstrated an understanding of and ability to work with the ‘Impact Economy’ sector, comprising Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), social investment intermediaries, philanthropists and national/local government. This may include having in place partnership approaches to help them deliver the programme (i.e. bringing in other organisations to provide specialist skills and assistance). Any such partnering approaches should be clearly set out in the application indicating the relevant partner, their skills and expertise and how the successful applicant intends to reimburse the costs incurred by their partner organisations. Where payment to partner organisations is to be made on the basis of an agreement for services, the successful applicant will be required to demonstrate that the partner has been chosen by a fair and open competitive tendering process. 
  • Where a successful applicant intends to make payment to a partner organisation who is a related party to the successful applicant (under common control, part of a group structure or similar arrangement) then it is expected that the payment will be made only on the basis of fully evidenced costs incurred and defrayed by the relevant partner organisation. It will be the responsibility of the successful applicant to manage the partnership they have established and the successful applicant will be responsible for any failure or event of default on behalf of their partners. Where the applicant proposes providing support services to any third parties related to the delivery of their project (including relevant advice and guidance) they will be required to set out clear costs for the services they intend to deliver, their capacity and track record in delivering such services and how they will ensure such proposals comply with Subsidy Control if applicable
• Demonstrated that they have the capacity to build trusting relationships / partnerships between stakeholders, including how the applicant intends to use their sector knowledge and experience to identify relevant SOP projects to receive funding commitments in Round 1 of the BFF. 
• Demonstrate how they will target support to projects with involvement of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations (VCSEs) and which are working with local commissioner organisations (e.g. local authorities) or vice-versa.
• Developed approaches to show how they will provide support and enable involvement and engagement in their programme from excluded communities.

Section 3: Fund management and delivery capability 

Delivery plan

• Provided a clear delivery plan with relevant milestones to deliver the required outcomes. Applicants should demonstrate a robust approach to all stages of project delivery from set-up to close down. The delivery plan should include a proposed approach to communication and publicity for their project and the extent to which these approaches are likely to enable successful delivery
• Provided a clear budget and cash flow plan, including a commitment to spend all funds within the timelines of the grant funding
• Outlined their resource management plans. This includes specifying roles and responsibilities of key staff with the technical, financial, human and logistical capacity necessary within the 2026/27 to 2035/36 financial years to deliver all elements of the project. Applicants should ensure they have sufficient digital expertise to use, design, develop and maintain any digital or data solution/service required in the delivery of the relevant proposal. The successful applicant should set out the roles and expertise to achieve this.

Grant management

• Demonstrated that they have existing systems and technology to support grant management. Applicants should demonstrate their ability to test and make ongoing changes and improvements to the service for applicants, participants, operational staff, or any other user groups. Outline plans to carry out regular quality assurance testing and maximise uptime and speed of response for any online parts of the service.
• Demonstrated their ability to comply with DCMS’ outcomes data tracking requirements, in order to ensure that outcome funding payments are made accurately, in line with project claims for outcomes achievement 


Financial management

• Outlined how they will ensure value for money
• Provided an overview of the financial management team, and their processes. Applicants should have a qualified financial management team with processes in place to report accurate forecasts and that allows DCMS to deliver its audit role. Audit requirements include ensuring all expenditure is properly evidenced and spent in line with the Grant Agreement (see attachments);

Governance and assurance

• Demonstrated prior experience in managing grant funds, including a track record of assurance and audit for Funds of this scale, and experience and track record of successfully closing down grant funded projects including relevant arrangements for record retention, financial management and staffing.
• Outlined necessary governance arrangements to give DCMS confidence there will be effective oversight of the fund, and set out their approach to risk management
• Demonstrated a clear understanding of and ability to identify and manage fraud, error and financial risks successfully through all stages of their project.
  • Where the successful applicant awards any contracts in relation to the delivery of the scheme, such contracts should be let on a fair and competitive basis. Applicants should demonstrate a relevant capacity and track record in contracting and contract management which is commensurate with the size and scope of the contracts they seek to award. This should include an effective approach to due diligence as well as the avoidance of fraud and error. Where the successful applicant seeks to contract with a related party (i.e. a company or charity under common ownership or control) then such an arrangement should be on a cost only basis unless the applicant can demonstrate that a full, fair and transparent tendering exercise has taken place to award the grant.
  • Where the successful applicant awards any grants to other parties in relation to the delivery of the scheme, these should be awarded in a fair, impartial and transparent manner. Applicants should demonstrate they target the cohort effectively, have the relevant capacity and track record to deliver such grants and that such onwards grants will be managed effectively and robustly. This should include an effective approach to due diligence as well as the avoidance of fraud and error.  And that the award of such grants will be on terms compliant with the general DCMS grant terms and conditions. 
• Demonstrated that the proposed model will comply with all relevant legal requirements including, but not limited to Subsidy Control, Modern Slavery, etc. The grant recipient will comply with all Subsidy Control Rules; ensure that all requirements of the Subsidy Control Rules are met in relation to achieving the outcomes related to this grant; and confirm to the DCMS’s satisfaction that all requirements of the Subsidy Control Rules are met in relation to the grant delivery.

Section 4: Monitoring and evaluation

Collecting data

• Considered the outcomes they are seeking to deliver and the type data or information they intend to collect to evidence delivery and outcomes of the programme (e.g. numbers of grants, types of activities delivered, number of beneficiaries, geographical spread of beneficiaries).
• Demonstrated a clear understanding of how they will collect monitoring data and feed it back to DCMS at minimum quarterly, ensuring high quality of data collection, and that data collected is proportional. 
• Demonstrated a successful track record of delivering or supporting monitoring and evaluation for similar schemes/grants and that they have the experience and capacity to successfully manage monitoring and evaluation of a grant of this size and a project of the relevant complexity. Applicants should demonstrate a track record of the applicant in successfully supporting external evaluators e.g by sharing cleaned data and engaging with interviews
• Demonstrated that they have internal policies of data processing and data management which complies with ethical and legal principles. Applicants should demonstrate confidence that their organisation and any third-party suppliers they work with will collect, process, handle and store data in a way that’s secure, respects users’ privacy, prevents excessive retention of information, and deletes obsolete records in a timely manner. We would expect the successful applicant to complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment as part of the grant agreement to ensure appropriate data management processes are in place.
• Demonstrated how they will approach financial forecasting and operational variance reporting to predict the performance of the programme
• Demonstrated how they will develop and track key performance indicators that measure the long-term strategic impact of the fund
• Demonstrate how they plan to support projects with experience in monitoring and reporting outcomes to an outcome payer, with accurate forecasting of outcomes and related costs over the lifetime of the contract. 

Facilitating learning and development

• Demonstrated how they intend to facilitate ongoing peer learning between Round 1’s SOPs projects that are supported, working in collaboration with DCMS’ appointed L&D partner (to support capability and capacity in the market) and evaluator. Therefore demonstrating aims to grow and diversify the market for social outcomes partnerships for future rounds of the BFF, which is one of the key investment objectives of the BFF. 
• Demonstrated how they intend to ensure continuous improvement and learning within their organisation(s) and with projects in order to capture learning and share learning

Working with DCMS’ evaluator 

• Demonstrated a clear approach to how they will work with DCMS and an external evaluator to support evaluation design and collect monitoring information across timescales which will assist delivery of a successful evaluation - this may include engagement after grant funding has ceased. This includes making records available to DCMS and the evaluator for the purposes of monitoring and evaluation on a DCMS owned data platform; 
• Demonstrated how they will work with DCMS’ external evaluator to promote and facilitate projects and other local stakeholders’ engagement with the independent evaluation 

Match funding

• We are interested to hear from applicants who may be able to bring opportunities for match funding. This will be considered when assessing the merits of applicants, however, this is not a prerequisite for applicants.

Funding

28. The total grant funding available to the grant recipient(s) is £39.8 million revenue (including administrative costs) over the ten year financial period between 2026 to 2036. Please see the financial profile above. All annually allocated funds awarded must be spent by 31 March each financial year, and any unspent funds cannot be carried forward into future years.

29. We are keen to understand proposals for delivery plans and associated funding profiles across financial years. There is no capital spend.

30. DCMS will also fund and procure an independent third-party evaluator, which is not included in the financial breakdown above.

31. The funding may be spent on the following activities:

• Financial support to the relevant beneficiaries (for example, project costs, financial support such as onward grants or contracts  and appropriate remuneration or ‘accessibility support’ to volunteers and individuals taking part).
• Staff costs, where they directly relate to BFF activity i.e. salaries, employer’s national insurance contributions, and employer’s contributions to any occupational pension scheme or stakeholder pension scheme and travel and subsistence (within parameters agreed in advance with DCMS).
• Communication and marketing (subject to Cabinet Office controls).
• Other delivery costs incurred by the scheme as appropriate to the proposed delivery methodology, such as learning and development activity.
• Procuring specialist business support including legal, commercial and data evaluation services to support programme objectives.
• Administration costs related to delivering the BFF. These costs support the overall business operations and include things like rent, utilities, administrative staff, senior oversight, and office supplies etc.

32. This is not an exhaustive list but an indication of eligible spend. We may consider funding other types of activities as long as they are not listed as ineligible below. The funds may not be used for:

• Payment that supports lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action; 
• Using grant funding to petition for additional funding;
• Input VAT reclaimable by You from HMRC;
• Payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature;
• Goods or services that You have a statutory duty to provide;
• Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants;
• Contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money);
• Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets owned by You;
• The acquisition or improvement of Fixed Assets (with “Fixed Asset” defined as an asset that would be capitalised under DCMS’s own capitalisation policy, as set out in DCMS’s annual accounts) by You (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use – this will be stipulated in the Grant Offer Letter);
• Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases);
• Gifts to individuals other than promotional items with a value of no more than £25 a year to any one individual;
• Entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations);
• Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties;
• Liabilities incurred before the issue of this funding agreement unless agreed in writing by Us;
• Use in respect of costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from any other source;
• Use to purchase buildings or land.

Financial requirements

33. Please note: The DCMS financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. If successful, drawdown requests and budgets must fit the DCMS financial year.

34. Payments will be made quarterly and in arrears.

35. You will need to provide a breakdown of actual, eligible expenditure to make a claim. We will only pay out the amount you can evidence as spent.

36. Variations between proposed drawdown amounts and actual drawdown requests across quarters of the same financial year will be accepted, subject to explanation and justification. Any funds not drawn down by the end of the financial year will become unavailable.

37. DCMS typically makes payments in arrears, and pays in advance by exception. If you wish to be paid in advance, you will be asked to explain and justify your reasons in your application. This includes ensuring that your request fits with one or more of the ‘payments in advance’ criteria outlined in the application form. Your request will be considered as part of the assessment process. If your application and request to be paid in advance are approved, you will be expected to provide quarterly reconciliation details for the duration of your project, detailing any underspend against funds received. You will be required to reconcile any underspend before further funding is released. You will also be required to complete a formal Financial Reconciliation Statement (FRS) form at the end of the financial year.

38. Whether paid in arrears or in advance, you must be able to transparently report on a quarterly basis and provide evidence of expenditure on the use of the BFF. The BFF must be shown as restricted funds in your accounts and you must be able to identify separately the value and purpose of the grant in your accounts. You will be asked to describe in your application the financial management systems and processes you will put in place to ensure you can achieve this.

Monitoring and evaluation 

39. We are committed to ensuring that funded work is appropriately monitored and evaluated and that lessons learnt and examples of good practice are made widely available, which will help us deliver key objectives of the fund such as growing and diversifying the SOP market and improving the SOP evidence base.  

40. Monitoring and evaluation requirements will be finalised in grant agreement documents, but are expected to include: 

• regular reporting to the DCMS programme team, both in monitoring meetings and written performance reports
• reviewing performance against the intended objectives, as set out in the grant agreement
• providing financial reconciliation statements
• submitting an end of grant review signed off by DCMS
• working with the external evaluator on monitoring the programme and building the evidence base around partnership working 
• sharing project data via a DCMS owned digital platform or to DCMS directly on a regular basis
• sharing project data with DCMS on a regular basis as part of monitoring and evaluation requirements 

41. The DCMS Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy sets expectations for proportionate, robust and impactful evaluation. It will be the responsibility of DCMS to bring in an external evaluator who will assess the effectiveness of processes used in delivering the fund, the impact of the fund in meeting its objectives and the fund’s value for money. The grant recipient(s) is expected to collaborate closely with the external evaluator and make sure the evaluator fully understands the fund as a whole, the individual programmes at local level, the specific activities, their objectives and aims and their size and timeframe. This ensures that the evaluator can effectively assess the fund against its objectives. The external evaluator is also expected to access the relevant cleaned data to perform their role effectively and may suggest specific metrics and methods for data collection. The external evaluator will need to engage directly with local areas as part of their data collection and dissemination of emerging findings, and the grant recipient(s) is expected to help broker this engagement (for example, by sharing contact details with the evaluator, promoting the evaluation activity to local areas and collaborating with the evaluator in peer learning activities). 

42. The grant recipient(s) is expected to collect and share cleaned monitoring and evaluation data which will complement (and support) the activities of the external evaluation supplier. The exact nature of this data will need to be agreed between DCMS and the evaluation partner. This is likely to include:

• data on successful and unsuccessful applicant organisation information, 
• project costs, 
• type of outcome and linked payments including co-commissioner organisation details and outcome payments, 
• social investor organisation details and funding provided, 
• delivery partner such as VCSE organisation data, 
• location of projects, 
• changes to contracts as they evolve
• participant information such as demographic data and personal identifiers. The collection and sharing of personal data of BFF participants could also be required. Personal data may be required to track and evaluate the longer term performance of the BFF by linking participants to other government administration datasets. For example, linking participant data to DWP datasets can help to assess how participation in the fund impacted long-term earnings.

43. We would also expect the successful applicant to spend some time discussing collected data with the evaluator to ensure it can be interpreted correctly including participating in evaluation interviews. DCMS will review and sign off the final monitoring and evaluation plans (an M&E framework) and the reports from the evaluations.

Future BFF competitions

44. Participation in the delivery of Round 1 BFF does not automatically preclude the successful bidder(s) from bidding in future BFF competitions. Participation in any such competition may however be subject to separate eligibility criteria, due diligence and conflict checks.

Application process

Application dates

45. The timeline below is indicative and subject to change.

Competition opens for applications: 30 April 2026

Deadline for clarification questions: 08 May 2026

Publication of clarification questions: 15 May 2026

Deadline of the application: 11:59pm 12 June 2026

Application Assessment: 15 June to 26 June 2026

Notification of shortlist to interview: 26 June 2026

Interviews: 29 June to 10 July 2026

Notification of recommendation for approval: 10 July 2026

Final confirmation of appointment: 24 July 2026

46. Any clarification questions should be directed to betterfutures@dcms.gov.uk.

47. Work will need to start immediately in July 2026 to support DCMS. We expect the grant agreement will be finalised with the successful applicant(s) in July 2026, although the exact timing will be dependent on a number of factors. Delivery is expected to take place from July 2026 to March 2036, with all spending to be completed within this time period.

How to apply

48. Please follow the steps below to apply:

1. Ensure you have fully read this competition guidance document.

2. Complete the application form and send a copy to betterfutures@dcms.gov.uk 

49. Any applications received after the closing date will not be assessed.

50. It is your responsibility to ensure your application is concise, fully completed, and that you supply all the necessary supporting documentation.

Completing your application form

General tips

• The criteria against which you are scored is set out in the application form. Where a question is required but not scored or is desirable this is made clear in the application form.
• There are a number of guidance notes included in the application form, please read these carefully and respond to all relevant points set out in the guidance notes.
• Write clearly and concisely avoiding the use of jargon or abbreviations; remember that the assessor reading your application may not have a background in your field of expertise.
• Please keep to the word limit set out in the application form. Information provided that is over the word limit or supplementary documents provided will not be included in the assessment. 
• Please read the guidance for applicants in full before completing your application.

51. The application form requires you to input details relating to the lead organisation. Please ensure that the contact details given are for the day-to-day contact for all enquiries relating to the application.

52. We welcome joint applications, but require one organisation to take the lead role as the applicant, main point of contact, payee for funds, and responsible body who agrees to ensure the terms and conditions of the grant offer are upheld by all involved.

53. Grants may be awarded to organisations working together e.g. in a partnership arrangement or consortium. In this case there must be a lead organisation who completes the application form and both the lead organisation and each participating partner must be eligible to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006. Please submit one application per joint application.

54. If applicable, you should list all participating partners involved – it is expected that partnership agreements are already in place, or that you have correspondence from authorised representatives at each partner organisation, that confirms involvement in the fund and acknowledges submission of your application

55. If applicable, you should list all delivery partners involved if you are applying as a single organisation but intend to work with other organisations to deliver the fund. Unless delivery partners have been chosen through a competitive and transparent procurement exercise, then funding made available to delivery partners will be subject to the same terms and conditions of grant as the lead organisation.

Privacy notice

56. All information will be processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation and any other relevant data protection legislation.

Who controls the information you provide

57. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) controls any personal data you provide in your answers. 

Why are we collecting and processing your personal data

58. Your personal data is being collected and processed by DCMS to perform fraud checks, assess your application and suitability to deliver BFF Round 1. Our legal basis for the processing is that it is necessary for performance of a task in the public interest. 

59. We will not be using any automated decision making.

Will we share your personal data

• Your personal data may be shared with colleagues in DCMS and external individuals participating in the assessment panel or as part of the grant management process.
• We may also share your personal data with third parties if we are required to do so by law — for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime.
• We will not transfer your personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) or to international organisations.
• If we are required to share details of your application further or use your responses to illustrate findings, we will ensure that neither you nor the organisation you represent are identifiable.
• DCMS may share information (excluding personal data) relating to your application with third parties outside government where required to do so by law, for example in accordance with access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).
• We will seek to publish and disseminate an evaluation (not including personal data)

60. We do not intend to use the data for any other purposes. 

How long will we keep your personal data for

61. Information relating to successful grants will be stored for 7 years after the conclusion of any agreement per standard DCMS retention policy. Unsuccessful grant applications will be stored for 12 months and then disposed of with support of DCMS Knowledge and Information Management Team. 

Your rights over your personal data 

62. You have the right to see what personal data we have about you, to have it corrected, to request that we restrict what we do with your data in certain circumstances, and to ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record.

63. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection team at dcmsdataprotection@dcms.gov.uk, or please contact us at:

Department for Culture, Media and Sport 
First Floor, 100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

Your right to complain

64. If you are not happy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to complain to our Data Protection Officer at any time. 

65. You can contact the DPO by email at: dpo@dcms.gov.uk

66. You can also write to the DPO at:

Data Protection Officer
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
1st Floor, 100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

67. You also have the right to lodge a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office about our practices, to do so please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office.

68. By submitting an application, you are confirming that you have read and understood this statement and agree with its terms.

Assessment

69. A panel will assess the applications. Please assume that assessors have no or limited background knowledge of your organisation, its aims, and what it does. It is therefore important that your application is as clear, concise, and unambiguous as possible.

Initial sift

70. We will review your application to check that it meets the eligibility requirements (see the ‘Eligibility’ section). Applications which do not meet the eligibility requirements will not have their application assessed. 

Assessment and moderation of eligible bids

71. Eligible applications will be assessed against the ‘Essential criteria’ outlined above, and then scored in line with our assessment criteria. The table below outlines the weighting across the application sections.

Application form section	Weighting
Section 1: BFF Objectives	40%
Section 2: Social Outcome Partnerships and sector knowledge	25%
Section 3: Fund management and delivery capability	20%
Section 4: Monitoring and evaluation capability	15%
Total	100%

72. We will assess applications based on the information provided to answer the application questions and each question response will be evaluated and marked on a scale of 0 to 4 where:

• 0 - Serious concerns: e.g. does not meet requirements, and/or raises serious concerns
• 1 - Minor concerns: e.g. meets some requirements but with gaps and/or some minor concerns
• 2 - Adequate confidence: e.g. meets most/all requirements, but lacks sufficient detail or evidence in some areas
• 3 - Good confidence: e.g. meets all requirements and provides a detailed response but lacks evidence in minor areas
• 4 - Excellent confidence: e.g. meets all requirements, provides a detailed response and evidence which demonstrates a particularly strong understanding of the requirements

73. Applications will be assessed on their individual merits according to the criteria for funding outlined above. Your overall score will be a percentage and will be determined by the marks awarded for each criteria (out of 4) in accordance with the applicable weighting.

74. You will not be contacted by DCMS to provide further information on your application. It is your responsibility to ensure your application is concise, fully completed and that you supply all necessary supporting documentation.

Interview

75. We will assess all applications and only applicants who score 2 and above in Section 2: Social Outcome Partnerships and sector knowledge of the essential criteria (Social Outcomes Partnerships and sector knowledge) will be invited to a clarification interview. The clarification process will not ask questions related to Section 2: Social Outcomes Partnerships and sector knowledge. This scoring requirement is to ensure that the technical nature of social outcomes partnership funding is adequately understood as a core competency within those organisations taken forward to interview. Those not interviewed will be notified that their bids have been unsuccessful. 

76. We will conduct due diligence checks on shortlisted applications ahead of interview, including fraud risk indicators (see ‘Due diligence’ section in application form). The relevant documentation is expected to be provided alongside your application form.

77. DCMS will share priority questions for those invited to interview ahead of the interview. There may also be follow up questions for clarification purposes on the day. Interviews will last for 60 minutes, in person at 100 Parliament St. Scores will be finalised by a moderated panel based on application and interview responses to form a final score. The grant will be awarded to the organisation with the highest score.

Grant award

Acceptance of approval

78. DCMS will aim to notify the successful applicant who will be recommended for approval to be the grant recipient(s) by the Department on 10 July 2026 (subject to change). 

79. Your grant offer letter will set out the level of funding and the terms and conditions that apply specifically to your grant. The letter will also set out what the grant is for and the payment schedule. Once we have awarded a grant, we will ask you for regular financial and performance monitoring reports and a final project report at the end of the funding term.

80. Please note:

• prior to the grant agreement being signed, we will require an updated fraud risk assessment for the fund
• grant money will not be paid until we have received your written acceptance of the terms and conditions attached to your grant offer
• you must acknowledge you have received our grant in your annual report and accounts covering the period of the project
• if there is any breach of the terms and conditions, or your organisation (or participating partners) ceases to operate before the grant has been spent, grant monies may have to be repaid
• when the grant ends, DCMS does not have a commitment to provide any further funding for the project
• anyone found to be acting dishonestly in making an application for funding or spending the grant will be reported to the police and may be liable for prosecution

Grant terms and conditions

81. Initial spend eligibility requirements are set out above (see ‘Funding’ section). Detailed terms and conditions will be set out within the final grant agreement letter.

Unsuccessful applications

82. We will inform all unsuccessful applicants in July 2026. We will issue written feedback to shortlisted applications that are unsuccessful.

83. Please note that the decision will be final.

Advice and support

84. All available information and guidance relating to this grant funding is contained above and in the application form.

85. Clarification questions may be sent to BetterFutures@dcms.gov.uk by 08 May 2026, after which no more will be responded to.

86. All clarification questions will be anonymised and made public so that all potential applicants are able to access any additional information. 

87. As the application process is competitive, we are unable to provide support in completing the application.