Guidance

Local Covenant Partnerships Fund: Clarification questions

Updated 6 February 2026

Applies to England

Purpose of the LCP Fund

1. Are you looking for an organisation or group to deliver this grant in all 15 locations, which will be decided once the grant recipient has been selected? Can we apply just as one of the 15 areas, for a portion of the funding, or do bids need to oversee all 15 areas and then manage the whole £11.59 million? Is the fund seeking one national provider, who will then establish local partnerships at local authority level, or is the fund seeking multiple providers at local authority level? Is the current application process for current projects or for the administration of the overall fund? Will there be opportunity for local groups/partnerships to bid for funding within that location once this has been decided? 

a. DCMS is seeking a single organisation, or multiple organisations applying jointly, who can deliver the objectives of the fund across all 15 Local Authority District areas in England from 2026-2029. The successful applicant will support DCMS in selecting the areas. They will then be expected to work closely in those selected areas, to bring together local stakeholders including local authorities and civil society, and invest in the local activities and outputs that further support this work. The total grant award is £11.59 million revenue, which is to fund bringing together stakeholders, investment in the local activities of the 15 areas, evidence-building and an administration fee.

2. What are the amounts that can be applied for?

a. As per the competition guidance, we are seeking a single organisation, or multiple organisations applying jointly, who can deliver the full £11.59 million across 15 Local Authority District areas of England. If you are able to meet the eligibility requirements and feel you meet the expectations set out in the guidance, then you are open to applying. 

3. Would cross-sector partnerships such as developing relationships across regions, between VCSE, local councils, employers and [a specific sector], to drive better outcomes be the type of work this would fund?

a. DCMS is seeking a single organisation, or multiple organisations applying jointly, who can improve partnership working between the civil society sector, local authorities, and wider public service providers, to tackle local policy priorities and better meet the needs of their communities across 15 Local Authority District areas in England from 2026-2029 (which they will support DCMS in selecting). They will then be expected to work closely in those selected areas, to bring together local stakeholders, including local authorities (but also regional authorities where relevant), and invest in the local activities and outputs that further support this work. In line with the government’s ambition to support locally-led decision making, local policy priorities and outcomes must be agreed at the local level, with all partners, once the local areas are selected. The policy priorities are likely to differ between the 15 areas, so the successful applicant must be able to deliver the objectives of the LCP fund across all 15 areas.  

Application eligibility 

4. Can the application be submitted by a local authority? 

a. The application is not open to Local Authorities at this stage. As per the guidance, 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 Local Covenant Partnerships fund, the applicant (or each participating partner in the case of a joint application) must be able to demonstrate eligibility to receive a grant under Section 70, as a charitable, philanthropic or benevolent institution, and provide the mandatory documents listed in the guidance.

5. Can the voluntary sector put together a partnership?

a. Yes, the voluntary sector can apply as a joint application. As per the guidance, applicants may apply as a single organisation, with or without delivery partners, or as a joint application (for example, as a consortium, joint venture, unincorporated association, partnership or otherwise). This may, for example, apply to entities who feel that alone they do not have the capacity or capability to address the department’s requirements or wish to bring in additional expertise to meet the department’s required skills and experience for this role.

6. Do all participating organisations as part of the bid have to be registered charities?

a. No, the participating partners in a consortium bid don’t need to be registered as charities, but they do need to be able to demonstrate eligibility to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006. This means they need to show they’ve been established for a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose, and each participating partner must provide evidence of this.

7. Is an organisation that is not a registered charity / not-for-profit but whose purpose is for the improvement and development of sectors that are relevant to the proposed work or for positive social impact, eligible to apply? Are faith organisations eligible to apply?

a. As per the guidance, 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 Local Covenant Partnerships fund, the applicant (or each participating partner in the case of a joint application) must be able to provide evidence to show the organisation’s eligibility to receive a grant under Section 70 as an institution established for charitable, philanthropic or benevolent purposes. This must include evidence such as terms of reference or articles of association that shows the organisation was established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes. Eligibility to apply as a grant recipient for the LCP fund under the requirements of section 70 is not limited to registered charities only. To that extent, we would invite the applicant to provide any supplementary information which helps to show that they are (a) an organisation established for such purposes as set out in Section 70 and (b) operating on a not-for-profit basis. This may include details of whether the applicant considers itself to have been established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes, whether it seeks to make a profit and what it does with any such profit. Following this, we would consider all of the information provided by an applicant to determine whether such an organisation meets the requirements under Section 70 to apply as a grant recipient to deliver the objectives of the LCP fund. In relation to the eligibility of faith organisations to receive the LCP funds, please refer to the competition guidance for information on eligible and ineligible expenditure. As per the guidance, the LCP funds may not be used for the promotion of religious beliefs. We would invite any faith organisations to provide details of how the grant of the LCP funds would be used only for eligible expenditure.

8. For a joint application, does a partnership agreement need to be in place?

a. As per the competition guidance, it is expected that partnership agreements are either already in place, or that you have correspondence from authorised representatives at each partner organisation, that confirms involvement in the proposal and acknowledges submission of your application.

Eligible funding 

9. Is the funding envelope suggested for the 4 funding strands fixed, or is there flexibility between them to meet local delivery drivers? Is there flexibility to spend the grant over multiple financial years?

a. As set out in the competition guidance, the four funding strands are currently indicative allocations, and we are open to proposals for delivery plans and associated funding profiles across financial years, set out in your application. 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. 

10. Are Local Authorities eligible for grant funding through the programme?

a. Yes. As per the competition guidance, eligible expenditure includes financial support to the relevant beneficiaries (for example, project costs, financial support such as onward grants and appropriate remuneration or ‘accessibility support’ to volunteers and individuals taking part) within the 15 local areas.

11. Is it possible to appoint a research partner to support the identification of local areas?

a. We are open to understanding proposals for fund design including how you intend to support the identification of local areas within the agreed eligible expenditure activity. Such support to the selected grant recipient would fall under the ‘administrative fee’, see section ‘Funding’ of the competition guidance.

12. Does the requirement to ensure financial support for local engagement fall within the £1.8m budget for funding strand 1 or the £8.61m budget for funding strand 2?

a. As per the competition guidance, with the exception of funding strand 3, funding must be spent in connection with delivery within 15 local areas to meet the required objectives of the LCP fund. Eligible expenditure for both strands includes financial support to the relevant beneficiaries (for example, project costs, financial support such as onward grants and appropriate remuneration or ‘accessibility support’ to volunteers and individuals taking part) within the 15 local areas. We are open to understanding your proposals for your fund design, including how financial support for local engagement would be allocated. 

13. What types of activities or items can be funded? Are there any specific priority areas or themes that applications are expected to focus on?

a. Please read the ‘Funding’ section of the competition guidance which provides details of eligible and ineligible activity. 

Grant recipient expectations

14. Will the successful applicant be expected to actively convene, coordinate, and support partnership development between VCSEs and local authorities/stakeholders, in addition to administering and distributing the grant funding? 

a. The grant recipient is expected to be able to both bring together local government, civil society and other public service providers to develop relationships, as well as then invest in local activities and outputs including onward grants to relevant beneficiaries. 

15. What is the timeline from the fund design phase to the transition of grant deployment, and at what point should ‘Local Covenant Partnership’ agreements be completed? 

a. It is expected that the successful grant recipient would be able to work closely with the local areas to understand when a suitable point of creation of the LCP agreements and transition into delivery would be, so that it is locally led and flexible to need. We recognise that different areas may take longer to form relationships, devise their Local Covenant Partnership agreements and begin delivering agreed activities, which is why we have not specified timelines, however we are keen to be able to move into delivery of the LCP agreements as quickly as possible.

16. What is the expectation on the frequency of progress reporting, and can bidders make recommendations, including reviewing performance against intended objectives, as set out in the grant agreement, providing financial reconciliation statements and submitting an end-of-grant review signed off by DCMS?

a. We will work with the successful grant recipient to agree on a proportionate frequency of progress reporting. This is initially expected to be weekly informal reporting to DCMS on a working level, and formal reporting on a monthly basis, however we are open to suggested alternatives as part of your application. Financial reconciliation statements will be required at the end of each financial year end, and end-of-grant review will be required at the end of the grant agreement in 2029.

Place selection 

17. Which 15 areas are to be included? Have the 15 areas already been selected or will this be done by the chosen partner when selected? How do we find out if we are in one of the 15 local authority district areas? What will be the geography of the 15  local areas – will it be a whole LA, ward specific or hyperlocal model? Have locations have been agreed and can lower tier authorities apply to be included? Will London likely be one of the target regions, and if so, will it be broken down to the sub-regional partnership level, i.e. west, east, south and central?

a. As per the competition guidance, target areas will be identified later this year, selected in partnership with the successful applicant, using a combination of metrics including the Community Needs Index (CNI), the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and further evidence to help identify places on the basis of need. This will be at a Local Authority District level, as set out by ONS. 

18. How would the successful applicant be involved in selecting the 15 areas? What is the role that the partner will have in area selection and what is the deadline for this activity?

a. In line with DCMS’ priorities, we will use a combination of metrics including the Community Needs Index (CNI) and the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) as a starting point to identify target areas, and it is expected that the successful applicant will bring in their own sector-led expertise to establish which places are most in need of support, want to be part of this work and could most benefit from being involved. This is initially expected to take place over the course of April-May. 

Evaluation

19. What is the timeframe for procuring the evaluation partner and when are they expected to begin working on the programme? What is the expectation for the frequency of engagement with the evaluation team? 

a. Procurement for the evaluation will commence in Spring 2026 and a partner is expected to be in place shortly after the LCP fund delivery has begun. We will work with the successful grant recipient to agree on a proportionate frequency of progress engagement with the evaluation team. We are open to suggested alternatives as part of your application. The initial plan is to have bi-weekly meetings with the evaluation team but this will be reviewed based on progress and need.

20. When does DCMS expect the independent evaluator to undertake the end-of-programme M&E activity, so that we can plan our time and resources accordingly?

a. Our expectation is the evaluator will conduct a process evaluation (to be completed by March 2027), a research strand (to be completed by March 2028) and an impact and value for money evaluation (to be completed by March 2029).

Application questions

Please note, we strongly encourage applicants to fully read the competition guidance before submitting your application.

21. What information should be provided if we have received multiple grants from government sources? 

a. We encourage applicants to fully read the competition guidance before submitting your application. The question in the form provides an explainer of what to provide should you have received multiple sources of government funding - If you have received more than 5 grants in the last 5 years please include details of the most recent grant received and the four highest value grants in the period.

22. If an applicant were successful, would it make them ineligible for funding from the LCP if they were working in the selected areas?

a. Eligible expenditure for onward funding will be agreed and detailed in the grant agreement of the successful grant recipient. As part of the application we ask applicants to detail the robustness of their internal systems, this may include how they would manage any potential conflicts of interest. 

23. What level of detail is required from referees? When are referees likely to be approached, and from which email address will contact be made? 

a. Referees will be contacted once the successful application has been confirmed, and will be asked to provide a short description of their work with the organisation and brief reflections. Contact will be made through lcpfund@dcms.gov.uk. 

24. Can grant payments be made in advance?

a. The application form provides an opportunity for applicants to set out requests for payments in advance, should this be necessary. Please see section ‘Financial Requirements’ in the competition guidance for detailed information. 

25. What is the expected timetable for payments following submission of our financial breakdowns, and the timetable for submission of quarterly financial reports? 

a. As per the competition guidance, the payments will be made quarterly and in arrears. You will need to provide a breakdown of actual, eligible expenditure to make a claim. The first payment would therefore be at the end of the first quarter for the financial year 2026/2027, and continue at the end of each quarter.