Guidance

The Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund: application guidance

Published 10 April 2026

Applies to England

The Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund is an up to £2.5 million package of funding to support civil society infrastructure. 

This fund aligns with the 2025 UK Resilience Action Plan’s ‘whole-of-society’ approach to national preparedness, as well as with the 2025 Civil Society Covenant, which sets out that government and civil society should work together to build community capacity, social cohesion and resilience.

DCMS is seeking to select a single grant recipient, which could be a single organisation, or a consortium (with a lead partner making the application). The successful bidder will deliver this funding between October 2026 and March 2029. This funding can only be used for activity in England. 

The following funding is available:

• Up to £450,000 in financial year 2026/27
• Up to £970,000 in financial year 2027/28
• Up to £1,080,000 in financial year 2028/29

The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 31 May 2026.

Fund objectives

The objectives of the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund are to, by March 2029:

• enable civil society to share views and insights, and collaborate with government on resilience work, including emergency preparedness, response and recovery
• strengthen civil society knowledge, skills, relationships and capabilities to enhance the role civil society organisations play in emergency preparedness, response and recovery; and
• build upon and develop approaches to utilise the valuable role civil society can play in resilience - particularly:
  • improving the resilience of communities and individuals who are disproportionately impacted during emergencies 
  • providing trusted information flows during emergencies, and
  • coordinating civil society activities during emergencies (for example, spontaneous volunteers)

Eligibility, expectations and due diligence 

Applicants may apply as a single organisation, or a consortium (with a lead partner making the application).

Eligibility 

Pass/Fail 

The grant funding will be provided under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006. To be eligible to apply as a grant recipient for the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure fund, the applicant or lead applicant organisation for a consortium must be able to demonstrate eligibility to receive a grant under Section 70, as a charitable, philanthropic or benevolent institution, and provide the below mandatory documents.

Pass/Fail 

Financial eligibility - the value of any grant requested in any given year must not represent more than 50% of the applicant or, in the case of a consortium bid, the lead applicant’s, average annual income for the previous 2 financial years.

Pass/Fail

Only one bid may be submitted by the lead applicant on the application form. The lead bidder may be included as a delivery partner in other applications by a different lead organisation.

Pass/Fail

TUPE Acknowledgment: You confirm that you have read the guidance in this document regarding the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE), acknowledging that you have factored any potential liabilities into your application. The full guidance can be found at Annexes B and C. Please note that you will need to allow time to complete a Non-Disclosure Agreement before accessing and considering relevant employment information.

Mandatory Documents

For single applications, and the lead organisation for consortium applications, please provide all of the following mandatory documents:

1. Evidence or a link to evidence (e.g. terms of reference, articles of association) that shows that your organisation (or the lead organisation in your consortium application) was established for a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose, to ensure you are eligible to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006. 

2. Copy of annual report and audited or certified accounts, covering the last two financial years, or similar published information about your organisation if available. For consortium applications, both the lead applicant and each participating member must provide this evidence. Please note: in the event your last financial year end was more than 6 months ago, we may request further accounting information at a later date as part of the due diligence process.

3. Declaration of any conflicts of interest that could compromise the conduct of this particular fund by all participating partners (where applicable). For example, if trustees and directors from multiple organisations within a partnership application are related. Where multiple organisations hold the same address, they will be asked to provide an explanation.

Expectations

Applicants will be asked to confirm how they meet the eligibility requirements set out above, 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.

We are interested to hear how applicants will bring added value to their proposals to enhance the achievement, longevity and sustainability of the funded activities. This could include match funding, in-kind contributions, or other intangible benefits. This will be considered when DCMS assesses the value for money of proposals, however, match funding is not a prerequisite for applicants. 

Please note, if you are bringing match-funding or in-kind contributions, you will be asked to provide evidence of this in the application form.

Due diligence

DCMS does not tolerate fraud, bribery or corruption. To be eligible for this fund, shortlisted applications will be checked against various databases to assess the accuracy of the information provided. Any shortlisted applications which do not satisfy due diligence checks will not be assessed. DCMS will monitor the grant throughout its lifetime and may conduct additional assurance exercises to ensure that funding is being spent correctly. 

We expect applicants to provide further information, if requested, as the result of due diligence and risk assessment checks. DCMS will conduct its due diligence checks through processes including (but not limited to):

• the government’s online automated due-diligence tool ‘Spotlight’
• manual pre- and post-award checks in line with Cabinet Office’s Guidance for General Grants, including reputational checks such as social media

Examples of issues that arise during due diligence checks - and may preclude applicants from being eligible for funding - include (for the lead organisation or any participating consortium member):

• non-provision of the mandatory documentation
• inaccurate or incomplete information on the Charity Commission register / Companies House register 
• inaccurate or incomplete budget and cash flow documents
• inaccurate or incomplete project plan

Funding

The maximum total grant funding available to the successful bidder is up to £2.5 million revenue funding over the three year financial period between 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.

• Up to £450,000 in financial year 2026/27
• Up to £970,000 in financial year 2027/28
• Up to £1,080,000 in financial year 2028/29  

All annually allocated funds awarded must be spent by 31 March of each financial year, and any unspent funds cannot be carried forward into future years. There is no funding for capital expenditure.

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

The funding may be spent on the following activities:

• Staff costs, where they directly relate to the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund 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
• Administration costs related to delivering the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund. These costs support the overall business operations and include things like rent, utilities, administrative staff, senior oversight, and office supplies etc. 
• Onward grants, where applicants have set this out in their applications.

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:

• capital expenditure
• 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
• redundancy costs for any staff assigned to the Funded Activities. For these purposes, redundancy costs mean any statutory redundancy pay entitlement (calculated in accordance with Part XI of the Employment Rights Act 1996) and any contractual redundancy pay entitlement to the extent it exceeds the statutory redundancy pay entitlement
• 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
• interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
• gifts to individuals other than prize money as set out in the provided budget
• 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

Final agreed eligible spend will be set out in detail in the successful bidder’s grant offer letter.

Financial requirements

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.

Payments will be made quarterly and in arrears. 

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.

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.

You must be able to transparently report on a quarterly basis and provide evidence of expenditure on the use of the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund. The Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund 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 

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, as per objective three of the fund.  

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

• a minimum of quarterly 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 expenditure reports and, on request, a sample of invoices to evidence expenditure.
• providing financial reconciliation statements
• submitting an end of grant review signed off by DCMS
• working with the external evaluator on evaluating the programme which will be appointed through a procurement competition.

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 which will assess the effectiveness of processes used in delivering the fund, the key factors involved in achieving the intended outcomes, and what could be improved in future.

The grant recipient(s) and any delivery partners are expected to collaborate closely with the external evaluator and make sure the evaluator fully understands the fund as a whole,  the specific activities, their objectives and aims. This ensures that the evaluator can effectively assess the fund against its objectives. The external evaluator is also expected to access the relevant data to perform their role effectively and may suggest specific metrics and methods for data collection.

The grant recipient is expected to collect and share 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.

We would also expect the successful applicant to spend some time discussing collected data with the evaluator to ensure it can be interpreted correctly. DCMS will review and sign off the final monitoring and evaluation plans/monitoring and evaluation framework and the reports from the evaluations.

Application process

Application dates

The timeline below is indicative and subject to change.

Competition opens for applications:  Friday 10 April 2026

Deadline for clarification questions: 23:59 Friday 24 April 2026

Publication of answers to clarification questions: Friday 1 May 2026

Deadline of the application: 23:59 Sunday 31 May 2026

Application Assessment: Monday 1 June to Friday 26 June 2026

Notification of recommendation for approval/ of unsuccessful applications: End June 2026

Final confirmation of appointment: Summer 2026

We expect the grant agreement will be finalised with the successful applicant(s) by September 2026, although the exact timing will be dependent on a number of factors. Delivery is expected to take place from October 2026 to March 2029, with all spending to be completed within this time period.

Any clarification questions should be directed to civilsocietyresilience@dcms.gov.uk by 23:59 Friday 24 April 2026.

All other enquiries should also be directed to civilsocietyresilience@dcms.gov.uk

How to apply

Please follow the steps below to apply:

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

2. Complete the online application form hosted on Find a grant. Applications open Friday 10 April 2026 and close 23:59 Sunday 31 May 2026.

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

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 Annex A. 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.
• Please keep to the word limit set out in the application form. Information provided that is over the word limit and / or supplementary documents provided will not be included in the assessment. 
• Please read the guidance for applicants in full before completing your application.

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.

We welcome consortium 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.

If applicable, you should list all participating consortium members involved, it is expected that you have correspondence from authorised representatives at each partner organisation, that confirms involvement in the fund as described in your proposal and acknowledges submission of your application. You will be asked to provide evidence of this in your application form.

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, or will be 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 this grant as the lead organisation. Where delivery partners are procured through a fair, open, and transparent process, they may be paid based on contractual costs. If delivery partners are not formally procured, they may only claim actual costs, and the funding made available to them will be strictly subject to the same grant terms and conditions as the lead organisation.

Assessment

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.

1.Initial sift

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

2. Assessment and moderation of eligible bids

We will then score eligible bids in line with our key criteria. The table below outlines what we are looking for and the weighting across the application sections.

Application form section	Weighting
Proposal	35%
Experience and capability	25%
Project management and oversight	20%
Value for money	20%
Total	100%

Annex A provides further information on the scoring criteria used to assess applications. 

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 0-4 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

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. 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. 

However, where two applications receive the same score, we reserve the right to contact these bidders to seek additional information to make our final decision.

We will conduct due diligence checks on eligible applicants, including fraud risk indicators (see ‘Due Diligence’ section). The relevant documentation is expected to be provided alongside your application form.

Grant award

Acceptance of approval

DCMS will aim to notify the successful applicant who will be recommended for approval to be the grant recipient by the Department by the end of June 2026 (subject to change). 

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.

Please note:

• prior to the grant agreement being signed, we will require a 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
• if applying as a consortium application, all participating partners will also be required to provide written acceptance of the terms and conditions, it will be the lead applicant’s responsibility to seek this acceptance
• 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

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, which will include DCMS’ standard terms and conditions. Please ensure you have read these before applying.

Unsuccessful applications

We will inform all unsuccessful applicants of the outcome of their application by the end of June 2026. We will issue written feedback to unsuccessful applicants which passed the pass/fail questions by the end of June 2026.

Please note that the decision will be final.

Advice and support

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

Clarification questions may be sent to civilsocietyresilience@dcms.gov.uk by 23:59 Friday 24 April 2026, after which no more will be responded to.

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

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

Privacy notice

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

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

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

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)

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

How long will we keep your personal data for

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 

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.

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

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. 

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

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

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 website.

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

Annex A: Scoring criteria

Please visit the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund page on Find a grant to access the online application form. Information provided in any section of your application will be considered across the scoring criteria, where information is relevant.

Please note, anything provided in excess of the word limits provided or out of scope of the supplementary documents requested will not be assessed. This is to ensure fairness across all applications.

Number	Section	Description	Weighting (%)
1	Proposal	1250 words Applicants must be able to clearly explain their design proposal and how they intend to achieve the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund objectives by 31 March 2029. Assessment question: How convincing is the applicant’s argument for how and why their proposal is likely to meet the objectives of the grant funding within the set timescale? We are looking for applicants to: - show a clear understanding of the relevant national resilience policy context for this work. For example, the 2025 UK Government Resilience Action Plan - demonstrate how their proposal will achieve each of the strategic objectives: - enable civil society to share views and insights, and collaborate with government on resilience work, including emergency preparedness, response and recovery; - strengthen civil society knowledge, skills, relationships and capabilities to enhance the role civil society organisations play in emergency preparedness, response and recovery; and - build upon and develop approaches to utilise the valuable role civil society can play in resilience - particularly: - improving the resilience of communities and individuals who are disproportionately impacted during emergencies - providing trusted information flows during emergencies, and - coordinating civil society activities during emergencies (for example, spontaneous volunteers) - demonstrate the flexibility and adaptability of their delivery model, including specific plans for pivoting operations during an emergency or crisis[footnote 1] - demonstrate a clear strategy for capturing, sharing, and acting on insights throughout the project lifecycle, specifically through formal after-action reviews for both live and simulated emergencies, and robust user testing that actively incorporates feedback from marginalised groups to ensure all outputs remain effective, inclusive, and responsive. - set out how their proposal is based on evidence, data and lessons learned. You may wish to provide a theory of change to demonstrate this. You can refer to the Green Book on how to develop a theory of change. This will not contribute to the word limit.	35
2	Experience and capability	1000 words Applicants must demonstrate they have the necessary expertise, infrastructure, and relationships to deliver a national-level resilience project within the VCSE sector. Assessment question: To what extent has the applicant demonstrated a proven track record of delivering large-scale coordination or infrastructure support within the VCSE sector? Do they possess the capability and experience necessary to integrate civil society into national and local resilience planning? We are looking for applicants to: - demonstrate expertise in building trusted, high-functioning relationships between diverse stakeholders, such as Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) or other statutory responders - demonstrate experience in managing resilience-related activities, such as coordinating spontaneous volunteers, managing trusted information flows, or providing surge capacity during crises - demonstrate experience in project, risk and financial management and reporting required to manage a government grant of up to £2.5 million - provide details of key staff with a summary of their relevant credentials - (if applicable for your proposal) demonstrate experience in managing and administrating onward grants	25%
3	Project management and oversight	1000 words (750 words: Governance, resourcing and oversight, 250 words: Due diligence and fraud management) Applicants must set out the management systems and processes that will be used to ensure the Civil Society Resilience Infrastructure Fund is managed effectively. Assessment question: How confident are you in the applicant’s ability to manage the project effectively, including (where applicable) as a lead partner in a consortium? - Mandatory document: Project plan including timeframes and key performance indicators for all outcomes and outputs outlined in the project. - Mandatory document: Organogram. Including the above documents, we are looking for applicants to: - demonstrate a clear internal governance structure with defined roles, responsibilities, and oversight mechanisms - demonstrate evidence of sufficient staffing and administrative capacity to manage the grant activities - (if applicable for your proposal) demonstrate how any potential onward grants would be managed	20%
4	Value for money	1000 words (750 words: Value for money and sustainability, 250 words: How many organisations will your proposal support?) Applicants should demonstrate how the proposal secures value for money for the taxpayer in their proposal. Assessment question: To what extent has the applicant demonstrated that their proposal is the most economical, efficient and effective, and what evidence is provided that the delivery model will aim to be financially sustainable beyond the grant period? We are looking for applicants to: - provide a detailed and realistic budget, as outlined in the mandatory documents - provide plans for how resources and expertise will be converted into high-impact outputs - provide evidence of what has informed their budget and delivery model to ensure the most cost-effective and impactful use of grant funding - set out a credible strategy for the model to continue functioning beyond the 2029 grant period. This may include cash or in kind match funding - demonstrate how their organisations have a long-term commitment to sustain the benefits gained through the proposal, and how the proposal aligns with the missions of their organisation (or organisations in the case of a consortium) - (if applicable) provide any details about the amount of match being proposed, or in-kind contributions and any funding conditions or terms attached to this from other funders - explain how they plan to maximise both the quality and the reach of the support they will provide to organisations, including the number of organisations they expect to engage and how they are defining their engagement	20%

Annex B - TUPE Guidance

1. TUPE 

1.1. The attention of potential applicants is drawn to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“TUPE”). Please note that DCMS would be neither the transferor nor transferee of the staff in the circumstances of any grant agreement awarded as a result of this grant competition. DCMS is unable to give a view as to whether TUPE is likely to apply to this grant if the incumbent grant recipient, British Red Cross (“BRC”) is not the successful applicant as this will depend on the nature of the activities that the new grant recipient proposes to carry out. DCMS makes no representations and gives no warranties in this regard. 

1.2. It is your responsibility to consider whether TUPE applies in the specific circumstances of your application, including if you are proposing to submit an innovative bid, and to apply accordingly. Potential applicants are advised to seek independent legal advice on the application of TUPE and to form their own views as to whether TUPE applies before submitting applications. Potential applicants must identify in their bid whether or not they expect TUPE to apply and provide supporting reasons for why they expect TUPE will or will not apply. 

1.3. Anonymous staffing information provided by BRC (in respect of staff carrying out activities funded by DCMS under the existing grant arrangement) is available on request. Potential applicants will be required to complete and submit a signed Non-Disclosure and Data Protection Compliance Agreement to obtain access to this information (Please contact civilsocietyresilience@dcms.gov.uk).  This information must be treated on a confidential basis and will be released to you on the understanding that you will not copy or use the material except for the purposes of preparing your application and that you will return it and delete any copies of it should you be unsuccessful in this competition.

1.4. DCMS makes no representations and gives no warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, as to the completeness or accuracy of the staffing information provided by BRC. DCMS has no control over the content of the staffing information and has not verified or approved the data. Potential applicants should note that the data is not intended to amount to advice on which they should rely. Potential applicants should carry out their own due diligence and obtain their own independent legal advice in this regard. It is the responsibility of potential applicants to ensure that their application takes full account of all the relevant circumstances. 

1.5. DCMS understands that BRC’s view is that TUPE will apply to this grant if BRC is not the successful applicant and the activities the new grant recipient proposes to carry out remain fundamentally the same, although DCMS makes no representations and gives no warranties in this regard.

1.6. DCMS’s understanding, based on information provided by BRC, is that there are currently 11 employees who would potentially be within scope of TUPE, although the final number of staff who would transfer across from BRC should TUPE apply, is currently unknown. Potential applicants should carefully consider how they would manage any TUPE process. DCMS makes no representations or warranties in this regard.

1.7. In the event that additional information becomes available, DCMS reserves the right to change, update, amend and re-issue the staffing information during the competition.

1.8. Potential applicants are referred to the Side Deed dated 9th April 2026 between DCMS and BRC, which contains TUPE exit provisions and is available on request. Potential applicants should obtain independent legal advice on this Side Deed.

1.9. Potential applicants are referred to the proposed Side Deed at Annex C, to be entered into by DCMS and the new grant recipient. This is included by way of Side Deed as the Grant Agreement is not being signed as a Deed. This Side Deed is available upon request.

Annex C: Proposed Side Deed to accompany grant agreement with successful bidder

This Deed is dated [DATE]

Parties 

1. [NAME] incorporated and registered in England and Wales with [charity/company number] [INSERT] whose registered office is at [INSERT] (“Grant Recipient”) 2. THE DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT (“DCMS”) whose registered office is located at 100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ.

Background 

A. There is a Grant Agreement dated [DATE] in place between DCMS and the Grant Recipient (“Grant Agreement”) in respect of [NAME OF GRANT]. The parties acknowledge that the Grant Agreement as varied from time to time does not give rise to contractual relations.  B. The Grant Recipient and DCMS are entering into this Deed, which the parties acknowledge will give rise to contractual relations and which shall apply from the date of this Deed. 

Agreed Terms 

1. Definitions and Interpretation 

1.1. The defined terms set out in the Grant Agreement and those set out below shall apply in this Deed:

Annex means the annexes attached to this Deed;

Commencement Date means the date on which the Grant Agreement comes into effect, being the [Insert commencement date];

Delivery Partner means any Third Party that delivers some or all of the Funded Activities;

Employment Regulations means the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/246) or any successor legislation;

Funded Activities means the activities set out in 3;

Funding End Date means [INSERT];

Funding Period means the period for which the Grant is awarded, starting on the date of the Grant Agreement and ending at the end of the Financial Year in which the last Tranche is payable 

Former Grant Recipient means any third-party provider carrying out activities which are the same or substantially similar to any of the Funded Activities and who is in receipt of grant funding provided by DCMS for the purposes of carrying out such activities, before the date of the Relevant Transfer;

Grant means the Grant payable by DCMS to the Grant Recipient as set out in the Grant Offer Letter under the terms of the Grant Agreement; 

Grant Agreement means the agreement at Annex 2 between DCMS and the Grant Recipient together with their annexes and schedules including but not limited to the Annex 1 Grant Funding Letter;

Grant Offer Letter means the letter from DCMS to the Grant Recipient offering the Grant Recipient a Grant for the Project, a copy of which is set out in Annex 1;

Parties means DCMS and the Grant Recipient, and each a Party

Project means the project described in the annex 1 to the Grant Agreement

Replacement Funded Activities means any activities which are the same or substantially similar to any of the Funded Activities and which are provided in substitution for any of the Funded Activities after the expiry or termination or partial termination of the Grant Agreement whether those services are provided by DCMS or a third party;

Replacement Grant Recipient means any third-party provider of Replacement Funded Activities (or where DCMS is providing Replacement Funded Activities for its own account, DCMS);

Relevant Transfer means a transfer of employment to which the Employment Regulations apply;

Third Party means any person or organisation other than the Grant Recipient or DCMS;

Tranche means the tranches of Grant specified in the Grant Agreement

2. Tupe 

2.1. The Grant Recipient agrees that if the Employment Regulations apply in respect of the Grant Agreement on the commencement of the Funded Activities, then it shall comply with its obligations arising under the Employment Regulations and shall indemnify DCMS and/or any Former Grant Recipient for any loss arising from any failure so to comply.

2.2. The Grant Recipient agrees that no later than 12 months prior to the expiry or termination of the Grant Agreement or the Funding End Date and thereafter at intervals stipulated by DCMS (not to be more frequent than every 30 days), the Grant Recipient shall fully and accurately disclose to DCMS all staffing information reasonably required by DCMS including, but not limited to, the total number of staff assigned for the purposes of the Employment Regulations to the Funded Activities. This shall include, where relevant, the staff of any Delivery Partner engaged by the Grant Recipient to deliver the Funded Activities (or part of the Funded Activities). For each person so identified, the Grant Recipient shall provide, in a suitably anonymised format so as to comply with the Data Protection Legislation, details of: 

• 2.2.1. the activities they perform;
• 2.2.2. amount of working time assigned to the Funded Activities;
• 2.2.3. date of birth; 
• 2.2.4. start date;
• 2.2.5. length of continuous service;
• 2.2.6. place of work;
• 2.2.7. notice period;
• 2.2.8. employment status;
• 2.2.9. identity of employer;
• 2.2.10. redundancy pay entitlement;
• 2.2.11. salary, benefits and pension entitlements;
• 2.2.12. any applicable collective agreement;
• 2.2.13. copies of all relevant employment contracts and related documents; and
• 2.2.14. all information required under regulation 11 of the Employment Regulations or as reasonably requested by DCMS.

2.3. The Grant Recipient warrants the accuracy of the information provided under this paragraph 2 and will notify DCMS of any changes to the information as soon as reasonably possible. The Grant Recipient consents to DCMS sharing the information provided under this paragraph 2 to any prospective Replacement Grant Recipient.

2.4. In the 12 months before the expiry of the Grant Agreement or Funding Period, the Grant Recipient shall not without the prior consent of DCMS (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed):  

• 2.4.1. change the identity and number of staff assigned to the Funded Activities other than in the ordinary course of business; 
• 2.4.2. amend or vary the terms and conditions of employment or engagement of any staff assigned to the Funded Activities other than in the ordinary course of business; and/or
• 2.4.3. terminate or give notice to terminate the employment or engagement of any staff assigned to the Funded Activities (other than in circumstances in which the termination is for reasons of misconduct or lack of capability).

2.5. The Grant Recipient shall comply with all its employment obligations up to the date of a Relevant Transfer including, but not limited to, the payment of all wages, accrued but untaken holiday pay, bonuses, commissions, payments of PAYE, national insurance contributions and pension contributions which are attributable in whole or in part to the period ending on (but not including) the date of a Relevant Transfer and any necessary apportionments in respect of any periodic payments shall be made between: (i) the Grant Recipient; and (ii) the Replacement Grant Recipient.  

2.6. The Grant Recipient will co-operate with DCMS in respect of any exit transition arrangements by allowing any Replacement Grant Recipient to communicate with and meet the affected employees or their representatives.

2.7. The Grant Recipient will indemnify DCMS and/or any Replacement Grant Recipient against any claim, losses, liability, expense or demand whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, misrepresentation or otherwise arising from:

2.7.1. its failure to comply with the provisions of this paragraph 2; and/or 2.7.2. any employee, former employee or person claiming to be an employee (or their employee representative) of the Grant Recipient, and/or any Delivery Partner which arises or is alleged to arise from any act or omission by the Grant Recipient, and/or any Delivery Partner, before but not including the date of a Relevant Transfer.

2.8. The provisions of this paragraph 2 apply during the term of the Grant  Agreement and the Funding Period and indefinitely after it terminates or expires.

2.9. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Grant  Agreement, for the purposes of this paragraph 2 the relevant Third Party shall be able to enforce its rights under paragraph 2, but their consent will not be required to vary this paragraph 2 as DCMS and the Grant Recipient may agree.

3. Severance

3.1. If any provision (or part of a provision) of this Deed is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision (or part of a provision) shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision (or part of a provision) under this clause 3.1 shall not affect the legality, validity and enforceability of the rest of this Deed.

4. Notices and demands

4.1. All notices, invoices and other communications relating to the Grant Agreement must be in writing and in English and must be served by on the other Party:

• a. at the address indicated in the Grant Offer Letter for that Party; or
• b. at the email address shown at the head of the Grant Offer Letter for DCMS, and
• c. at the email address provided by the Grant Recipient as requested in the Grant Offer Letter for the Grant Recipient.

4.2. A Party may change its address or email address by giving notice in accordance with clause 4.1.

4.3. Notices will be deemed to be delivered:

• a. if delivered by hand, on receipt;
• b. if sent by pre-paid registered first class post (providing it is not returned as undelivered to the sender), two working days after posting;
• c. if sent by email, on the date of delivery, unless it is sent on a day which is not a working day or after 3pm on a working day, in which case the email is deemed to have been received on the next working day.

5. Variation and waiver

5.1. No variation of this Deed shall be effective unless it is in writing and signed by the Parties (or their authorised representatives).

5.2. No failure or delay by a Party to exercise any right or remedy provided under this Deed or by law shall constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy shall prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

6. Third party rights

6.1. Except as expressly provided in Clause 6.2 below, this Deed does not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (“CRTPA”) to enforce any term of this Deed. 

6.2. Clauses 2.3, 2.4 and 2.7 are intended to benefit a Replacement Grant Recipient and are intended to be enforceable by them by virtue of the CRTPA subject to the prior written consent of DCMS, which may, if given, be subject to such terms as DCMS may determine. 

6.3. The rights of the Parties to rescind or vary this Deed are not subject to the consent of any other person. This Deed can only be varied in accordance with the variation procedure set out in the Grant Agreement. 

7. Counterparts

7.1. This Deed may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when executed shall constitute a duplicate original, but all the counterparts shall together constitute the one agreement.

8. Governing law and jurisdiction

8.1. This Deed and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of England and Wales.

8.2. Each Party irrevocably agrees that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Deed or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).

This document has been executed as a deed and is delivered and takes effect on the date stated at the beginning of it.

Executed as a DEED for and on behalf of THE DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT (DCMS), By [INSERT NAME], [Director/ authorised officer] of DCMS

Signature

Name of [director/authorised officer]

Title of authorised officer

Executed as a DEED for and on behalf of [NAME OF GRANT RECIPIENT] By [INSERT NAME], [Director/ authorised officer] of  [NAME of Grant Recipient]

In the presence of: 

Authorised Signatory

ANNEX 1: Signed Grant Agreement between DCMS and [Insert Organisation] [INSERT COPY HERE]

1. For example, this may include a crisis managed by a Lead Government Department and Local Resilience Forum with local or temporary impact or an emergency scenario with some national impact and coordination required. ↩