Policy paper

National VCSE Grant Scheme: prospectus

Updated 3 December 2021

This policy paper was withdrawn on 21 March 2022

This content has been withdrawn as this scheme is now closed. See information on the Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) welcome programme.

Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) Welcome Programme

Prospectus for applicants: National VCSE Grant Scheme

Introduction

A new immigration route opened on 31 January 2021, providing British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders and their eligible family members with the opportunity to come to the UK to live, study and work, on a pathway to citizenship.

This new route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is leading delivery of a £43.1 million HMG funded national ‘Welcome Programme’ to support BN(O) status holders and their eligible family members to help them to successfully settle in their new communities.

The Welcome Programme has the following elements:

• English language and destitution support: funding is available for local authorities to support BN(O) status holders and their family members in need, and has also been provided to deliver similar activity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 
• An online resource providing all those on the BN(O) route with information, how to access services and understand life in the UK. Similar resources are being produced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• 12 new Welcome Hubs, across the whole of the UK, to prepare for the arrival of BN(O) status holders and their families, ensuring they have their own ‘welcome’ in place and local areas have capacity to integrate the new arrivals into communities. This is using the existing infrastructure of the Strategic Migration Partnerships.  
• National and Regional Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) funds to bolster community led activities, from befriending to employability support.   
• As part of the national VCSE fund, MHCLG in collaboration with the Department for Education (DfE), will support the development of dedicated Hong Kong educational resources for schools so that they can teach young people about our historic connection and commitment to Hong Kong and its people, and celebrate the contribution of the Hong Kong-British and diaspora to the UK.
• Funding is also being provided to deliver a hate crime reporting service for BN(O) status holders and other people of East and South-East Asian descent, to deliver hate crime reporting services and a hate crime helpline and website.

The aims of the Welcome Programme are to:

• Enable BN(O) status holders and their family members to fully contribute to life in the UK, both economically and socially, enriching our society.
• Provide support to both resident communities and BN(O) status holders and their families to feel safe and welcome, as well as ensuring any hate crime is tackled in a timely way.
• Allow BN(O) status holders and their families to feel fully part of British society, able to mix confidently with people of all backgrounds and provide a positive contribution to the UK and the areas in which they settle.
• Ensure that any instances of destitution and underemployment in the BN(O) status holder cohort is minimised and addressed through effective support.

National VCSE Grant Scheme

The purpose of the National VCSE Grant Scheme is to fund national projects across the UK to provide infrastructure support in areas such as: employment, mental health and wellbeing, which will complement what is being delivered locally, and contribute to delivering sustainable support to BN(O) status holders. We are inviting bids from organisations that can deliver support across the UK.

The National VCSE grant scheme will complement the Regional VCSE grant scheme, which has a separate prospectus and bid process.

Objectives

The National VCSE grant scheme will support projects in line with the high-level outcomes of the Hong Kong UK Welcome Programme. The programme will ensure positive outcomes for central and local government, resident communities and BN(O) status holders, by: 

1. Enabling all new arrivals to fully contribute to life in the UK, both economically and socially, enriching our society. 

2. Allowing BN(O) status holders to feel fully part of British society, able to mix confidently with people of all backgrounds, and provide a positive contribution to the UK and the areas in which they settle.  

3. Providing support to both resident communities and BN(O) status holders so they are welcomed and able to settle into their new communities.

4. Enabling BN(O) status holders to get access to the right support services to support their settlement.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for VCSE organisations to develop and run projects that will support BN(O) status holders in areas such as employment and mental health and wellbeing to help build community cohesion and bring sustainable benefits to BN(O) status holders and the communities where they settle.

Proposals should complement the support that is being delivered through the regional VCSE fund, which is aimed at local buddying and befriending schemes and bespoke support for integration into local communities.

Examples of activities where we are keen to receive proposals include:

• Targeted national employment support, focusing on skills, employment sustainability and preventing under‐employment.
• A national offer to support the health needs of BN(O) status holders, particularly mental health and wellbeing.
• A national support programme to further signpost or navigate BN(O) status holders to services.
• UK-wide projects which focus on community cohesion, social interaction and build the capacity of BN(O) status holders to engage in civic life in the UK.

We encourage those organisations that want to bid for funding to engage with Strategic Migration Partnerships and civil society groups so that they understand the gaps and can focus projects on the areas that will be of most benefit to BN(O) status holders in all parts of the UK.

Eligibility

We welcome applications from organisations that already have experience supporting the integration of BN(O) status holders, as well as groups with less direct experience who have the relevant skills and resources to support effective integration and to help build strong community cohesion.

We are interested in those organisations that:

• Have the scope and remit to deliver support across all parts of the UK, and can demonstrate this in the application form.
• Form partnerships (or consortia) between country specific organisations to support a UK-wide approach.

Applications from newly founded organisations and well-established groups are welcome.

All organisations selected will be required to undergo mandatory due diligence checks as a means of ensuring the government is not subject to potential reputational damage.

A full list of eligible organisations can be found below.

• ‘Charity’ – A registered charity with a UK charity number or a registered CIC (community interest company).
• ‘Community group’ – A group which meets all the following criteria:
  • Established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes;
  • Has a governing body with at least three members;
  • Has a governing document which they are able to produce;
  • Can provide accounts for the last two financial years.
• ‘Community Interest Company’ - a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders.
• ‘Social enterprise’ - a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners”.
• Other voluntary and community organisations
• ‘Consortium’ – a group of bidders, with a designated lead partner to manage the programme, and a system for dividing the work and funds appropriately and effectively. The lead partner must be a charity or a community group with a charitable purpose.
• Organisations must be based in the United Kingdom and provide an offer that can cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Individuals are not eligible to apply but should work with the groups set out above.

Organisations applying to the National VCSE Grant Scheme are eligible to apply for other Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) Welcome Programme grant schemes but must present a distinct offer as part of this scheme.

We would expect applicants to be of good financial standing irrespective of the grant, and, through due diligence procedures, would expect that successful organisations do not receive the majority of their funding from Central Government.

Organisations chosen to receive grant funding must ensure that they comply with the UK’s international obligations in respect of subsidies.

Funding

Up to £886,000 will be available for the National VCSE grant scheme to fund UK-wide projects.

Given the nature and scope of this scheme, we are looking to fund up to 3 projects to deliver national support to ensure greater impact and more reach. Depending on the number and scale of bids received, MHCLG may ask VCSE organisations to scale up or scale down their proposals.

We are encouraging applicants to submit proposals for projects that can be up and running swiftly after being notified that they are successful, which we expect to do from early October. Delivery of your project will need to be completed by 31 March 2022.

MHCLG will consider continuing elements in future financial years, subject to the Spending Review process.

Timelines and process

Overview: Timelines (subject to change)

• 29 July: Applications open
• 1 September: Applications close
• September – October : MHCLG assess bids and conduct due diligence
• From early October: MHCLG approval of funding proposals
• From mid October: MHCLG award grants
• From mid October : Delivery commences
• 31 March 2022: All funds committed and core delivery ends

Selected VCSE organisations will be expected to commence and complete core delivery in line with the dates set out and to have committed all funds by the end of March 2022.

Roles and responsibilities

MHCLG is providing funding for the National VCSE Grant Scheme. MHCLG will assess national VCSE bids and provide funding directly to successful VCSE organisations.

MHCLG Role

• Publish the national prospectus
• Assess bids against the assessment criteria and determine allocation of funding
• Complete due diligence checks on recipients selected for funding 
• Notify VCSE applicants of funding decisions
• Establish grant agreements with successful VCSE organisations
• Provide funding as agreed in the grant funding agreement
• Establish and undertake monitoring and evaluation

VCSE Role

• Ensure proposals submitted are on the application form and contain clear costings, outputs and outcomes for activities
• Cooperate fully with the assessment and due diligence process
• If selected for funding, sign a grant funding agreement with MHCLG
• If selected for funding, deliver proposals in line with agreed plans, within timescales and to budget
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation as required

Scoring criteria

Bids will be assessed against the 10 criteria listed below with a maximum of 3 points available for each criterion. After each criterion is scored the results will be totalled to give the bid a score out of 30. Further details about the assessing of bids can be found in Section 9: Scoring Process. The 10 criteria that bids will be assessed against are:

1. Proposals should detail the governance structure of the proposed project, this should include details of oversight and accountability. 

2. Proposals should include clearly defined outputs and outcomes these should be specific and identify how they will be measured.  

3. Proposals should have national reach and support BN(O) status holders wherever they choose to settle in the UK.

4. The project should use and build on existing knowledge and experience to provide a comprehensive national support offer.

5. Proposals should set out how they intend to raise awareness of the project and promote engagement among BN(O) status holders.  

6. Projects should be specific in how they intend to promote integration for BN(O) status holders. They should demonstrate how participants will be positively affected, the numbers expected to be reached and clearly define what success will look like.

7. Proposals should align with one or more of the programme’s key objectives listed in section 2 of this document. 

8. The project should build on community knowledge, expertise and links to existing national and local networks. 

A minimum score of 1 for each of the criteria “value for money” and “risk” is required for proposals to be considered for funding. In addition, a minimum score of 3 when the scores for value for money and risk are combined is required for proposals to be considered for funding.

9. The application should demonstrate strong value for money. The cost specified should be proportionate to the outcomes achieved and expected number of BN(O) status holders reached. Value for money could be demonstrated by detailing the following:  

• the use of experience to provide robust costings, including costs per output (i.e. costs per learner, costs per club participant, cost for digital technology) to present the best use of money. 
• all costs and any other funding are profiled in a sensible way to provide confidence in capability to commit all funding to activities by 31 March 2022.  
• describe any match funding that they have secured. Lack of match funding will not disqualify a project from the programme. 

10. Applications should show evidence of a realistic understanding of potential financial and delivery risks, including counter fraud and mitigations to address them.

Summary of scoring process for award of funds

The combined score for each bid based on the combined score of criteria 1-10 will be out of 30. Bids will be placed in priority order based on their score out of 30. Scores generated from the scoring process will be used to arrange bids in a priority list, from highest total score to lowest total score.

This priority list will be submitted to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government as a recommendation as to the allocation of funding. The final decision as to which applications receive what level of funding will rest with the Secretary of State.

Evaluation and monitoring

Successful applicants must comply with evaluation and monitoring requirements.

Evaluation: each project will be expected to complete an evaluation at the end of the delivery period. MHCLG will provide a template for each project to complete. Successful organisations will also be asked to produce a statement of grant usage upon completion of the grant period.

Monitoring: at bi-monthly intervals, successful organisations will be expected to provide a reporting update to MHCLG. The reporting template will be provided by MHCLG and will ask for an update on project progress, information on any delays and reasons for these, key risks, and upcoming milestones.

How to apply

Please send completed applications to HKNationalGrant@communities.gov.uk by 23.59 on 1 September 2021. If you have any questions about the application process, please send these to the same email address, HKNationalGrant@communities.gov.uk.

Scoring process

Assessment of applications will be carried out by MHCLG following the end of the submission period.

Proposals will be assessed how well they meet each scoring criteria using the table below. Proposals can receive up to 3 points for fully meeting a criteria requirement. Proposals will be marked against the 10 scoring criteria to generate a total score out of 30.

A minimum score of 1 for each of the criteria value for money and risk is required for proposals to be considered for funding. In addition, a minimum score of 3 when the scores for value for money and risk are combined is required for proposals to be considered for funding.

1. Governance structure	Proposals should detail the governance structure of the proposed project; this should include details of oversight and accountability.	No governance structure outlined in proposal Score = 0 Governance structure poorly defined, no details of oversight or accountability. Score = 1 Governance structure defined, linked to oversight or accountability Score = 2 Detailed governance structure is present. Clear explanation of oversight and accountability linked to job roles. Score = 3
2. Outputs and outcomes	Proposals should include clearly defined outputs and outcomes these should be specific and identify how they will be measured.	No method of measuring outcomes or outputs outlined. Score = 0 Outputs and Outcomes are defined along with method for measuring. However, the methods are not specific and do not define how outputs and outcomes will be measured. Score = 1 Outputs and outcomes are defined and there is a specific method for measurement. Score = 2 There is a specific method for measuring outputs and outcomes that feeds into the project and enable the project to adapt its delivery. Score = 3
3. National reach	Proposals should have national reach and support BN(O) status holders wherever they choose to settle in the UK	Proposal has no national reach. Score = 0 Proposal has limited national reach, may be limited to two countries of the UK. Score = 1 Proposal has extensive national reach and supports BN(O) status holders across most of the UK. Score = 2 Proposal has full national reach and supports BN(O) status holders wherever they are in the UK. Score = 3
4. Knowledge and experience	The project should use and build on existing knowledge and experience to provide a comprehensive national support offer.	No experience of delivering national projects, no detail of how this would be mitigated. Score = 0 Some knowledge of operating national grant funded projects, this may be in a different area. If no experience the proposal shows some awareness of how to mitigate this through staff, networks, or other solutions. Score = 1 The proposal builds on knowledge gained from delivering similar grant funded projects. The proposal shows awareness of how the project will be delivered. Score = 2 The proposal is based on experience of delivering multiple successful projects in a similar grant funded area. The proposal is logically structured and shows where experience is being applied. Score = 3
5. Awareness and engagement	Proposals should set out how they intend to raise awareness of the project and promote engagement among BN(O) status holders.	No evidence that either raising awareness or engagement have been considered in the project plan. Score = 0 Awareness and engagement are mentioned in the plan but are not addressed directly. Score = 1 Awareness and engagement are addressed in the project plan, there is some indication that the project will work to increase these as the project progresses. Score = 2 There is a well-presented awareness and engagement strategy as part of the proposal. The proposal includes details of how awareness and engagement will form a core part of the ongoing project. Score = 3
6. Success	Projects should be specific in how they intend to promote integration for BN(O) status holders. They should demonstrate how participants will be positively affected, the numbers expected to be reached and clearly define what success will look like.	Success not defined. Score = 0 Success is not clearly defined, there is no link from the project participants and outcomes to what the project hopes to achieve at culmination. Score = 1 Success is defined, this includes expected numbers, how the project will assist in integration which link to the project plan, participant activity and the culmination of the project. Score = 2 Success is clearly defined, with clear steps as to how the project will achieve it. The process is outlined and broken down into manageable steps. The proposal states how this will have a positive effect on BN(O) status holder’s integration and a justification for the number of participants expected to reach. Score = 3
7. Key objectives	Proposals should align with one or more of the programme’s key objectives. These key objectives are: - Enabling all new arrivals to fully contribute to life in the UK, both economically and socially, enriching our society. - Allowing BN(O) status holders to feel fully part of British society, able to mix confidently with people of all backgrounds and provide a positive contribution to the UK and the areas in which they settle.  - Providing support to both resident communities and BN(O) status holders so they are welcomed and able to settle into their new communities. - Enabling BN(O) status holders to get access to the right support services to assist their settlement.	Proposal does not address any of the key objectives. Score = 0 Proposal does not address key objectives directly however the project may meet the published requirements anyway. Score = 1 Proposal considers key objectives and has included that in its proposed plan, there is some detail how the proposal meets the requirements. Score = 2 Proposals core activities are based around meeting one or more of the key objectives. There is a clear link from the project plan showing how the project meets one or more of the key objectives. Score = 3
8. Community knowledge	The project should build on community knowledge, expertise and links to existing national and local networks.	No knowledge of the BN(O) status holder community shown and no plan to include community expertise or networks in delivery of the project. Score = 0 Little direct community knowledge, expertise, or network links. Those that do exist there is no clear indication of how they will be utilised during project delivery. Score = 1 Direct community knowledge, expertise or network links are highlighted in the proposal. These feed directly into how the project has been both planned and intends to deliver. Score = 2 The proposal has been built around community knowledge, expertise or network links, these form part of the core proposal and the project intends to strengthen these networks and links. Score = 3
9. Value for money	The application should demonstrate strong value for money. The cost specified should be proportionate to the outcomes achieved and expected number of BN(O) status holders reached. Value for money could be demonstrated by detailing the following: - the use of experience to provide robust costings, including costs per output (i.e. costs per learner, costs per club participant, cost for digital technology) to present the best use of money. - all costs and any other funding are profiled in a sensible way to provide confidence in capability to commit all funding to activities by 31 March 2022. - describe any match funding that they have secured. Lack of match funding will not disqualify a project from the programme.	Proposal does not include costings, there is no cost profiling. Score = 0 Proposal includes costings and details the numbers of BN(O) status holders the project could support. Funds are projected to be fully committed by 31 March 2022. Score = 1 Proposal included detailed costing and profiling for the length of the project. These costs are linked to the project plan and number of BN(O) status holders reached. Funds are projected to be fully committed by 31st March 2022. Score = 2 Proposal included detailed costing and profiling for the length of the project. These costs are linked to the project plan and number of BN(O) status holders reached. Funds are projected to be fully committed by 31 March 2022. Match funding has been secured. Score = 3
10. Risks	Applications should show evidence of a realistic understanding of potential financial and delivery risks, including counter fraud and mitigations to address them.	The proposal does not identify or address any risks. Score = 0 The proposal identifies potential risks, some mitigations outlined. Score = 1 Proposal outlines delivery and financial risks and has planned mitigations listed. Score = 2 Proposal outlines delivery and financial risks and has planned mitigations listed. There is a method of monitoring and controlling risks listed, further risk policy documents are referenced (contingency plans, risk register, anti-fraud policy etc). Score = 3