Guidance

Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022 to 2025: women’s reproductive wellbeing in the workplace

Updated 24 June 2022

Applies to England

Information pack for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations

Note on language

Note that the fund is aimed at providing support to all women and those assigned female at birth. While in this document we refer to women, we recognise that some transgender men, non-binary people and people with variations in sex characteristics (VSC) or who are intersex may also experience some of the same issues covered.

Executive summary

Purpose of this information pack

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI), the system partners, are seeking applications from VCSE sector organisations for the next round of the Health and Wellbeing Fund.

This information pack provides VCSE organisations with the information required to make an application to the fund. Read all the sections carefully to ensure your organisation and project or programme is eligible.

Background

The system partners value the significant contribution that the VCSE sector makes towards improving health and care. We see the VCSE sector as a key partner in delivering our strategic priorities and improving health and wellbeing across England.

To support this, the system partners are jointly releasing the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022 to 2025 to support projects and programmes led by VCSE organisations.

The theme of the 2022 to 2025 fund is women’s reproductive wellbeing in the workplace. Linking in with the development of the new Women’s Health Strategy (see Annex 1), this fund aims to support VCSE organisations who can provide a holistic support offer to assist women experiencing reproductive health issues (for example, menopause, fertility problems, miscarriage and pregnancy loss, menstrual health and gynaecological conditions) to remain in and return to the workplace. The fund aims to align with the Women’s Health Strategy aims for health in the workplace:

  • women feel supported in the workplace
  • taboos are broken down through open conversation
  • employers feel well equipped to support women in managing their health within the workplace

Workplace awareness, training and support via employee assistance programmes will be key to fulfil these aims. We welcome applications for programmes to the Health and Wellbeing Fund that aim to provide training and awareness for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) where assistance schemes are unlikely to be available.

We are also interested in hearing from organisations who wish to provide expert work and health support to women experiencing reproductive health issues that are impacting their experience in the workplace. In particular, those women at risk of leaving employment or who have recently fallen out of work and are less likely to have access to expert work and health support, such as occupational health support, via their employer. For example, these may be women working for small employers or the self-employed. Further detail on what is meant by ‘expert work and health support’ is covered in Section 1, ‘Aims of the Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022 to 2025’.

Funding is available for grants between £200,000 to £600,000 per applicant, to expand or develop projects or programmes in these areas. Applications with a commitment secured for additional funding will be prioritised but all applications will be considered. More detail is provided in Section 2, ‘Fund criteria’.

Key dates for VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022 to 2025

The closing date is fixed. Note that other dates in this timeline are indicative and for guidance only.

Process Dates (indicated by week commencing)
Fund launch 13 May 2022
Meet the funder webinars 2pm to 4pm on 24 May

2pm to 4pm on 25 May
Closing deadline for applications 9am on 5 August 2022
Assessment of applications August 2022
Ministerial approval September 2022
Contract award September 2022

The closing date for applications is 9am on Friday 5 August 2022.

Note that all awards are subject to the approval of budgets as part of annual budgetary planning by DHSC. The launch of this scheme in financial year 2022 to 2023 does not commit DHSC to the funding of any grant awards.

Strategic context

The fund will support the delivery of the system partner’s strategic priorities, with a continued focus on promoting equality and reducing health inequalities. These strategic priorities are outlined in:

  • the NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019 with the aim to make the NHS fit for the future and get the most value for patients
  • the Department of Health and Social Care’s Outcome Delivery Plan (published annually), which commits to keeping people healthy and independent in their communities, supporting the transformation of NHS Primary, community and mental health services, and local authority public health and social care
  • the Health is Everyone’s Business consultation, originally published in July 2019 with the government response in July 2021, which set out key proposals aiming to minimise the risk of ill health-related job loss
  • the first Women’s Health Strategy for England, which will be published in 2022, marking a reset in the way in which the government is looking at women’s health. The strategy follows on from the Vision, in which health in the workplace is a key theme
  • Annex 1, which provides specific content on the policy context for women’s reproductive health in the workplace

Background

Overview

The VCSE Health and Wellbeing Programme (HW Programme) was launched in April 2017 following publication of the VCSE review. The review looked at the role of the VCSE sector in improving health, wellbeing and care outcomes. The HW Programme is a joint initiative by DHSC and NHSEI (the system partners).

The programme enables the system partners to work together with the VCSE sector to promote equality, improve health inequalities and to help families and communities to achieve and maintain wellbeing.

The HW Programme’s objectives are to:

  • encourage co-production in the creation of person-centred, community-based health and care which promotes equality for all
  • enable the voice of people with lived experience and experiencing health inequalities to inform national policy making and shape service delivery
  • build evidence of sustainable, scalable solutions to mitigate and prevent inequalities impacting on health and wellbeing of communities

The HW Programme consists of:

  • a national partnership arrangement: the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance (HW Alliance)
  • funding for bespoke projects and programmes: the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund (HW Fund)

VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance 2021 to 2024

Note that this information pack is not for the HW Alliance, and this section is for background only.

The refreshed HW Alliance launched in April 2021 with a membership of 19 organisations from across the VCSE sector.

The HW Alliance facilitates collaborative working between the VCSE and statutory sectors and brings the voices and expertise of the VCSE sector, and the people they represent, into national policy development and delivery.

The refreshed HW Alliance builds on the successes of the previous programme with greater alignment to the national strategic priorities of the system partners while maintaining a continued focus on promoting equality and reducing health inequalities.

VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund

The aim of the fund is to promote equalities and reduce health inequalities by building the evidence base about good practice, sharing lessons, and widening the adoption of interventions with a proven track record.

The fund focuses on one specific theme each year, which is agreed across the system partners and in co-production with the VCSE sector.

The most recent 3 year Health and Wellbeing Fund was around the theme of Starting Well, focusing on maternity projects aiming to improve health outcomes for children from pre-conception to 2.5 years in areas of high deprivation (including rural, coastal and urban areas) and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups. There were 19 successful applicants.

Due to COVID-19, a one-year fund was launched in 2021 which focused on the role of the VCSE sector in providing support for respiratory illnesses in children. There were 13 successful applicants.

Further information

Updates from the HW Programme, including information on the Health and Wellbeing Fund, can be received by signing up to the DHSC monthly newsletter.

1. Aims of the Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022 to 2025

The theme of the Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022 to 2025 is women’s reproductive wellbeing in the workplace. The fund aims are set out below.

Target communities

The target community for the fund is women of working age experiencing reproductive health issues.

Types of support

The Health and Wellbeing Fund will support projects and programmes that are working with target communities and provide:

  • workplace awareness and training for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) where assistance schemes are unlikely to be available (see Annex 1)
  • low-intensity expert work and health support for women experiencing reproductive health issues that are impacting their experience in the workplace. In particular, those women at risk of leaving employment or who have recently fallen out of work who are less likely to have access to occupational health support via their employer, for example, those working for small employers or the self-employed. Services can take a variety of forms, but typical features can include:
    • ‘upstream’ support for people to remain in work or return to work, including following a sickness absence
    • light-touch, ‘biopsychosocial’ approaches, helping individuals to address their holistic health, personal and workplace barriers to employment
    • case management
    • signposting to both clinical services (for example, mental health services, physiotherapy) and wider, local, services (for example, debt advice, CV and interview coaching, wellbeing support)
    • delivery by multidisciplinary teams, involving clinical or non-clinical professionals (including in case manager roles)

As services often include clinical and non-clinical support, we know that VCSE organisations can play an important role in delivering services and coordinating delivery of services through their relationships with local stakeholders (clinical and non-clinical).

Health outcomes

There are strong links between health and employment, with a robust evidence base showing both that good work is good for physical and mental health and wellbeing, and that employment is a primary determinant of health. Higher healthy life expectancy is strongly correlated with higher employment rates, and the most deprived local areas experience the worst health and employment outcomes. Moving from employment to unemployment is estimated to increase GP consultation rates for an individual by 50%[footnote 1].

Whole system-centred approaches

The Health and Wellbeing Fund will support the following types of approaches:

  • whole system-centred approaches – whole systems working recognises that there is no one solution to tackle complex public health issues. A coordinated, collaborative approach is needed, aligned to a ‘health in all policies’ approach

  • whole system community-centred approaches support NHS England’s work to deliver a comprehensive model for universal personalised care. This includes building healthy and resilient communities to help keep the whole population healthy. Taking a strategic, asset-based approach to empowering individuals and communities is also a key focus for improving social care outcomes

Further information can be found in Community Centred Public Health: Taking a whole system approach.

Additional aims

Additional aims of the fund are to:

  • expand or develop projects and programmes that have a whole system approach
  • promote equalities and reduce health inequalities for women
  • support strong and sustainable local connections between VCSE and statutory services, without duplicating other existing initiatives
  • facilitate co-production between local partners and service users
  • evaluate different approaches and share learning

Further information on the policy context and priorities for women’s reproductive health in the workplace is contained in Annex 1.

Intended outcomes

The intended outcomes of the Health and Wellbeing Fund are:

  • an increase in system partners’ evidence base on sustainable and scalable whole system centred approaches to reduce health inequalities for women in the workplace
  • the production of evidence and findings from VCSE-led projects and programmes that can be disseminated to different audiences across the system to inform and influence local and national policy and practice
  • an increase in the capability for the VCSE sector to capture and evaluate the impact of their work, to demonstrate to policy leads the benefits of their projects or programmes with specific communities

2. Fund criteria

To be considered for grant funding the application must demonstrate it supports the aims of the fund by meeting all the following criteria.

Expansion of an existing scheme or development of a new scheme or programme

The proposed expansion of an existing scheme or development of a new scheme should not simply aim to make a scheme larger or to support geographical extensions; instead, applicants must clearly demonstrate the need for expanding an existing scheme or launching a new programme through highlighting a gap in the evidence base. This should enable an existing scheme to achieve additional outcomes or to reach a different audience, or enable the development of a new programme of work.

Grant and additional funding

The fund will grant fund projects over a period of 3 financial years, until March 2025. Grants between £200,000 to £600,000 per applicant will be available to expand or develop schemes, up to a maximum of £200,000 per financial year. It is anticipated that we will fund approximately 15 to 20 projects and programmes.

Applicants are required to provide a supporting letter from their local statutory commissioner – for example, clinical commissioning group (CCG), sustainability and transformation partnership (STP), integrated care system (ICS), or local authority, and are strongly encouraged to obtain additional funding that supports their project or programme from statutory or non-statutory partners. Applications with a commitment secured for additional funding will be prioritised but all applications will be considered.

Note that DHSC will not be able to provide additional funding to cover any shortfall in local resourcing, and that grants from the fund must be used within the funding year in which they are allocated.

After grant funding over a period of 3 financial years ending March 2025, projects that are successful are expected to find ongoing funding and demonstrate sustainability.

Note that all awards are subject to the approval of budgets as part of annual budgetary planning by DHSC. The launch of this scheme in financial year 2022 to 2023 does not commit DHSC to the funding of any grant awards.

Demonstrate sustainability of the organisation

Applicants will need to confirm that they have suitable funding for the rest of their organisation for 3 years (the length of the fund grant). There is no restriction as to where this funding should be from (for example, statutory provider, other VCSE organisation, the Big Lottery Fund, and so on).

Organisational eligibility

Organisations must:

  • meet the conditions set out in Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 to be eligible to receive a grant for the Health and Wellbeing Fund, and subject to completion of due diligence processes. A summary of the legal criteria in Section 70 is set out in Annex 2
  • work in England, with a plan to operate their project or programme in England only. There are separate arrangements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • be not for profit, and either:
    • incorporated (this would be a company limited by guarantee and registered with Companies House OR a community interest company OR a co-operative or industrial and provident society OR a social enterprise); or
    • have charitable status (registered with the Charity Commission)
  • not apply for grant funding amount of more than 25% of their current annual turnover, as demonstrated by their audited or independently examined accounts
  • have an equal opportunities, health and safety and safeguarding policy
  • have been operating in this area, or a closely related area, for at least the last 3 years
  • demonstrate that they have a clear connection to work within local communities (either as a local or national VCSE organisation)

Joint applications

We welcome joint applications, for example, collaborations between VCSE organisations. There is no limit to the number of partners. However, we require one partner to take the lead and complete a significant proportion of the project or programme activity.

Local health connections

Applicants must clearly demonstrate how the project or programme is strategically linked up with other local initiatives, and that is not duplicating another local initiative.

A letter of support from a relevant body will be required for all applications.

Co-produced

Applicants must clearly demonstrate how their proposed expansion or development of the project or programme has been, or will be, developed in co-production with those that the project or programme seeks to benefit.

Evaluation

To achieve the aims and outcomes of the fund, applicants must commit to completing an evaluation and sharing learning with the system partners.

Applicants will be required to commission an external evaluator for their individual projects or programmes, with at least 5% of the budget to be dedicated to evaluation.

In detailing their evaluation plan for the end of the proposed project or programme, applicants will be required to set out which data they already collect and plan to collect, what outcomes they seek to achieve, how they will measure them over time, and how they plan to share their learning.

The evaluation should be a ‘rolling’ evaluation where data will need to be routinely collected and available to system partners for monitoring of the projects funded. The evaluation should formally report, alongside reporting on the project outcomes at the end of year 3 (financial year 2024 to 2025).

Note that the system partners will request that some standard evaluation criteria are built into the evaluation process to allow comparison, where possible, across grant funded projects. Information on this will be provided to successful projects.

Successful projects will also need to commit to sharing learning with the system partners through the evaluation and other queries, to help learn what works when supporting women with reproductive health issues in the workplace.

Monitoring and reporting

Minimum reporting requirements have been identified for funded schemes. Successful organisations will need to agree to these monitoring and reporting arrangements at the outset, which will align to the Cabinet Office Functional Standards. Organisations that do not meet these requirements may risk having future grant payments withheld.

What we will not fund

We are only able to fund projects and programmes that meet all the criteria and eligibility requirements.

This funding is for VCSE organisations only; VCSE organisations may work with other bodies from other sectors, but a VCSE must be the lead applicant.

The Health and Wellbeing Fund will not fund national VCSE organisations unless it is clear that they are directly working with local communities.

3. Application process

Applicants are required to complete the application form published alongside this information pack and provide all the supporting information outlined below, submitting this to workandhealthfund@dhsc.gov.uk no later than Friday 5 August 2022 at 9am. Note that applications submitted after the deadline, even due to circumstances beyond applicants’ control, will not be considered.

The assessment process will be conducted by a panel made up of representatives from each of the system partner organisations. The panel will assess applications against the criteria set out, and they may wish to discuss your proposal in more detail. Each application will also undergo a due diligence process by DHSC to ensure that the organisation is suitable to receive grant funding.

Meet the funder webinars

Interested organisations will be able to take part in webinars involving policy leads from the system partners, to hear about the fund and gather further information on what projects and programmes we are specifically interested in funding. A set of Frequently Asked Questions will be generated during the application process and shared online for reference.

There will be 2 webinars, and you are strongly advised to register to attend one. Registration will be limited to one person per organisation, and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Webinars will take place on:

  • Tuesday 24 May, 2pm to 4pm
  • Wednesday 25 May, 2pm to 4pm

To book a place on these webinars, email workandhealthfund@dhsc.gov.uk

Writing a good application

A good application:

  • meets all the essential criteria, providing evidence where appropriate
  • is concise and makes full use of the word limits available without exceeding them
  • is relevant to and addresses the requirements of the Health and Wellbeing Fund and the VCSE HW Programme more widely
  • outlines how you will achieve something and not just why

Supporting information

Applicants will need to provide the following:

  • your charity number, or for non-charities, your company number
  • a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association or constitution/governing document for organisations not established as charities
  • your last year’s annual report and final accounts
  • your organisation’s business plan, including financial forecasts for 2022 to 2025
  • a project or programme budget, including a breakdown of costs
  • confirmation that your organisation has equal opportunities, health and safety and safeguarding policies
  • a staffing structure for your organisation – clearly showing the staff who will be working on the Health and Wellbeing Fund project or programme
  • any evidence requested against specific criteria
  • a complete risk assessment (template available)
  • an exit plan (template available)
  • a signed letter from a statutory provider. This should also include confirmation that:
  • that the proposed project or programme is not currently being delivered anywhere in the locality
  • that there is support for the project or programme proposed expansion or development

Note that successful applicants will need to accept the conditions of the grant award (see Annex 5). Any information provided is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Notification of progress

You will be notified of the progress of your application using the email address on your application form. We aim to send you a notification in line with the following timeline, with final notifications being issued subject to DHSC business planning. If you have not received notification by 30 September 2022 then contact us. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide specific feedback about unsuccessful applications.

The final decision on successful applications will be subject to departmental business planning.

How to submit your application

Your application form and supporting documents should be sent via e-mail to workandhealthfund@dhsc.gov.uk before 9am on 5 August 2022. Applications received after this time, even for circumstances beyond applicants’ control, will not be accepted.

Electronic copies of your annual report and final accounts, or links to your website and/or the Charity Commission website, are required. We are unable to accept hard copies of any documents at present.

Appeals

The Health and Wellbeing Fund is a discretionary scheme, and as such there is no appeal process on decisions made. We do recognise that, on occasions, applicants may feel that the application process has not been followed correctly, and may wish to raise a concern accordingly. We will treat these concerns as informal complaints, which will be handled in line with our complaints procedure outlined in Annex 4.

Annex 1: work and health policy context

Women’s Health Strategy

On 8 March 2021, the government announced plans to develop a Women’s Health Strategy, with the first phase being the launch of a call for evidence, which ran from March 2021 to June 2021.

The call for evidence had 3 components:

  • a ‘Women’s Health – Let’s talk about it’ public survey, which was open to all individuals aged 16 and over in England
  • an open invitation for individuals and organisations with expertise in women’s health to submit written evidence
  • a focus group study with women across England, undertaken by the University of York in collaboration with the King’s Fund

The call for evidence was based around a number of key themes, one of which was ‘health in the workplace’. The call for evidence asked about a range of workplace issues, including comfort discussing health issues at work, how health issues/ conditions impacted experience in the workplace, and what forms of workplace support had, or would have, been helpful.

Results of the call for evidence public survey and written submissions can be found on the consultation response web page.

Results of the focus groups can be found on the PREPARE website.

In December 2021 DHSC published Our Vision for the Women’s Health Strategy for England. This sets out the ambitions for the strategy, based around 5 key themes, one of which is health in the workplace.

The next step is to develop and publish the full strategy in 2022.

Key findings

Key findings from the call for evidence public survey were:

  • overall, 35% of women felt (or were perceived to feel) comfortable talking about health issues with their workplace; 58% said they felt uncomfortable; and 7% said they were not sure how they felt
  • overall, 53% of women felt (or were perceived to feel) that their current or previous workplace had been supportive with regards to health issues; 27% said their workplace had been unsupportive; while 20% said they don’t know

To understand women’s experiences of health issues at work, the public survey asked respondents what support has or would have helped them to reach their full potential. The examples provided fell within 3 core themes.

Theme Sub-theme
Workplace culture Open discussion of women’s health issues to break taboos and improve understanding of symptoms and impacts.

Supportive and caring employers, HR (human resources) professionals, managers and colleagues.

Reduce stigma of asking for and accepting help.
Continued and better implementation of existing workplace policies Flexible working arrangements.

Access to occupational health services, mental health support and workplace adjustments.

Protection against bullying and discrimination.
Creation of new workplace policies and support packages Paid leave and counselling for miscarriage and baby loss.

Paid leave for painful female health conditions such as endometriosis.

Paid leave and phased return to work for female reproductive surgery (for example, hysterectomy).

Improved workplace facilities for women with heavy periods.

Workplace adjustments for women through the menopause.

Support to return to work and/or progress careers after maternity leave, and while living with or recovering from female health conditions.

Joint Work and Health Unit (WHU)

In recognition of the strong two-way relationship between work and health, in 2015 the Joint Work and Health Unit (WHU) was established as a joint Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and DHSC initiative. The unit leads the government’s strategy to supporting working age disabled people, or people with long term health conditions, enter and stay in employment.

Relationship between work, health and women

We know that good work is good for health, however some people face additional barriers. From the period of October to December 2021:

  • 14.2 million (34%) people aged 16 to 64 in the UK had a long-term health condition
  • 8.8 million (21%) people aged 16 to 64 in the UK had a disability
  • 5 in 10 disabled people were in employment compared with 8 in 10 non-disabled people

Around 140 million working days were lost to sickness absence in 2019. Over the course of a year, around 1.4 million working age people have at least one long-term sickness absence lasting 4 weeks or longer each year. The longer a sickness absence persists, the more complex the barriers become and the likelihood of a return falls[footnote 2].

Roughly 100,000 people leave work each year following a long-term sickness absence.

Being out of work leads to poorer health outcomes, and once out of work, it becomes much more difficult for people to return to work[footnote 3].

The women’s health call for evidence analytical report showed that only 1 in 3 respondents said they feel comfortable talking about health issues in their workplace (35%), and only 1 in 2 said their current or previous workplace had been supportive with regards to health issues (53%).

Of those who said a health condition or disability had impacted their experience in the workplace (62%) more than 3 in 4 said it had increased their stress levels (76%), and 2 in 3 said it had impacted their mental health (67%). It was also found that:

  • 26% said it impacted their earnings
  • 25% said it affected their opportunities for promotion
  • 22% said it meant they stopped work earlier than they had planned

Unlike pregnancy or maternity, the menopause is not well understood or provided for in workplace cultures, policies and training. Managers’ and colleagues’ attitudes to women experiencing the menopause make a difference here. A lack of knowledge, understanding and support can create challenges for working women experiencing menopause transition in addition to coping with their symptoms. Combined with the variations in experiences discussed above, this forms the basis for a social responsibility case for greater organisational attention to menopause transition, in order to ensure women have the highest possible quality of working life.

We know from the Women’s Health call for evidence that menopause was just one of the most commonly cited reproductive health and employment issues being experienced.

Other issues were menstrual health/gynaecological conditions in the workplace such as endometriosis. Miscarriage and pregnancy loss also featured frequently in the call for evidence. The Lancet published a series of papers in April 2021, which described the prevalence and impact of miscarriage, highlighting that the short-term national economic cost of miscarriage is estimated to be £471 million per year in the UK.

The focus of this fund on the broader theme of women’s reproductive wellbeing in the workplace will align with the Women’s Health Strategy aims for health in the workplace:

  • women feel supported in the workplace, and that taboos are broken down through open conversation
  • employers feel well equipped to support women in managing their health within the workplace

Further reading

Menopause transition: effects on women’s economic participation.

Annex 2: Charities Act

Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 eligibility criteria

The following is a summary of the criteria set out in Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006.

To be eligible to apply to the Health and Wellbeing Fund, your organisation must be a charity or institution (other than a charity) established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes.

The Act gives the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care the power to award grants to any charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution in respect of any of the institution’s activities which directly or indirectly benefit the whole or any part of England.

For the purposes of law, a charitable organisation must demonstrate that it serves the public interest.

Activities should benefit the whole or part of England.

Where an organisation is not a charity, we would need to see their specific governing documents to ensure that they legally fulfil the required criteria.

Annex 3: eligible and ineligible expenditure

Eligible expenditure

All eligible expenditure must be claimed net of VAT and is recoverable from HM Revenue and Customs.

The following costs/payments will be classified as eligible expenditure if made for the purposes of the funded activity:

  • fees charged or to be charged to the grant recipient by the external auditors or accountants for reporting or certifying that the grant paid was applied for its intended purposes
  • giving evidence to parliamentary select committees
  • attending meetings with ministers or civil servants to discuss the progress of a taxpayer funded grant scheme
  • responding to public consultations, where the topic is relevant to the objectives of the grant scheme. This does not include spending government grant funds on lobbying other people to respond to the consultation
  • providing independent, evidence-based policy recommendations to local government, departments or ministers, where that is the objective of a taxpayer funded grant scheme, for example, ‘What Works Centres’
  • providing independent evidence-based advice to local or national government as part of the general policy debate, where that is in line with the objectives of the grant scheme

A payment is defined as taking place at the moment when money passes out of grant recipient control. This may take place when:

  • legal tender is passed to a supplier (or, for wages, to an employee)
  • a letter is posted to a supplier or employee containing a cheque
  • an electronic instruction is sent to a bank/building society to make a payment to a supplier or employee by direct credit or bank transfer

The grant recipient must not deliberately incur liabilities for eligible expenditure in advance of need; nor pay for eligible expenditure sooner than the due date for payment.

Ineligible expenditure

The following costs must be excluded from eligible expenditure. The list below does not override activities, which are deemed eligible in these conditions:

  • paid for lobbying, which means using grant funds to fund lobbying (via an external firm or in-house staff) to undertake activities intended to influence or attempt to influence parliament, government or political activity; or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action
  • using grant funds to directly enable one part of government to challenge another on topics unrelated to the agreed purpose of the grant
  • using grant funding to petition for additional funding
  • expenses such as for entertaining, specifically aimed at exerting undue influence to change government policy
  • input VAT reclaimable by the grant recipient from HMRC
  • payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature

Other examples of expenditure which is prohibited include the following:

  • contributions in kind
  • interest payments or service charge payments for finance leases
  • gifts
  • statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties civil penalties, damages or any associated legal costs
  • payments for works or activities which the grant recipient, or any member of their Partnership, has a statutory duty to undertake, or that are fully funded by other sources
  • bad debts to related parties
  • payments for unfair dismissal or other compensation
  • depreciation, amortisation or impairment of assets owned by the grant recipient
  • the acquisition or improvement of assets by the grant recipient (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use – this will be stipulated in the grant funding letter)
  • liabilities incurred before the commencement of the grant funding agreement unless agreed in writing by the authority

Annex 4: complaints procedure

The Health and Wellbeing Fund is a discretionary scheme, and as such there is no appeal process on decisions made by ministers. We do recognise that, on occasions, applicants may feel that the application process has not been followed correctly, and may wish to raise a concern accordingly. We will treat these concerns as informal complaints, which will be handled in line with our complaints procedure detailed below.

Stage 1

The first stage of the complaints process is initiated when someone indicates that they wish to complain. The complaint should be investigated and responded to by the team leader of the individual or team that has been named in the complaint. If the complaint is received by the Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Unit (MCPE), the complaints manager will forward it on to the relevant team leader. The target for Stage 1 response is 20 working days. The complaints manager can advise teams on their response, and should be copied in so that a record can be kept centrally.

The Voluntary Sector Health and Wellbeing Programme Engagement Team will handle complaints at this stage.

Stage 2

The second stage of the complaints process is initiated if, after having received a Stage 1 response, the complainant is still unhappy. At this stage, the complaint will be escalated to the deputy director or Grade 6 of the team that has been named in the complaint, and they will investigate and respond. The target for Stage 2 response is 20 working days. The complaints manager can advise on the response and should be copied in so that a record can be kept centrally.

The Voluntary Sector Health and Wellbeing Programme Engagement Team will escalate complaints to respective seniors at this stage of the process.

Stage 3

The third stage of the complaints process is initiated if, after having received a Stage 2 response, the complainant is still unhappy. At this stage, the complaint will be allocated to a Grade 6 or deputy director independent of the team that has been named in the complaint, and they will investigate and respond. The target for Stage 3 response is 20 working days. The complaints manager can advise on the response, and should be copied in so that a record can be kept centrally.

The Voluntary Sector Health and Wellbeing Programme Engagement Team should continue to be engaged at this stage of the process, and will engage with respective colleagues internally to comply with the Stage 3 processes.

Escalation to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

If after exhausting the 3 internal stages the complainant is still unhappy, they can escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). All DHSC replies to complaints must include details of escalation procedures to bring complaints to the attention of the PHSO. The following text should be used at the end of the letter:

This concludes the department’s complaints process.

If you are not satisfied with the way the department has handled your complaint, you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review the case. You will need to ask your MP to do this for you.’

This is a summary of our complaints procedure.

Annex 5: summary of conditions of the award

If you are successful you will be sent a grant agreement letter, which will reflect principles outlined in the Compact funding and procurement code, detailing the full terms and conditions of the grant. Some of the terms you may wish to know in advance are:

  • the terms and conditions must be accepted by a board member – trustee or director – or the chair of the management committee if you are an unincorporated association
  • grants are restricted funds
  • the grant is recoverable if you do not use it for the purposes intended, including if you do not fully spend it
  • funding for all future financial years of the award is indicative, subject to annual departmental business planning and cannot be guaranteed
  • there is no automatic right of carry forward, and funds unspent at the end of each financial year should be returned to the department by default
  • the intention is to fund the proposed activity, however there is no commitment to funding the maximum amount awarded if this is not required
  • the grant may not be passed to a third party
  • there is no commitment to any funding after the agreed term of the grant
  • the grant must be identified in your accounts as being from DHSC

If successful a trustee or director will be asked to sign a statement of grant usage which will confirm that the grant will not be used to fund the following activities:

  • paid for lobbying, for example, using grant funds to fund lobbying (via an external firm or in-house staff) to undertake activities intended to influence or attempt to influence parliament, government or political activity; or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action
  • using grant funds to directly enable one part of government to challenge another on topics unrelated to the agreed purpose of the grant
  • using grant funding to petition for additional funding
  • expenses such as for entertaining, specifically aimed at exerting undue influence to change government policy; input VAT reclaimable by the grant recipient from HMRC
  • payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature

Monitoring and reporting

Minimum reporting requirements have been identified for funded schemes. Successful organisations will need to agree to these monitoring and reporting arrangements at the outset, which will align to the Cabinet Office Functional Standards. Organisations who do not meet these requirements may risk having future grant payments withheld.