Youth Matters Fund: delivery partner competition guidance

Question 1

1. Summary of grant opportunity

Accepted Answer

1.1 The outcomes we would like to achieve

The Youth Matters Fund (YMF) provides up to £416.8 million of grant funding to deliver significant long-term change in youth services provision across the parts of England with the greatest need. The fund aims to achieve three core outcomes in circa 60 eligible places:

1. Rapid improvements in the level and quality of youth services provision, informed by a step change in engagement with young people; 2. Long-term enhancements to the sustainability^{[footnote 1]} of youth sector activities and facilities; and 3. The development of meaningful local partnerships that underpin sustainable sector growth.

1.2 Strategic alignment

This fund is the cornerstone of the government’s Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy (NYS). The ambitions of the strategy are to support disadvantaged young people by breaking down barriers to community access, with the ultimate target by 2035;

to halve the participation gap in enriching activities between disadvantaged young people and their peers; and
for half a million more young people to have access to a trusted adult outside of their home

The Youth Matters Fund is designed to embody several shifts in government that are outlined in the National Youth Strategy, namely moving away from the historic challenges of fragmented delivery and centralised decision-making. The strategy advocates for a fundamental transition towards collaborative, place-based governance. By embedding these principles into this fund, we are prioritising local decision-making and collaborative partnerships, ensuring that investment is responsive, sustainable, and rooted in the unique needs of local communities and local young people.

To translate this strategic vision into on-the-ground impact, we are seeking a delivery partner with the capability to drive this transition within eligible places.

Notably, alongside this grant, DCMS is planning to deliver a separate, in-house pilot to test how revenue investments can be made in a small number of Local Authorities, through a devolved approach. This may explore various aspects of devolved delivery, including how these Local Authorities work with others in partnerships and how local youth plans are developed and delivered. This may generate helpful learning for the in-flight Youth Matters Fund, which DCMS will share.

1.3 Delivery approach

We are seeking to award this grant to the applicant that can most credibly and effectively provide long term and sustainable improvements to the youth sector provision in the eligible places. These are places where young people feel there is little to do and where need is highest. We are currently developing the place methodology which we are planning to publish this autumn.

The successful proposal will make a significant contribution to achieving the outcomes outlined in section 1.1. within the eligible places.

We will favour applications which will deliver the greatest impact on these outcomes, particularly those which are most likely to deliver benefits beyond the period of DCMS funding.

The areas that we will prioritise for investment are facing long-term challenges related to the sustainability of the youth sector but also immediate challenges regarding a lack of appropriate provision now.

The successful delivery partner will set out the steps it will take to identify and address the immediate challenges facing the local youth sector, whilst simultaneously identifying how it will create and deliver longer term plans to develop and improve the local youth sector services provision in the medium to long term.

As part of these proposals we expect applicants to set out how they will ensure sustainability through the creation and/or development of meaningful youth sector partnerships, bringing together key local actors to better understand local challenges, develop and implement necessary change, remove duplication and build a sustainable ecosystem of local youth services provision.

The successful proposal will not just demonstrate how it will use the funding we will provide but will also demonstrate how the organisation/consortium we choose to fund will act as a champion and advocate for the youth sector in the eligible places, demonstrating to other funders the value that investment in the sector can bring.

The successful applicant will demonstrate how they will work with and alongside existing and emergent youth and community structures, ensuring that the investments they make are meeting genuine local needs. We are particularly keen to support intelligent investment strategies, which avoid duplication of existing provision, instead working proactively and collaboratively to understand and build the local offer.

We believe that successful youth provision must engage young people at every stage. It is not enough that they are the recipient of a service, rather they should be meaningfully engaged in the design, delivery and evaluation of provision in order to ensure the provision is valued and successful. We will give preference to proposals which demonstrate how they will engage young people in both the targeting and design of provision as well as the allocation of onward investments.

As part of an intelligent investment approach, we would expect the successful applicant to build meaningful relationships with other funders and to understand the full range of funding opportunities on offer in each eligible place. These may be from central or local government sources as well as from other funders such as philanthropists. This is so the successful applicant is able to direct and guide applicants to the Youth Matters Fund to alternative funding sources where these may be more appropriate to meet their needs, providing an appropriate amount of support and advice to those who might need it.

Where the successful delivery partner intends to give onward grants, we expect any onward applicants to comply with the relevant UK Grant Functional Standards.

A key priority for DCMS is to reduce the burden on the youth sector. In support of this, we are working closely with the Grants Management Function in the Cabinet Office and together we are keen to explore - with the delivery partner - novel and creative ways to simplify the grant making process. This could include, for instance, onward grant-making that allows applications to be made in-part by video or through an interview process.

Similarly, we would be interested to explore proposals which reduce the level of bureaucracy related to grant claims and payments whilst maintaining the necessary safeguards around economic crime and proper use of public funding. As part of the application process we will judge the skills, experience and expertise which applicants have in onward grant-making where this forms part of a proposal. We will also work with the successful applicant post-award to determine the relevant freedoms and flexibilities we could support in the grant making process.

1.4 Delivery roles and accountabilities

To ensure robust governance and effective delivery, DCMS are required to ensure appropriate levels of strategic oversight and independent assurance are in place throughout the life of the fund. As part of the assurance framework, DCMS will appoint a separate organisation to perform a similar role to that of an Employer’s Agent.

We have called this the ‘Funder’s Agent’ and its purpose is to provide technical and professional assurance services throughout the programme, and potentially to coordinate an integrated PMO function across the fund. We will ensure a transparent interface is established between the main parties, meaning DCMS as funder, the delivery partner managing the fund and the Funder’s Agent, centred on regular progress reporting, financial assurance, and collaborative project monitoring. We expect the grant recipient to engage with DCMS and the Employer’s Agent on any assurance activities.

The Funder’s Agent will be procured after the scope of the proposal for this grant opportunity has been agreed between the delivery partner and DCMS. This is so the scope of the funder’s agent role can be defined in a way that complements, rather than duplicates, what is provided by the delivery partner. If, for example, proposals set out arrangements for assurance of delivery that DCMS considers to be sufficiently robust then the scope of the funder’s agent could potentially be reduced to take this into account.

1.5 Period of grant agreement

The grant recipient will be expected to start work as soon as they are appointed through the formal signing of the Grant Agreement in the 2026/27 Financial Year, and ending late 2030, with exact dates to be determined.

1.6 Timeline

The proposed timetable and timelines serve as guidance only.

Key milestones	Indicative dates
Deadline for delivery organisation grant application	21 Aug 2026
Evaluation of delivery organisation application	Sep 2026
Funding award provisional notification	Sep 2026
Execution of Grant Agreement	Nov 2026
Start of delivery organisation mobilisation period	Dec 2026
End of delivery organisation mobilisation period	Mar 2027
Project monitoring	Dec 2026 to Mar 2030
Handover of audit information and assets. Majority of financial reconciliation activities complete.	Feb 2030
Final retention payments released (12 months after project spend period ends)	Dec 2030
End of agreement	Dec 2030

Phase 1

Scheme design and governance: December 2026 to March 2027

Establish robust governance and reporting structures
Build collaborative strategic partnerships
Complete core programme and scheme design

(With youth engagement at the heart of these design and development processes)

Phase 2

Delivery and spend: April 2027 to March 2030

Active delivery of projects
Major funding deployment and spend oversight*
Regular performance monitoring milestones

(*Capital deployed until December 2029 to minimise risks of funding overruns. Revenue deployed until March 2030)

Phase 3

Monitoring and audit: April 2030 to December 2030

Comprehensive programme evaluation
Final financial reconciliation and audits
Long-term impact assessment reports

The grant funding agreement will be for preparatory work in the 2026/27 Financial Year, with the vast majority of onward grant spend expected to take place over a three-year period from 2027/28 through to the end of the 2029/30 Financial Year. This includes capital equipment spend; the building, renovating, and refurbishing of youth provision; and funding for youth work and enriching activities. The grant agreement also accounts for the time required for the delivery partner to participate in DCMS-led assurance activities and evaluation processes that run until 2030/31. Please note that grants cannot be paid out for any work undertaken by any applicant or the delivery partner prior to the signature of the Grant Agreement.

1.7 Latest spend dates

Onward revenue grants for the purpose of paying for costs associated with capital refurbishment or new builds that cannot be capitalised must be spent by December 2029.

Onward capital funding for the purpose of funding refurbishments, new builds or capital equipment must be spent by December 2029.

Onward revenue grants for the purpose of funding youth services activities, for example, youth workers salaries, must be spent by 31 March 2029.^{[footnote 2]}

Revenue funding for the delivery partner’s administration fee, must be spent by March 2031 to allow for any capital retention processes and programme closure activities to be concluded.

Between December 2029 (the final date for capital expenditure) and March 2031, we will expect the delivery partner to use the administration funding provided to:

1. finalise all other revenue and capital expenditure for the purpose of final accounting to DCMS 2. engage with any relevant evaluation activities required by DCMS 3. provide ongoing support to completed capital and revenue projects to ensure that schemes which have received investment are sustainable and viable.

Question 2

2. Funding purpose

Accepted Answer

DCMS funds should be demonstrably additional to existing funding. DCMS funds should not be used to replace existing youth sector funding, including local authorities’ duty to fund youth services through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS). Applicants will be required to demonstrate how they will consider additionality as part of their investment processes.

Similarly, DCMS funding should be used to build upon not duplicate existing provision. To deliver the outcomes, the growth and sustainability generated must not be driven by displacement/replacement of the existing market (meaning the creation of new youth provision which simply leads to the closure of old provision).

We are seeking a grant recipient who is able to invest revenue and capital funding into the youth sector in order to improve; the wellbeing, the social and emotional skills, behaviours and practical skills of young people which are evidenced to lead to improved life outcomes and reduced public spending on care services. To achieve this we are wanting to support an organisation deliver the following high-level objectives and expected outcomes:

2.1 Objectives

Enable a diverse range of high-quality enriching activities and youth work in underserved areas, focusing on tackling barriers to access and contributing to halving the participation gap between disadvantaged young people and their peers.
Enable opportunities for young people to have in-person connections with skilled trusted adults in diverse settings. We have an aim to support half a million more young people having access to a trusted adult outside of their home - we expect this scheme to contribute to that target.
Support positive outcomes for participating young people, in particular their skills, their engagement in community development and decision-making, and the benefits from social connections with their peers and/or trusted adults.
Embed young people’s views at the heart of decision-making, both locally and at the scale of the programme, learning, testing and growing as the fund develops.
Create, expand, improve and/or preserve up to 250 facilities, that offer access to youth work and enriching activities to young people in underserved areas; including maximising the use of up to 2,500 new or existing youth facilities through the provision of capital equipment.
Support and improve the local infrastructure, in particular by:
- improving the safety and accessibility of youth activities and facilities
- supporting jobs and economic activity in underserved areas though contracts and supply chains
Support and improve the youth sector’s capacity and capability to effectively run youth activities and facilities, including:
- incentivising and supporting place-based youth partnerships that work collectively to deliver the activities and spaces young people want and need.
- increasing the financial resilience of the supported organisations

DCMS is willing to consider any delivery proposal which will achieve these outcomes. Section 3 of this guidance outlines a range of models which DCMS believes may be successful and which are provided to assist applicants in considering what an effective delivery model may look like. DCMS is open to alternative models.

The successful application should demonstrate how they will use the available funding to both stabilise and grow youth provision in the short to medium term as well as embed long term sustainable growth in the local youth sector eco system in the medium to long term.

We will favour applications which:

offer the greatest impact on these outcomes, particularly schemes which will continue to deliver benefits beyond the period of DCMS funding
can demonstrate a place-based local approach, embedding delivery in local plans and communities
have a strong youth empowerment and co-design proposal throughout the entirety of the fund, from design to evaluation
include considerations of match funding and philanthropic opportunities to ensure maximum reach of funding^{[footnote 3]}
include considerations of how they can support youth organisations - including unsuccessful applicants - by helping them navigate diverse, sustainable funding streams, enhancing the sector’s capability to secure resource funding in the future

Question 3

3. Previous delivery models/lessons learned

Accepted Answer

DCMS understands that designing a delivery model for a large sum of grant funding can be challenging and difficult. The following information is provided to assist applicants in understanding how they may effectively approach designing a proposal which DCMS could support.

In designing an approach, applicants should consider the following key issues:

The successful proposal will deliver the objectives set out at section 2 above.
The successful proposal will contribute to the delivery of the ambitions of the National Youth Strategy, in particular relating to increasing disadvantaged young people’s access to enriching activities and to trusted adults.
The successful proposal will embed young people’s views in the design and delivery of the funding.
Delivery should take place across the full range of eligible places, which will be based on underserved areas of England - this list should be determined and published in autumn.
Delivery must comply with the detail of what DCMS funding can be used for as set out in section 3 above.
DCMS can only fund schemes which are compliant with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
The funding profile set out in this application has been agreed with HM Treasury and applicants will need to ensure their application can deliver against this profile.
DCMS is providing capital funding for the creation, enhancement and support of capital assets by the Youth Sector and for the Youth sector. The responsibility for the maintenance of any assets improved or created will lie with the owner of those assets. Related risks must be borne by the end recipients of funding, delivery partners, and/or addressed through insurances and warranties.
Applicants should familiarise themselves with the Terms and Conditions of grants set out at Annex A and be willing to accept these terms when making this application.

We expect applicants to set out a clear delivery plan to achieve all of the above. We will work with the successful applicant during the grant award stage to fully understand and refine their proposal in order to produce a robust grant offer letter, and to agree clear roles and responsibilities of all parties.

The information below is presented to help potential bidders understand delivery models which grant recipients have used to deliver similar outcomes using DCMS funding in the past. It is provided for information purposes only.

The information is based upon the following DCMS funded scheme:

See the Youth Investment Fund and Youth Investment Fund Phase 2 page.

See Evaluation of the Youth Investment Fund Phase 2

The YIF model involved a lead voluntary sector organisation receiving a grant from DCMS and using a portion of the funding provided to design and deliver an onward grant scheme of their own design. The grant scheme was delivered by and for the benefit of the lead voluntary sector organisation, whilst also delivering DCMS’s objectives and outcomes as the funder.

Applicants submitted applications for grant funding to the lead voluntary sector organisation, who had established their own expert panels to consider and make decisions on the award of onward grants.

Under YIF, once the independent expert panel had its recommendations for onward grant awards agreed , the lead voluntary sector organisation established the onward grant agreements and began the disbursal of funding and its support of often inexperienced individual grantees through the complex process of construction project management.

Under YIF, onward grantees were free to choose their suppliers and were required to demonstrate compliant procurement processes given public money was the source of their funding. Some grantees were supported through the Fusion 21 service - this was put in place by the lead voluntary sector organisation as part of a much broader support package for the end recipients of funding.

The YIF model placed the responsibility and accountability for the construction with end recipients as it was the individual grantees who were signatories to the various supplier contracts for their projects. The assets created were owned by the relevant grantees not by the lead voluntary sector organisation.

A key aspect of the lead voluntary sector organisation’s ability to support end recipients was through a centralised support offer. This provided access to a range of services from a central fund, including additional client side resources (for the end recipient to contract with) for situations where their own contracted resources were unable to deliver to the required standard, plus other services that changed throughout the lifecycle of the fund. Towards the end of the fund, these focused less on construction and more on aspects such as income generation, marketing, governance and so on. It is DCMS’s view that this was central to the success of the delivery model.

Support was also provided through a relationship management model. This was supplemented with professional construction expertise and the construction experts, who were subcontracted via the lead voluntary sector organisation and provided the lead voluntary sector organisation (and by extension DCMS as the funder) with its ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground through its site visits, discussions with grantees and their suppliers, and through their progress reporting. These construction experts had limited direct levers given the nature of the overall arrangement.

In addition, YIF included within the onward grants the budget needed to fund client-side ‘consultancy’ resources (for example, designers/architects, project managers, contract administrators, quantity surveyors etc). This varied significantly across the fund depending on the value of individual projects and the scope of the services provided, but as a general rule of thumb, these costs amounted to between 10 to 15% of the total onward grant capital, though we believe going forward there may be a much greater potential for these costs to be capitalised.

As part of the experience of funding YIF, DCMS has recognised the importance of having a clear understanding and oversight of all youth capital schemes delivered through the fund - helping to assure DCMS and HM Treasury that the funding will be utilised within the relevant funding profile, and ensuring DCMS is aware of any issues which may affect the successful delivery of the schemes.

Post grant award, DCMS therefore intends to procure additional technical and professional assurance services as mentioned at section 1.4.

Establishing a clear RACI matrix to delineate responsibilities across DCMS, the funder’s agent role and this delivery partner grant opportunity will be key and an important aspect for bidders to bring out clearly in their proposals and a key early deliverable to be refined and baselined during the mobilisation phase.

Question 4

4. Eligibility criteria for applicants

Accepted Answer

DCMS invites applications from charitable or philanthropic organisations with proven experience in large-scale grant delivery, capital investment, and the youth sector. The successful partner will invest in facilities, equipment, and services to drive sustainable, long-term improvements in youth provision across underserved areas in England.

4.1 Legal status of applicant

Applicants may apply as a single organisation with or without delivery partners, or may alternatively submit 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 size and scale of DCMS’ requirement, or wish to bring in additional expertise to meet DCMS’ required skills and experience for this role. Applicants are responsible for determining the most appropriate approach to delivering their proposal. If submitting a joint application, we 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.

DCMS is unable to accept applications from joint ventures or unincorporated partnerships or associations.

The applicants must advise DCMS if there is any change to their legal status and/or composition during or after the appointment process, and DCMS reserves the right to disqualify applicants where significant or material changes occur.

4.2 Essential criteria

The applicant must demonstrate that they:

Are a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution. DCMS is making this grant award under powers granted to us by s70 of the Charities Act 2006. Therefore, we can only award grants to organisations who are charitable, philanthropic or benevolent in nature. As part of your application to us you should provide evidence that your organisation fulfils this criteria such as memorandum and articles or evidence that you are registered as such an organisation with an appropriate body. Organisations must be able to demonstrate that the project is not for profit.
You must confirm that you can deliver the funded activity within the stated programme period. That you have sufficient resources, capacity and capability to provide tailored support to a range of areas across England.
Have understanding, knowledge and experience with the youth sector landscape, local youth organisations and working with young people.
Have a robust safeguarding policy.
Have organisational capability in programme, project or grant management
Have appropriate financial management systems and processes to account for grant expenditure accurately and transparently such as fraud risk assessments, policies on fraud, bribery, anti-corruption and due diligence and experience managing counter fraud processes, while ensuring value for money
Have appropriate organisational legal protocols and processes, including data management (GDPR and Data Protection), Conflict of Interests, handling vulnerable adults and children (safeguarding), Modern Slavery declaration, Health and Safety declaration, relevant insurance, fraud and due diligence policies (as described above)

4.3 Applicant preferences

We will favour applications from organisation(s) that provide evidence of:

Sector knowledge and capability

Understanding, knowledge and experience of working with the youth sector landscape, including VCSE organisations, Local Authorities, representative stakeholders and other public service providers at a local level to understand what provision currently exists in each eligible place and what is needed across refurbishments, new builds, capital equipment and youth services funding.
Understanding of the support and assurance required for local youth organisations delivering activities and capital projects.
Understanding of and commitment to supporting young people.

Delivery experience

Demonstrable experience of designing and delivering similar projects, which align to the fund’s objectives, including delivering and monitoring of grant funding.
Demonstrable experience of meaningfully embedding young people’s views in the design and delivery of projects as well as providing appropriate input for onward funding decisions.
Sufficient capacity and capabilities to deliver the fund in the timeframe set out as well as to upskill and support staff
If an onward grant model is proposed, experience of grant management, in particular technical assessment of bids and appropriate digital platforms and systems to support grant management services
The ability to map the landscape of relevant funding opportunities available to youth organisations in each eligible place and to then signpost these depending on the needs of organisations, offering an appropriate amount of support and advice to those who need it.

Monitoring and evaluation

Experience and capacity to work with an independent evaluator.
Experience supporting evaluations through taking part in evaluation activities such as interviews and providing data to support a programme evaluation.
The ability to facilitate and embed lesson learned to drive legacy of the fund within the youth sector.
Appropriate data sharing, management and monitoring.

Technical ability

The ability to track the progress of a large portfolio of individual projects, underpinned by robust portfolio management arrangements, including timely, accurate and insightful management information, planning and forecasting.
The ability to design, deliver and maintain any relevant online and offline services that meet legal and regulatory requirements for security, accessibility and protecting the privacy of users.

4.4 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 will assess the following:

You have a track record of delivering grants of the relevant size, scale and complexity given the overall funding available through this programme.
We have received and reviewed at least two references from a minimum of two organisations that have previously funded you to deliver a fund.
If you have been funded by another part of the government, we seek feedback from that department.
That you are not already receiving funding for this fund meaning the fund is funded twice, unless the other funding is acting as match funding.
Trustees are identifiable and unrelated to others within organisations involved in the programme (including DCMS), and there is no indication of fraud.
Where multiple organisations are located at the same postcode, there is no indication of fraud – if you do have the same postcode as other organisations you will be asked to provide an explanation.
You are able to provide an annual report and audited or certified accounts, covering the last two years or similar documentation.

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.

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

We will not give you a chance to provide missing information if your application is incomplete.

Question 5

5. Funding available and associated costs

Accepted Answer

5.1 Available funding

DCMS is seeking to award a grant to a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic organisation with experience in grant delivery relevant to the size and complexity of this programme, capital expertise and knowledge of the youth sector. We anticipate that funding will be awarded to the recipient under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006.

The maximum, total budget available for the fund is £416.8 million: £335.6 million in capital funding, £54.9 million in revenue funding, and £26.3 million associated with delivery and administration of the Youth Matters Fund, up to Financial Year 2030/31.

Our intent is for this grant budget to be awarded fully but, from DCMS’s experience of comparable funds, we would recommend that bidders plan for contingencies to manage the risk of cost and time overruns on projects. For example, in the cost model provided, we have assumed that £320.8 million (80%) of the funding could be allocated initially, with an additional £74.6 million of contingency budget, deployed once there is greater certainty around final project costs, grant variations and timings.^{[footnote 4]}

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. This means that both the annual budgets and the total allocation of capital and revenue are essentially fixed.

While these indicative funding allocations are based on our experience of comparable, historic capital programmes, we welcome proposals that flex the split of the budget across funding categories and the timing of spend for certain line items, for example, the flat capital equipment spend profile could flex to support a different construction spend profile, provided that there is a rationale demonstrating how this leads to better delivery of the fund’s objectives while still aligning with the overarching profile and annual budget totals.

Additionally, bidders are explicitly encouraged to set out their approach to match-funding and philanthropic opportunities and the sequencing thereof, as a key method for improving the viability of the overall fund. Where such match-funding or philanthropic investments results in a material increase in the total grant funding being delivered, we would be open to discussing a commensurate uplift in the delivery partner’s administrative budget.

This grant is to support young people and youth organisations within underserved areas in England. We expect funding to be open to organisations delivering for all young people aged 10 to 21, and up to the age of 25 for young people with SEND, but will be targeted at breaking down barriers to access for disadvantaged and/or vulnerable young people. These include (but are not limited to) ethnic minorities, young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities, young people from low socio-economic backgrounds and those living in poverty, care experienced young people and care leavers, young carers.

The funding we are providing falls into two categories, alongside an administrative budget to manage the fund:

Funding strand	Total (£m)
Building and equipping Capital funding £335.5 million of capital funding. DCMS considers capital funding to be a new investment or expenditure that improves the future economic benefits that an asset will generate. Capital funding may be used to support investment in: The creation and refurbishment of youth capital assets (such as youth centres, skate parks, and multi-use games areas) - we would expect circa £260.5 million to be used for this output. Increasing the availability and quality of smaller capital items such as minibuses, computers etc - we would expect circa £75 million to be used for this output. Although we understand that those accessing the fund to create new capital assets are likely to need equipment, we would not want all of the funding to be allocated in that way. Any other reasonable capital investment which may be identified as a clear need to improve the quantity, quality and sustainability of youth provision and will provide flexibility in the use of this funding as appropriate to the local needs identified by the successful applicant during the delivery phase Such capital investments should ensure be sustainable and should not duplicate or create competition with existing youth sector infrastructure.	£335.55
Revenue funding Available to support the implementation of larger capital schemes. Some of this’ revenue funding could also be made available to support the development of investment plans and proposals, such as pre-construction activities and building local youth sector partnerships. While the bar for this type of investment is high due to the limited time available to progress construction projects, we recognise it may be justified where certain eligible areas or audiences of young people are under-represented. We are particularly interested in proposals that demonstrate how these funding strands will be used coherently to support clear local needs and opportunities. Due to the limited revenue available, where appropriate and applicable, we will expect the capitalisation of revenue expenditure related to capital schemes and have provided relevant guidance on eligible spend in section 5.2.	£13.03
Delivering Revenue funding Eligible expenditure for the use of this money will centre around funding expanded or new enriching activities and youth work, including through staff costs, workforce training and development, and youth empowerment activities. Although we understand that those accessing the fund to create new capital assets are likely to need funding to develop their workforce, this should ideally be funded from the £13 million of revenue already allocated to the Building and Equipping funding strand. We expect the funding to cover a broad range of youth work and enriching activities for young people. Potential activities could include (but are not limited to) open access, outreach and detached youth work, volunteering, social action programmes, outdoor learning, and uniformed youth groups and mentoring when part of other youth programmes as well as youth-work led sport, arts, and cultural interventions.	£41.90
Administrative costs Revenue funding Total funding available to the delivery organisation for administration from Financial Year 2026/27 until Financial Year 2030/31 will be to manage fund closure tasks. This may include centralised costs, services and sub-contracts associated with supporting onward grantees to deliver their projects. We expect the grant recipient to use what remains of the 2026/27 Financial Year for detailed project design and to prepare and launch their scheme. It is assumed that capital spend will commence from the start of the 2027/28 Financial Year.	£26.33
Total	£416.81

The table below provides a detailed, multi-year breakdown of the grant funding available, categorised by financial year and expenditure type, within the fixed annual budget structure.

	27/28	28/29	29/30	30/31	Total	Notes
Construction	69.00	83.84	55.60	-	208.44	-
Construction (contingency)	17.25	20.96	13.90	-	52.11	25% of Construction budget
Equipment	20.00	20.00	20.00	-	60.00	-
Equipment (contingency)	5.00	5.00	5.00	-	15.00	25% of Equipment budget
Total capital	111.25	129.80	94.50	-	335.55	-
Costs to support construction projects	3.45	4.19	2.78	-	10.42	5% of Construction budget
Support spend (contingency)	0.86	1.05	0.70	-	2.61	25% of grants budget
Youth Services	22.86	19.05	0.00	-	41.90	-
Total revenue	27.17	24.29	3.48	-	54.93	-
Admin costs	5.59	6.14	3.78	0.50	16.02	5% of Youth Services and Construction budgets
Admin costs (contingency)	1.11	1.30	0.95	0.13	3.48	25% of IGM costs
Grantee support offer	1.74	1.74	1.74	0.25	5.46	2.5% of Construction budgets (split evenly across 27/28 to 29/30 and additional budget available to close out programme in 30/31)
Grantee support offer (contingency)	0.43	0.43	0.43	0.07	1.37	25% of Grantee support offer
Total delivery partner fee	8.88	9.61	6.90	0.94	26.33	-
Subtotal	147.30	163.70	104.87	0.94	416.81	-

DCMS will also fund and procure the Funder’s Agent function as mentioned at section 1.4 and an independent third-party evaluator, which is not included in the financial breakdown above.

We would expect the delivery organisation to adopt a flexible approach to the types of project supported when investing the capital and resource funding. Any projects viable within the timeframe and meeting the outcome of expanding the reach, range and efficiency of youth provision could be in scope.

5.2 Eligible Expenditure

5.2.1. Eligible administration expenditure

The applicant must present a financial breakdown of the revenue funding requests to administer the fund using the following headings: staffing; materials; administration; overheads; equipment and travel and subsistence. ‘In kind contributions’ should not be submitted as part of the financial breakdown but instead may be referred to in a commentary or within the project plan.

The following table is a good example of how project costs/budgets can be presented in the application form – this ensures consistency across applications.

Cost heading	Description	Costs	VAT	Total
Staff costs	-	-	-	-
Full Cost Recovery (for example, indirect or overhead costs associated with delivery)	-	-	-	-
Training for staff	-	-	-	-
Travel and subsistence	-	-	-	-
Office equipment and materials – Non-fixed assets	-	-	-	-
Professional costs	-	-	-	-
+Other	-	-	-	-
Total	-	-	-	-
Other income – match funding	-	-	-	-

The administration resource element of the grant to cover costs of delivering the fund may be spent on:

staff costs where they directly relate to programme activity, meaning salaries, employer’s national, insurance contributions and employer’s contributions to any occupational pension scheme or stakeholder pension scheme
overheads proportional to the work carried out including rent, non-domestic rates, heating, lighting, cleaning
postage, telephone, stationery and printing
travel and subsistence
running conferences, seminars and events
Small items of plant and equipment, tools, information technology equipment (individual item costs below £2,000)
auditor’s fees relating to the funded work only
communications materials in all media (subject to Cabinet Office controls)
paying for specialist help (for example, market research, communications expertise, related research) - (subject to Cabinet Office controls)
giving evidence to select committees
attending meetings with ministers or officials 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’; and
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

5.2.2. Eligible programme revenue expenditure (including any onward grants)

The funding may be spent on the following activities:

Project management and capacity: Staff costs directly relating to programme activity (including salaries, national insurance, and pension contributions), training, and workforce development to upskill staff and support effective delivery.
Overheads and operational costs: Proportionate costs associated with running the project, such as travel and subsistence, administration, and other necessary operational expenses.
Service expansion and growth: Costs incurred to increase the reach, range, or quality of youth provision, including hiring additional youth workers and the implementation of new enriching activities.
Innovation, delivery and co-design: Costs directly related to project design and implementation, including communication and marketing, partnership development, and youth empowerment/co-design activities (including remuneration for young people participating in these processes).

5.2.3. Eligible capital revenue expenditure (including any onward grants)

The definition of capital funding on the Youth Matters Fund programme is a new investment or expenditure that improves the future economic benefits that an asset will generate. This broadly splits capital eligibility into 2 categories: 1) New investments; and 2) Improving an asset’s economic benefits.

i) New investments

This category covers one-off investments in eligible capital assets. This comprises individual assets (tangible or intangible) valued over £2,000, or multiple capitalisable assets with a cumulative value over £2,000, purchased in a single transaction.

Awarded grants under this category may include costs for:

one off purchase of equipment needed to improve a facility’s youth offer
equipment to improve health and wellbeing, such as outdoor gym equipment
IT improvements including websites, portals, platforms and new IT equipment
purchase of vehicles or mobile units, which could be used for detached youth work or as mobile youth centres
furnishings which enhance the facility’s provision

ii) Improving an asset’s economic benefits

This category covers expenditure that improves the future economic benefits that the asset will generate. Such costs increase the asset’s potential to deliver the future economic benefits that were expected when the asset was originally acquired, for example, works that materially extend the life or increase the functionality of the asset in question.

Awarded grants under this category may include costs for:

installation of green energy for example, solar panels, heat pumps (reducing operational costs)
insulation
improvements that will allow greater access to service users with disabilities
equipment that will expand and enrich youth activities offered by existing providers, for example, outdoor sports and activities, kitchen equipment, landscaping
grants for minor facility improvements to improve safeguarding and security for young people, for example, CCTV installations, Improved building security
changes to existing spaces, for example, provision of music rooms, arts and crafts, I.T rooms
expansion or extension of existing facilities used for youth services/activities, where renovation work will expand the capacity or inclusivity of services being offered to young people

iii) Client-side resource costs

This category covers reasonable client-side professional fees and dedicated project management costs that are directly attributable to the design, procurement and delivery of the approved capital works, where incurred solely for the purpose of creating or enhancing the funded asset. DCMS will be able to provide steers on eligibility for this category on a case by case basis.

5.3 Ineligible expenditure (capital and revenue)

The funds may not be used for:

capital investments under £2,000 in value
routine maintenance and repair costs of equipment
like-for-like replacement of existing equipment
operating expenses
payment that supports lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action
using grant funding to petition for additional funding
input VAT reclaimable by your organisation(s) from HMRC
payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature
goods or services that your organisation(s) 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 your organisation(s)
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 your organisation(s) not directly linked to the programme
interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
gifts to individuals other than promotional items
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
use in respect of costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from any other source
‘business as usual’ expenditure (meaning costs that would be incurred regardless of the Youth Matters Fund project)

If a situation arises where it is unclear what activities the funding can be spent on, this should be clarified early with DCMS. DCMS will claw back funding if it subsequently found that funding is spent on activities that are not allowed.

Value added tax. The grant offer will be made on the basis that the costs presented to the Department take account of all VAT liabilities. If it is later found that the project costs increase because an error has been made about whether VAT can be recovered, DCMS will not increase your grant to cover this. If the grant recipient is, after all, able to recover VAT, which it had included in the costs put forward to DCMS, they will be liable to repay all or some of the amount it recovers, to DCMS.

DCMS may seek to recover some or all of the grant, if the grant recipient is performing unsatisfactorily or if the project ceases activity. DCMS may not require all or part of the grant to be repaid where the reasons for unsatisfactory performance or early cessation of work is beyond the control of the grant recipient and reasonably unforeseen.

5.4 Financial requirements

The DCMS financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. If successful, drawdown requests and budgets must fit the DCMS financial year.
Although the funding to projects may be paid by the delivery organisation in arrears as standard, funding to the delivery organisation will be paid monthly at point of need.
The delivery organisation will provide a forecast cash requirement by working day 7 of the preceding month, any variance between forecast and actual expenditure in month will be accordingly added/subtracted from the subsequent cash request. The delivery organisation will only pay the onward grantee upon provision of sufficient evidence.
The delivery organisation must be able to transparently report on a quarterly basis and provide evidence of expenditure on the use of the YMF. The YMF must be shown as restricted funds in the delivery organisations accounts and you must be able to identify separately the value and purpose of the grant in the 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.

Question 6

6. Reporting responsibilities

Accepted Answer

The successful applicant will be expected to utilise the funding to achieve impacts linked to the objectives outlined in section 2. Applicants should explain how they will achieve this impact via a delivery plan as part of their application. Output metrics from the agreed version of the delivery plan will be reflected within the Grant Agreement and will be monitored monthly. Examples of such metrics would include, but are not limited to:

number and types of organisations receiving funding for activities
number and types of activities funded
number and profile of additional young people attending the activities funded
number and types of youth empowerment activities delivered or commissioned
support provided for the youth sector infrastructure, for example, events, resources, training, etc
number of new or refurbished youth facilities (published target in the National Youth Strategy) is circa 250)
number of youth facilities with improved equipment (for modelling purposes we have assumed circa 2,000 grants across the 2027/28 to 2029/30 Financial Years which may include the 250 facilities above)
number of youth facilities improved overall
number of youth facilities with improved access
number of additional young people engaged by youth facilities
number of staff and volunteers working at organisations receiving funding
the qualifications of staff and volunteers working at organisations receiving funding

DCMS is committed to robust monitoring and evaluation of grant funding, proportionate to the size and length of the grant. Successful applicants are expected to:

attend monthly monitoring meetings to provide an update on the progress of the delivery portfolio and expenditure/forecasts, outlining any risks and mitigations
attend a monthly^{[footnote 6]} DCMS-chaired programme board and provide papers to evidence progress, provide a finance update and to declare any risks or mitigating actions. DCMS will provide a template for returns
work with the independent evaluation partner and/or DCMS to support delivery of the evaluation and collection of relevant data for the overarching process evaluation and monitoring of impact (this includes attending fortnightly meetings with DCMS and the evaluation supplier)

The grant recipient will provide an end of programme report to DCMS confirming that the grant outputs have been delivered to a satisfactory standard and that the expected outcomes and benefits have been achieved or are expected to be achieved. The report must focus on whether the programme was effective, achieved its objectives and milestones, and whether the outcomes had an impact. It should cover activities for the grant period. The final report must highlight any best practice or lessons learned.

No later than three months from the end of the grant period, the grant recipient will provide DCMS with a Statement of Grant Usage that has been audited by an independent accountant and a final financial statement detailing the use of the grant funding.

Question 7

7. Evaluation

Accepted Answer

DCMS will separately commission an independent evaluation for the fund. The successful applicant(s) as well as any onward funding recipient must work together with the appointed evaluator and participate in proportionate evaluation activities. We will discuss requirements for this in due course.

Question 8

8. How to apply

Accepted Answer

Please follow the steps below to apply:

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

2. Complete the mandatory initial stages:

‘Confirm your organisation’s eligibility’ - complete an eligibility checklist questionnaire highlighting how you are eligible against the minimum required standard for this fund.
‘Due diligence checks’ - to collect required information to allow for our due diligence checks including; organisation legal name, type, registered address, Charity Commission number (if applicable), Companies House number (if applicable), amount of funding required, where it will be spent.

3. Complete the online application form hosted on Find A Grant (search ‘Youth Matters Fund’).

Applications open on Friday 10 July 2026 and close at 11:59pm on Friday 21 August 2026.

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

Sections 8.3 and 9 below sets out how we will make decisions on the award of grant funding.

This includes:

a) a review to ensure applicants meet minimum requirements as set out at section 8.1

Then for applicants who meet the minimum requirements;

b) Proposals set out in the written application will be scored (70% of the overall marks)

c) Applicants will be invited to interview which will be scored (30% of the overall marks)

8.1 Minimum requirements (eligibility checker)

The questions below are to assess your organisation’s suitability to receive delivery partner grant funding and are assessed on a pass/fail basis. Applicants that do not meet all minimum requirements will not progress further in the process. Annex B sets out how we will assess these requirements.

Is your organisation a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution?
Does your organisations have appropriate and robust safeguarding policies in place and confirm compliance with all relevant legal requirements including;
- data management (GDPR and Data Protection)
- conflict of interests
- handling vulnerable adults and children (safeguarding)
- Modern Slavery declaration
- Health and Safety declaration
- relevant insurance
- fraud and due diligence policies
Does your organisation have organisational capability in programme or project management, and have sufficient project management resources with appropriate knowledge and skills to manage the project effectively to achieve outcomes of a circa £400 million programme?
Does your organisation have experience of the youth sector landscape?
Does your organisation have experience of working with, and providing support/guidance to, other organisations?
Does your organisation have expertise in incorporating youth empowerment within project design and/or delivery?
Does your organisation have the capacity to deliver support to local organisations across all nine regions in England?
Does your organisation have the technical expertise, capacity and knowledge to meet the objectives?
Does your organisation have appropriate financial management systems and processes to account for grant expenditure accurately and transparently such as Fraud Risk Assessments, policies on fraud, bribery, anti-corruption and due diligence and experience managing counter fraud processes, while ensuring value for money?
Please confirm that your organisation can deliver the funded activity within the stated programme period.

8.2 Application criteria

All applications will be judged against the following weighted criteria. Scores will be an amalgamation of responses provided at the written application stage and responses provided at interview.

Application form section	Weighting
Fund proposal: Applicants must be able to clearly explain their design proposal and how they intend to meet the YMF fund objectives and outcomes by 31 March 2031, including how they will involve young people.	35%
Fund delivery: Applicants must demonstrate the organisation’s capacity and capability to effectively deliver their proposal to achieve the YMF fund objectives and outcomes.	25%
Fund management: Applicants must set out the financial management systems and processes that will be used to ensure the YMF fund grant expenditure is accounted for accurately and transparently including indicative cost and how value for money will be ensured. Applicants should also set out their organisational approach to managing fraud.	20%
Monitoring and evaluation: Applicants must set out their approach to appropriate monitoring and evaluation of the fund, including generating data collection and applying learning during delivery to support continuous improvement, alongside post-programme evaluation. Applicants should also set out their approach to engagement with DCMS and the external evaluator.	10%
Legacy and sustainability: Applicants must set out the long term benefits that will develop as part of the project, and the measures that will be put in place to ensure outcomes and outputs remain sustainable once funding has finished.	10%
Total	100%

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

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

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. For example, if the weighting for a question is 20%, a mark of 4 for that question would lead to a score of 20%, a mark of 3 for that question would lead to a score of 15%, a mark of 2 for that question would lead to a score of 10%, a mark of 1 for that question would lead to a score of 5%, and a mark of 0 would lead to a score of 0%.

8.3 Scoring methodology

To ensure a fair and objective competition, we utilise a dual-stage assessment process comprising a written application (70%) and a structured interview (30%). All applicants who pass the minimum eligibility requirements in section 8.1 will be invited to the interview stage. Final scores will be a weighted aggregate of the written application score and the interview score.

Scoring and aggregation

The final score for each applicant will be a weighted aggregate of the written application (70%) and the structured interview (30%). Written application: Your written response will be scored against the criteria below (totalling 100% of the application score). This final application percentage will contribute 70% towards your final aggregate score. Structured interview: The interview will be scored against the criteria set out below. This interview score will contribute 30% towards your final aggregate score.

Interview scoring mechanics

The structured interview will be scored using the same 0 to 4 marking scale (as detailed in section 8.2).

i) Fund proposal 35% - application and interview

What we are looking for in the response:

Application:

a. Programme description: Explain your design proposal and how you intend to deliver on the fund’s objectives. This should include:

clearly explain your design proposal to deliver the fund
how you will meet the key strategic objectives and deliver outcomes
if relevant - how you will manage assessment and award of a large volume of applications, across the different strands of funding
responsibilities of each partner in the consortium (if applicable)
a clear description of the timeline and resource needed to deliver the programme as specified in the guidance document

b. Youth engagement: Explain how you will deliver measurable social value to local communities and the young people they serve. This should include:

how will you ensure young people are meaningfully involved in the design and delivery of the funding
how will you co-design and collaborate with local communities and young people
how will you ensure young people in eligible areas can access provision, to help them navigate their future lives and engage with their communities

Interview:

With reference to your previous experience and track record, demonstrate that your proposal will deliver the relevant objectives and outcomes.
With reference to previous experience and track record, demonstrate that your understand the financial and timescale challenges inherent in the project and that you have the skills and experience to meet these challenges.
With reference to previous experience and track record, demonstrate that your proposals around youth engagement are robust, credible and based on a full understanding of the youth sector.

ii) Fund delivery 25% - application and interview

Application:

What we are looking for in the response:

a. Programme location:

Location of your organisation and delivery partners.
A coherent proposed delivery approach for working with stakeholders and young people across a wide geographical area, with a particular focus on underserved areas and place-based approaches, with a particular focus on underserved areas and place-based approaches.

b. Programme team:

Outline who will manage and deliver the programme. Please list all roles; indicate the number of each role required and provide a summary of the role responsibilities and credentials.

c. Programme delivery:

Detail how your organisation has delivered projects of a similar scope and/or scale.
How the grant programme will be co-designed, structured and operated .
How investment decisions will be made.
All the activities and associated outputs that will be delivered in each month of the programme.
Detail how your approach will prioritise equipment essential for youth activities, ensuring it supports high levels of participation, rather than underutilised assets.
Detail how the approach will increase access to and participation in youth work and enriching activities for disadvantaged young people.
Consideration of sector realities, including underused spaces and workforce and revenue constraints.

d. Programme impact:

Outline how your proposal will achieve the objectives of the programme, including any targets that you will set.
Using the objectives of the fund, please outline how you will capture outcomes of the fund, including how you will measure benefits.
Please set out how you can support youth organisations - including unsuccessful applicants - by helping them navigate diverse, sustainable funding streams, enhancing the sector’s capability to secure resource funding in the future.

e. Sufficient capacity to deliver the programme by 31 March 2030:

How the grant programme will be structured and operated and how investment decisions will be made.
Ability to mobilise quickly and operate at pace within a single financial year.
Demonstrable experience delivering grant programmes of a suitable scale (preferably capital/equipment or place-based services).
Proposed approach to oversight and governance arrangements of the fund, including internal governance arrangements (for example, partnership or consortium management arrangements) and oversight of the overall fund
Your organisation has sufficient technical capability, financial management, and staffing and operational capacity to assess and monitor projects in a timely manner
Evidence of sufficient staffing and operational capacity, and if specialist expertise is in place, or will be recruited, to run and manage project activities
Experience working with a diverse range of partners, including smaller grassroots organisations.
Experience working with young people, including embedding their views within project design and delivery.
Your organisation has resource and capacity to dedicate to upskilling and supporting staff, including but not limited to safeguarding, youth empowerment and youth voice training, monitoring and evaluation activities

Interview:

Consider how you would respond to the loss of a key member of the delivery team or, in the case of a consortium, a key partner leaving the consortium.
Set out what you consider to be the key risks to programme delivery and how you would respond should one of these risks materialise.
Set out how you will ensure that governance is effective and robust across the life of the programme and beyond.
How will you deliver the fund in underserved areas and communities, reaching disadvantaged young people?
Explain how you would seek to embed the impact and benefits of the funding long term and beyond the lifetime of the grant.

**iii) Fund management 20% - application only

Describe the financial management systems and processes you will put in place to ensure you can account for grant expenditure of capital and revenue accurately and transparently. This may include separate cost centres, separate bank accounts, clear roles and responsibilities within your finance team, etc.
Provide a detailed and realistic budget, as outlined in the mandatory documents.
Provide evidence of what has informed their budget and delivery model to ensure the most cost-effective and impactful use of grant funding.
If relevant - clarify how they plan to award and manage onward grants to delivery partners (including how clawback of funds would be managed) and how any onward grants will represent value for money.
How you will achieve value for money, including through minimising costs and maximising efficiency
Include considerations of match funding and philanthropic opportunities to ensure maximum reach of funding, demonstrating how they will identify and secure additional funding to support their proposal.
Evidence of managing risk, fraud, and assurance proportionately meaning how your organisation will undertake due diligence and ensure effective fraud management, and particularly how you intend to assure onward grants are being used as intended.
Outline your organisation’s existing counter-fraud processes/protocols, such as Fraud Risk Assessments (FRAs), fraud, bribery and corruption and due diligence.

iv) Monitoring and evaluation 10% - application only

What we are looking for in the response:

How your proposal will achieve the programme objectives including any targets that you will set.
A proportionate approach to monitoring outcomes for funded organisations and wider beneficiaries, including how activity, capacity, capability and participation will be measured.
Clear plans showing when and how you will capture outputs (for example, grants awarded, equipment distributed) and outcomes (for example, increased youth participation).
Consideration of achievable milestones and early warning indicators.
Strong systems for application management and assessment and data collection, storage, sharing and reporting.
How you will proportionate data collection that does not overburden delivery organisations whilst enabling and supporting programme evaluation.
Ability to aggregate and analyse programme-level data and report clearly to DCMS.
A commitment to using data to improve delivery over time.
How you will collaborate with the DCMS’ external evaluator and DCMS to monitor and evaluate the fund.

v) Legacy and sustainability 10% - application only

What we are looking for in the response:

Clear plans to capture and share long-term learnings and benefits that will develop as part of the project.
Considerations of how to ensure outcomes and outputs remain sustainable once funding has finished.
Long-term commitment to sustain the benefits gained through the proposal, and how the proposal aligns with the missions of your organisation (or organisations in the case of a consortium).

8.4 Completing your application form

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.

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

Question 9

9. Grant award process

Accepted Answer

A panel will assess the bids. 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. Eligibility sift: Applicants will be required to complete a ‘minimum requirement’ assessment (section 8.1) to ensure that all eligibility requirements are met. This is a pass/fail assessment; applications which do not meet these minimum requirements will not be able to progress with their application.

2. Written evaluation: Eligible applications are scored by an assessment panel against the criteria detailed in section 8.2 and 8.3.

3. Structured interview (for all applicants passing eligibility): All applicants who pass the minimum eligibility requirements will be invited to a final interview in August 2026. Interviews focus on strategic delivery and application of principles. We will provide guidance to eligible applicants on the interview process.

4. Final weighted aggregation: The final decision is based on a weighted aggregate score (70% written application score, 30% interview score). The successful applicant will be the highest-scoring bidder who satisfies the due diligence process.

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.

We will conduct due diligence checks on applicants that pass the minimum eligibility sift, including fraud risk indicators. The relevant documentation is expected to be provided alongside your application form.

9.1 Grant award - acceptance of approval

DCMS will aim to notify the successful applicant who will be recommended for approval to be the grant recipient(s) by the department on 10 September 2026

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 joint 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 section 5). Detailed terms and conditions will be set out within the final Grant Agreement letter.

Unsuccessful applications

We will inform all unsuccessful applicants in September 2026. We will issue written feedback to shortlisted applications that are unsuccessful. 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 ymf@dcms.gov.uk by midday 24 July 2026, after which no further questions will be responded to.

All clarification questions will be anonymised and responses will be shared with all applicants.

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

Application documents

Youth Matters Fund grant opportunity guidance (this document)
Youth Matters Fund grant application form
DCMS Standard terms and conditions of grants

Please note that the successful applicant will be expected to agree to DCMS Standard terms and conditions of grants. Amendments cannot be made to these terms and conditions.

Question 10

10. Privacy notice

Accepted Answer

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 the fund. 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.

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.

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

Question 11

Annex A: DCMS standard terms and conditions of grants

Accepted Answer

Definitions

1) In these terms and conditions:

a) Accountable Officer is the person You appoint in accordance with clause 22);
b) Agreement or Grant Agreement means the Agreement specified in the Grant Offer Letter, including these terms and conditions and any other Annexes and appendices notified in the Grant Offer Letter;
c) Asset means any asset that is to be purchased or developed using Grant funds, including equipment or fixed assets;
d) Branding Manual means the HM Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Branding Manual Funded by UK Government published by the Cabinet Office in December 2022 which is available at gov.uk, including any subsequent updates from time to time;
e) Cash Flow Profile is defined in clause 17);
f) Claim is defined in clause 12);
g) Eligible Expenditure are the costs specified in Annex 1 to the Agreement;
h) Event of Default is defined in clause 54;
i) Financial Irregularity includes, regardless of the amount, any fraud, other impropriety, or mismanagement in relation to the Grant or the Project, including the use of the Grant for purposes other than the Project;
j) Financial Year means the period running from the 1st April to 31st March in the following year;
k) Funding Period means the period for which the Grant is awarded, starting on the date of this Grant Agreement and ending at the end of the Financial Year in which the last Tranche is payable;
l) Grant means the grant payable by Us to You as set out in the Grant Offer Letter under the terms of the Grant Agreement;
m) Grant Offer Letter means the letter from Us to You offering You a Grant for the Project;
n) Information Acts means the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (the retained EU law version of the GDPR (EU 2016/679), as transposed into UK law by the Data Protection, Electronic Communication and Privacy (EU Exit) (Amendments etc) Regulations 2019), and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004;
o) Intellectual Property Rights means all copyright, patents, trademarks, database rights, design rights, goodwill, know-how and all other intellectual property rights, whether registered or unregistered, in any part of the world;
p) Managing Public Money means the guidance issued by the Treasury in June 2025 concerning the proper use of public funds, and includes any subsequent updates to that guidance from time to time;
q) Payment Request Form is the form specified in the Grant Offer Letter;
r) Parties means You and Us, and each a Party;
s) Project means the project described in the Annex 1 to the Agreement;
t) Revised Cash Flow Profile is defined in clause 18);
u) State Subsidy Rules means the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and the subsidy and control principles of the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement 2020 and other treaty obligations in connection with state subsidies set out in HM Government’s guidance on the UK Subsidy Control Regime.
v) Tranche means the tranches of Grant specified in the Agreement;
w) We, Us and Our means the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and includes those officials and employees acting on behalf of the Secretary of State; and
x) You and Your means the organisation that We are giving the Grant to, as specified in the Grant Offer Letter, and includes officials, employees and agents acting for You.

2) In these terms and conditions:

a) references to numbered clauses are references to the relevant clause in these terms and conditions;
b) any obligation on any Party not to do or omit to do anything shall include an obligation not to allow that thing to be done or omitted to be done;
c) the headings to the clauses of these terms and conditions are for information only and do not affect the interpretation of the Agreement;
d) any reference to an enactment includes reference to that enactment as amended or replaced from time to time and to any subordinate legislation or byelaw made under that enactment; and
e) the word ‘including’ shall be understood as meaning ‘including without limitation’.

Provision of Grant

3) Subject to You complying with the terms and conditions set out in the Grant Agreement, We agree to pay to You the Grant in respect of Eligible Expenditure incurred by You in the Tranches and in the Financial Years set out in this Grant Agreement.

4) The Grant must be used solely for the purposes set out in the Project Description and must not be applied other than in accordance with the terms of this Grant Agreement. You must not make any material change to the Project without Our prior written consent.

5) Each Tranche must only be used by You to offset Eligible Expenditure incurred in connection with the Project in the Financial Year for that Tranche. You may not retain any unspent portion of a Tranche that has not been used by the end of the Financial Year to which the Tranche relates, without Our written permission.

6) Each Tranche may not be used to fund any other expenditure (including expenditure other than for the Project or expenditure for the Project incurred outside of the relevant Financial Year for the Tranche in question).

7) Where You receive funding from a third party in relation to the Project, You must notify Us promptly and provide Us with details of the amount and purpose of the funding.

Eligible expenditure and VAT

8) Only costs incurred in respect of those goods and services physically received in the Financial Years specified are Eligible Expenditure for the purposes of this Grant Agreement. Costs incurred in respect of any goods or services received outside the Financial Years specified or to a total value greater than that set out in the Grant Offer Letter for any one Financial Year (or in total) are not Eligible Expenditure. Eligible Expenditure is limited, in all cases, to costs which:

a) are incurred between the date You sign the Grant Offer Letter and the end of the Financial Year for the last Tranche payable
b) are net of VAT recoverable by You from HM Revenue and Customs; and
c) are gross of unrecoverable VAT.

9) You acknowledge that the Grant is not consideration for any taxable supply to Us for VAT purposes. In the event VAT is held to be chargeable, all Grant payments made by Us to You shall be deemed to be inclusive of any VAT, and You understand that Our obligation does not extend to paying You any amounts in respect of VAT in addition to the Grant.

Payment of Grant

10) You acknowledge that the amount specified in the Grant Offer Letter is the total amount of Grant that We may pay and that this amount will not be increased as a result of any overspend or otherwise. You shall promptly repay any money incorrectly paid to You by Us, either as a result of an administrative error or otherwise.

11) The Grant will be paid monthly at point of need.

12) The Grant will be payable in monthly instalments in advance on a point of need basis by Us in response to a request for payment from You (a “Claim”). You must submit all Claims to Us using the Payment Request Form annexed to the Grant Offer Letter by the 10th working day of the preceding month.

13) We may request and You must supply proof of expenditure and any other supporting documentation and information in addition to the Payment Request Form as We may require.

14) We will pay instalments of the Grant only if We are satisfied that all supporting information in connection with the Claim has been supplied to Our satisfaction.

15) We do not commit to renew or continue financial support to You after the Funding Period has ended.

16) If any part of the Grant remains unspent on conclusion of the Project, You shall ensure that any unspent funds are returned to Us.

Forecasts

17) You must provide Us with an anticipated spend on the Project (the “Cash Flow Profile”) at least one month before the first Claim is submitted to Us in each Financial Year for the Grant. We may request and You must provide such additional information as We may reasonably require in addition to the Cash Flow Profile.

18) In the event of any changes to the Cash Flow Profile, You must provide Us with a revised Cash Flow Profile (the “Revised Cash Flow Profile”) by 30th November for the remainder of that Financial Year, taking into account any over or underspend which has occurred.

19) If an overspend has occurred, We may delay or defer payment of any excess spending above the Cash Flow Profile.

20) If an underspend has occurred, and if You consider that the Cash Flow Profile for the remainder of the Financial Year is uncertain at that date, You must provide two forecasts: one showing the most likely Revised Cash Flow Profile and the other the maximum possible Revised Cash Flow Profile. You must also submit such supporting and explanatory information as We may reasonably require.

21) Once the Revised Cash Flow Profile or Profiles for a Financial Year has been submitted no further funding above the highest of those submitted Profiles will be available for that Financial Year except at Our discretion.

Accountability

22) Prior to the submission of the first Claim, You must confirm to Us the appointment of an Accountable Officer to be responsible for ensuring that You spend the Grant in a manner which complies with the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement.

23) In particular the Accountable Officer must:

a) advise You on the discharge of Your responsibilities under this Grant Agreement and under any subsequent terms and conditions agreed by You and Us, or any guidance or other information notified by Us
b) safeguard, control and ensure the efficient, economical and effective management of the Grant;
c) seek to ensure that financial considerations, including any issues of propriety, regularity and value for money are taken into account at all stages in relation to the Grant;
d) be responsible for signing the accounts relating to the Grant, ensuring that they are properly prepared and presented and that proper accounting records are maintained in such form as is suitable to Your requirements as well as complying with generally accepted accounting practices to which You are subject;
e) ensure that conflicts are avoided, or, where they do arise, immediately inform Our Accounting Officer of the situation before proceeding further; and
f) not assign absolutely to any person the responsibilities set out in this clause, although day-to-day duties may be delegated to appropriate members of Your staff (including the signing of the Payment Request Forms);
g) You must notify Us in advance of any change of appointment of Accountable Officer.

24) You remain responsible for compliance with the conditions of this Grant Agreement in relation to the entire Grant, regardless of whether You work in partnership with another organisation or individual, or sub-grant or delegate any part of the delivery of the Project.

25) You must ensure that any organisation or individual You partner with, sub-grant to, or delegate to, in the course of delivering the Project, is subject to the same obligations with regard to Grant funds as are imposed upon You in this Grant Agreement, or such different obligations as We agree in writing.

Monitoring and reporting

26) The Grant is offered on condition that You:

a) provide Us with a written financial report and written operational report on Your use of the Grant and the progress with the Project every quarter or at such other interval as We reasonably require, including targets, outcomes, expenditure monitoring arrangements and performance measures, in accordance with the terms of the Grant Offer Letter and in such format as We reasonably require. Delay in providing the required information may lead to Your Grant payments being withheld, reduced or withdrawn;
b) at Our request, provide Us with such further information, explanations and documents as We may reasonably require in order to determine whether the conditions of this Grant Agreement have been complied with;
c) permit any person authorised by Us such reasonable access to Your employees, agents, premises, facilities and/or records, as We may reasonably require in order to determine whether the conditions of this Grant Agreement have been complied with;
d) permit Our representatives to observe Your management/trustee/steering group meetings whenever these meetings are to discuss the Project; and
e) retain copies of all papers and minutes of management committee/trustee/board /steering group meetings whenever these papers and minutes relate to work funded by the Grant. Copies of such information must be made available to Us, on request.

27) If You experience financial or other difficulties which may have a material impact on the effective delivery of the Project You must notify Us as soon as possible so that, if possible and without creating any legal obligation, We will have an opportunity to provide assistance in resolving the problem or take action to protect the Grant funds.

28) Throughout the Grant Period, You must maintain an internal audit function which will operate in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) in force from time to time, or such other audit function as agreed in writing by Us.

29) You must comply with (and facilitate Our compliance with) all statutory requirements as regards accounts, audit or examination of accounts, annual reports and annual returns applicable to You and Us.

30) You must permit (and comply with) any surveys of management controls and systems, including internal audit reviews, as may be required by Us.

31) You must present the Payment Schedule (Annex 3) and the Eligible Expenditure form (Annex 1) to Your external auditors/accountants for certification. The external auditors/accountants’ report should state whether, in their opinion, the Grant was applied in accordance with this Grant Agreement.

32) Your Chief Executive (or equivalent) should ensure that the systems governing the Grant funding are subject to independent review.

33) The systems in place to govern the Grant funding should be appropriate to the size of Your organisation, the level of the Grant, risk to the public funds provided and cost of the review. These arrangements may be reviewed by Us in line with HM Treasury’s Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

Annual grant review

34) The Grant will be reviewed annually and the review will take into account Your delivery of the Project against agreed outputs of the Grant Agreement. As part of the annual review We will have regard to the reports produced by You in accordance with the Grant Agreement.

35) Each annual review may result in Our making a recommendation that:

a) the Project and Grant Agreement continue in line with existing plans;
b) there should be an increase or decrease in Grant funding for the subsequent Financial Year;
c) the agreed outputs should be re-defined and agreed;
d) We should recover surplus funding;
e) the Grant Agreement should be terminated.

36) You may make representations to Us regarding any recommendations made in accordance with clause 35). We are not however obliged to act on such representations when making Our recommendation and any recommendation will be final and at Our absolute discretion

Financial management and controls

37) You must maintain to Our satisfaction an appropriate system of financial management and control, and in particular You must:

a) pay the Grant into a separate, designated bank account in Your name, which must be an ordinary business bank account, and not transfer any part of the Grant to other bank accounts except as necessary to carry out the Project;
b) keep separate, accurate and up-to-date accounts and records of the receipt and expenditure of the Grant funds You receive, and ensure all invoices, receipts, accounting records and other documents relating to the use of the Grant are kept for a period of at least seven years after the last payments financed by this Grant;
c) ensure that a record is kept of all special payments (including ex-gratia payments) as defined in Managing Public Money and losses of cash or equipment and that these are suitably recorded in the statement of accounts for each Financial Year;
d) ensure that a record is kept of gifts and hospitality, funded by the Grant;
e) introduce and maintain a sound administration and audit process and system of internal controls, including formal procedures and processes for the identification and management of risk including safeguards against fraud, theft, waste or any other impropriety or mismanagement in connection with the administration of the Grant, and ensure that the system is subject to independent review;
f) comply with such other relevant guidance on the administrative practices relating to the expenditure of public funds as notified by Us;
g) ensure that all officers, employees and other persons engaged or consulted in connection with this Grant Agreement know that they must avoid conflicts of interest. You must establish formal procedures obliging all such persons to declare any actual or potential personal or financial interest in any matter concerning this Agreement, and to be excluded from any discussion or decision making relating to the matter concerned;
h) ensure that any purchases of equipment, goods and services are based on value for money i.e. quality (or fitness for purpose) and delivery against price.

Accounts

38) You must keep proper books of accounts. You must open Your accounts to inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General if requested for the purposes of any examination, under section 6(1) of the National Audit Act 1983, of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which You have used Your resources.

39) We and persons authorised by Us, as well as the Comptroller and Auditor General, his staff at the National Audit Office and agents and advisers (the “NAO”) may examine such documents as We or they may reasonably require which are owned, held or otherwise within Your control and may require You to produce such oral or written explanations as We or the NAO may reasonably consider necessary. You must ensure that Your employees, agents and contractors produce such explanations.

40) You must show the Grant as restricted funds in Your accounts; the Grant must not be included in general funds.

41) You must identify separately the value and purpose of the Grant in Your audited (or where permitted under charity law, independently examined) accounts (or in the notes thereto) and in Your Annual Report, and must, at Our request, send Us a copy of such accounts and Annual Report for each Financial Year in which the Grant is paid.

42) Where the Grant funding allows for capital spend, You must keep a register of fixed assets acquired or improved with the Grant.

43) Where You are a company registered at Companies House and/or a registered charity, You must file Your annual return and accounts by the dates specified by Companies House and the Charity Commission respectively.

44) You must provide Us with copies of Your annual return, accounts and charity annual return (as applicable) within five days of filing them at Companies House and/or the Charity Commission.

Intellectual Property Rights

45) For the avoidance of doubt, You will retain all Intellectual Property Rights that are:

a) vested in or licensed to You prior to the Funding Period; or
b) developed by You during the Funding Period but which do not fall within clause 46).

46) We will retain any Intellectual Property Rights controlled by Us prior to the Grant award.

47) You will retain Intellectual Property Rights and any copyright in all reports, materials, documents and other products produced in whole or in part by You using the Grant.

48) You hereby grant Us a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use the Intellectual Property Rights in materials produced using the Grant for the purpose of supporting similar projects.

Disposal of assets, change of use and assignment

49) We reserve the right to determine the outcome of any Assets created as a result of the activities funded by the Grant or purchased with Grant monies.

a) You must seek approval from Us if You or Your contractors wish to dispose of, transfer or change the use of any Asset that was acquired or improved with Grant monies and must not sell any Asset below market value without prior written permission from Us.
b) Any proceeds will be surrendered to Us in full, unless otherwise agreed by Us.
c) You may not, without the prior written consent from Us, assign, transfer, sub-contract, or in any other way make over to any third party the benefit and/or the burden of this Grant Agreement.

Fraud

50) You will at all times comply with all applicable laws, statutes and regulations relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption, including but not limited to, the Bribery Act 2010.

51) If You have any grounds for suspecting Financial Irregularity in the use of any part of the Grant or in relation to the Project, You must notify Us immediately, and, where appropriate the police. You must explain to Us what steps are being taken to investigate the suspicion, and keep Us informed about the progress of the investigation. Any grounds for suspecting Financial Irregularity includes what You, acting with due care, should have suspected as well as what is actually proven.

Borrowing

52) You must obtain prior written consent from Us before:

a) borrowing or lending money from any source;
b) charging or agreeing any security over any Asset; and/or
c) giving any guarantee, indemnities or letters of comfort,

that relates to the Project, or has any impact on Your ability to deliver the Project.

Termination, withholding and repayment of Grant

53) An Event of Default occurs if:

a) You fail to comply with any term or condition of this Grant Agreement;
b) You fail to complete the Project or have failed to make satisfactory progress with the Project or any part of it, in accordance with any agreed timetable;
c) any information given or representations made by You to Us is found to be incorrect or incomplete to an extent which We reasonably consider to be material;
- i) a concern over Your ability to operate as a going concern (financial stability)
- ii) if You do not have adequate experience, staff, systems in place to deliver the Project effectively and on time (ability to deliver)
- iii) if You do not have adequate processes and controls in place to manage onward grantees (onward granting)
- iv) if there are issues with or lack of internal control or governance procedures (governance and controls)
- v) concerns over processes or approach to safeguarding (safeguarding)
- vi) concerns over the legitimacy of the source of funds
d) You fail to cooperate with Our due diligence process and to respond to all reasonable requests for information in a timely manner.
e) You fail to implement actions to redress issues or measures identified during the due diligence process, in the timescales agreed
f) You fail to invest the total grant amount paid by Us by a mutually agreed date
g) You fail to take adequate measures to investigate and resolve any reported Financial Irregularity;
h) You cease to operate and / or change the nature of Your operations to an extent which We reasonably consider to be material, including if You (or any substantial part of Your operations) merge with or are taken over by another organisation;
i) before the end of the Funding Period You:
- i) are subject to a proposal for a voluntary arrangement or have a petition for an administration order or a winding up order brought against You;
- ii) pass a resolution to wind up Your business;
- iii) make any composition, arrangement, conveyance or assignment for the benefit of Your creditors, or purport to do the same; or
- iv) are subject to the appointment of a receiver, administrator or liquidator; or
- v) are unable to pay Your debts as they fall due;
- j) You receive funding from any other source for the Eligible Expenditure which is funded by the Grant;
- k) You are involved in illegal activity in Your administration of the Project;
- l) You take any actions which in Our reasonable opinion are likely to bring Our name or reputation, or that of the wider government, into disrepute, or which pose a risk to public money; or
- m) You are otherwise in material breach of this Grant Agreement.

54) If an Event of Default occurs, We may, at Our discretion:

a) suspend and withhold the payment of Grant for such period as We may determine;
b) require You to repay all or any part of the Grant that has been paid to You (or such lesser amount as We may determine) by issuing a demand for repayment. Prior to issuing such a demand, We may (at Our sole discretion) give You an opportunity to rectify such breach or occurrence, delay or defer any further payments of Grant instalments to You until such time as the breach has been remedied; and/or
c) terminate this Grant Agreement by serving written notice where the Event of Default is incapable of being remedied or is not remedied within such reasonable period as We may determine.

55) We may retain or set off any sums You owe to Us (whether because of repayment required under clause 55) or otherwise) against any sums due from Us to You under this Grant Agreement or any other agreement We have with You.

56) Without prejudice to clause 55), We may terminate this Grant Agreement by giving three months’ notice in writing.

57) Any termination of this Grant Agreement is without prejudice to any other rights or remedies of the Parties under this Grant Agreement or at law and will not affect any accrued rights or obligations of the Parties at the date of termination.

58) We also have the right to impose additional terms and conditions on the Grant if an Event of Default occurs or if We have reasonable grounds to believe that it is necessary to protect public money.

State subsidies

59) You will ensure the activities funded by the Grant are compatible with, and do not put Us in breach of, the State Subsidy Rules. You will maintain appropriate records of compliance with the State Subsidy Rules and will take all reasonable steps to assist Us to comply with the same and respond to any proceedings or investigations into the activities funded by the Grant by any relevant court or tribunal of relevant jurisdiction or regulatory body. We may vary or suspend any or all payments of the Grant and/or require repayment of the Grant already paid, together with interest earned by You from the date of payment, if We are required to do so as a result of any part of the Grant failing to comply with the State Subsidy Rules.

Procurement

60) You must comply with all applicable public procurement law in connection with the Project.

61) In particular, if You are a contracting authority as defined in the Procurement Act 2023, You must carry out any procurement in accordance with the Act.

62) If You are not a contracting authority as defined in the Act, You must carry out any procurement by way of fair and open practices. You must aim to secure value for money in all Your procurement decisions.

Prompt Payment

63) You must comply with the Government’s Prompt Payment Code and therefore endeavour to make all payments to contractors etc. from Grant money paid under this Grant Agreement by the agreed date or within 30 days if no date is specified, with the exception of any payments that are disputed by You. Details of the Prompt Payment Code can be found on the website.

Losses, gifts and ex gratia payments

64) You must not, without Our approval, make novel or contentious payments or gifts from the Grant. These include any payment which is likely to cause embarrassment to and/or repercussions for Us and/or the Government or may result in unusual or over generous conditions of service, such as excessive severance packages. If You are in any doubt about the regularity or propriety of any payment, You must consult Us for advice before making the payment and must not make the payment unless and until We approve it.

Compliance with the law

65) You must comply with all statutory requirements, law and regulations of the United Kingdom, including in particular relevant health and safety law, laws prohibiting any form of discrimination, and the Information Acts.

66) You and Your representatives must comply with, and must use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that Your activities and those individuals and organisations funded by this Grant comply with, the Equality Act 2010. In particular, You shall ensure that when services are provided by or through this Grant, due regard is given to the need to:

a) Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010;
b) Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it; and
c) Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it.

67) You shall comply in all material respects with all applicable environmental laws and regulations in force in relation to the Project. In particular, You shall:

a) perform the activities funded by the Grant in accordance with our environmental policy, which is to conserve energy, water, wood, paper and other resources, reduce waste and phase out the use of consumer single-use plastics, ozone depleting substances and minimise the release of greenhouse gases, volatile organic compounds and other substances damaging to health and the environment.
b) pay due regard to the use of recycled products, so long as they are not detrimental to the Project or the environment, to include the use of all packaging, which should be capable of recovery for re-use or recycling.
c) take all possible precautions to ensure that any equipment and materials used pursuant to the Project do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, halons or any other damaging substances. You shall endeavour to reduce carbon and fuel emissions wherever possible.

68) You will notify Us of any change to Your constitution, legal form, membership structure (if applicable) or ownership, and of any complaint or investigation by any regulatory body or the police into Your activities or those of Your staff or officers or volunteers.

Publicity

69) We may acknowledge Your involvement in the Project and Your receipt of the Grant without prior notice to You.

70) Subject to clause 98, You must not issue any publicity relating to the Grant except in a form to be agreed in advance by Us.

Variation of the terms and conditions

71) No amendment, waiver or variation of any of the terms and conditions of this Grant Agreement will be valid or effective unless made in writing and signed by or on behalf of the Parties.

Assignment

72) You must not assign or transfer this Grant Agreement or any of Your rights under it without Our prior written consent.

Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

73) No person who is not a party to this Agreement will have any right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of the Agreement.

Joint and several liability

74) If You are not a company nor an incorporated entity with a distinct legal personality, the individuals who enter into and sign this Grant Agreement on Your behalf shall be jointly and severally liable for Your obligations and liabilities arising under this Grant Agreement.

No partnership or agency

75) This Grant Agreement shall not create any partnership or joint venture between You and Us, nor any relationship of principal and agent, nor authorise You to make or enter into any commitments for or on behalf of Us.

Waiver

76) No failure or delay by either Party to exercise any right or remedy under this Grant Agreement shall be construed as a waiver of any other right or remedy.

Freedom of information, data protection and human rights

77) You must observe Your obligations under the Information Acts and the Human Rights Act 1998 and under the common law duty of confidentiality and shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations, best practice and codes of practice (and shall notify Us immediately of any significant departure from such legislation, regulations or codes).

78) You hereby acknowledge that We are subject to requirements under the Information Acts. Where requested by Us, You will provide reasonable assistance and cooperation to Us to assist Our compliance with Our information disclosure obligations.

79) At Our request, You will provide Us with all such relevant documents and information relating to Your data protection policies and procedures as We may reasonably require.

80) You acknowledge that We, acting in accordance with the codes of practice issued and revised from time to time under the Information Acts, may disclose information concerning You and this Agreement without consulting with You.

81) We will take reasonable steps to notify You of a request for information to the extent that it is permissible and reasonably practical for Us to do so but (notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement) We will be responsible for determining in Our absolute discretion whether any information is exempt from disclosure in accordance with the Information Acts.

82) You agree that You are the data controller of any personal data processed by You pursuant to the Project, as those terms are defined in the Information Acts in force at the relevant time. You will comply fully with the Information Acts to the extent that they are applicable to You. [guidance note: if DCMS is collecting/processing Personal Data, please replace this clause with the alternative clauses provided in the grants intranet guidance.]

83) You agree that We may share details of the Grant and the name of Your organisation with the UK Government and that such details may appear on the Government Grants Information System database which is available for search by other funders.

84) Where the Project Description permits You to use the Grant for providing onward grants, You are to provide information to enable Us to record the onward grants on the Government Grants Information System and other online platforms which publish grants information. It is currently government practice that this information then be redacted for online publication along with other government grants information. The content and format of the information to be provided will be determined by Us. We will not require information provided by You to Us on onward grants to include personal data as defined in the Information Acts.

85) You agree that We may share information relating to the Grant with HMRC and the National Crime Agency. This will include contact information, the name of Your organisation and information related to the Grant. The information is shared under section 56 of chapter 4 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 for the purposes of investigating and taking action in response to suspected fraud against a public authority.

Notices

86) All notices, invoices and other communications relating to the Grant Agreement must be in writing and in English and must be served 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 Us, and
c) at the email address provided by You as requested in the Grant Offer Letter for You.

87) A Party may change its address or email address by giving notice in accordance with clause 86).

88) 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.

Governing law and resolution of disputes

89) You must at all times act with utmost good faith towards Us and must at all times co-operate fully with Us.

90) Both Parties must attempt in good faith to negotiate the settlement of any dispute arising out of or in connection with the Grant Agreement without delay.

91) The Grant Agreement is governed and construed in accordance with the law of England and the Parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

92) Not applied

Whole agreement

93) The Grant Agreement sets out the entire agreement between the Parties. It replaces all previous negotiations, agreements, understandings and representations between the Parties, whether oral or in writing, on the subject matter of the Grant Agreement.

Liability

94) Nothing in the Grant Agreement limits either Party’s liability for:

a) personal injury or death which is caused by that Party’s negligence;
b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
c) any other matter in respect of which liability cannot, by applicable law, be limited.

95) Subject to clause 95), We accept no liability for any consequences, whether direct or indirect, that may come about from You running the Project, the use of the Grant or from withdrawal of the Grant. We will not be liable to any third party with whom You have entered into any contract for the provision of goods and services to You for the Project, or to whom You have sub-granted or delegated in relation to the Project. You will ensure that any such contracts and agreements include a provision to the effect that the third party’s recourse is to You.

Authorisations

96) You make the following representations and warranties to and for Our benefit and acknowledge that We have made this Grant available in reliance on such representations and warranties:

a) Your obligations under the Grant Agreement are legal, valid, binding and enforceable;
b) all authorisations and consents necessary to enable You to enter into and perform Your obligations under this Grant Agreement have been obtained; and
c) The person or persons signing this Grant Agreement are duly authorised to sign on Your behalf.
d) The Parties agree that it is their intention to be legally contractually bound by this Grant Funding Agreement

Code of Conduct for Recipients of Government General Grants

97) You acknowledge that by signing the Grant Offer Letter You agree to take account of the Code of Conduct for Recipients of Government General Grants (link), which includes ensuring that Your representatives undertake their duties in a manner consistent with the principles set out in the Code of Conduct.

a) You shall immediately notify Us if You become aware of any actual or suspected breaches of the principles outlined in the Code of Conduct;
b) You acknowledge that a failure to notify Us of an actual or suspected breach of the Code of Conduct may result in Our immediately suspending the Grant funding, terminating the Grant and taking action to recover some or all of the funds paid to You.

Branding Requirements- Funded by UK government

Note: Funded by UK government: the Cabinet Office has published a Branding Manual for the Funded by UK government brand. A copy is available here.

The Branding Manual must be referenced in the Grant Funding Agreement for all government general grants to help the citizen quickly identify government backed work. Grant Recipients will be expected to comply with the requirements of the Branding Manual. If an exemption to this requirement has been granted and approved through the business case for this grant then an additional condition should be included within the Grant Offer Letter confirming that clause 98 does not apply.

98) You shall at all times during and following the end of the Funding Period:

a) comply with the requirements of the Branding Manual in relation to the activities funded by the Grant; and
b) cease use of the Funded by UK government logo on demand if directed to do so by Us.

Question 12

Annex B: Assessment of minimum requirements

Accepted Answer

This guidance is designed for applicants to understand exactly what evidence they must submit to pass the minimum eligibility criteria for this £400 million programme, and the assessment standards we will use to evaluate them.

Because of the scale of this fund, these criteria operate primarily as a pass/fail gateway. Failure to provide the required evidence or meet the assessment standards for any single criterion will result in the application being rejected before reaching the full evaluation stage.

Applicant guidance: minimum eligibility and gateway criteria

1. Legal status and not-for-profit alignment

Criterion: Is your organisation a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution?

What you must provide (evidence):

Your organisation’s registered number (for example, Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, or Companies House if a community interest company/charitable company).
A copy of your governing documents (Articles of Association or Constitution) highlighting the ‘asset lock’ or non-profit distribution clause.
How we will assess it:
- Pass/fail: We will verify your registration live against the relevant regulator’s portal. Your governing documents must legally prohibit the distribution of dividends or profits to shareholders or private individuals.

2. Governance, compliance and safeguarding

Criterion: Does your organisation have appropriate and robust safeguarding policies in place and confirm compliance with all relevant legal requirements?

What you must provide (evidence):
- Policies: Upload copies of active, board-approved policies for: safeguarding (children and vulnerable adults), Data Protection/GDPR (including your ICO Registration Certificate), Conflict of Interest, Health and Safety, and anti-fraud/bribery/corruption.
- Declarations: Signed declarations of compliance regarding the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and an active Conflict of Interest register completed for this specific application.
- Insurance: Valid certificates for employer’s liability £10 million, public liability £10 million, and professional indemnity £10 million. If you currently do not hold these insurances then please provide a letter from a qualified insurance broker demonstrating that in their professional opinion you would be able to obtain such insurances.
How we will assess it:
- Pass/fail: Policies must have been reviewed and signed off by your board or executive team within the last 12 months. Safeguarding policies must explicitly outline reporting procedures, DBS check protocols, and designated safeguarding leads (DSLs). Insurances must be live and meet our minimum financial thresholds.

3. Large-scale programme management capability

Criterion: Does your organisation have organisational capability, sufficient resources, knowledge, and skills to manage the project effectively to achieve outcomes of a circa £400 million programme?

What you must provide (evidence):
- an organisational structure chart detailing the proposed project management office (PMO) or delivery team allocated to this fund.
- CVs/professional biographies (max 2 pages each) of key personnel (for example, Programme Director, Senior Risk Officer, Lead Financial Controller).
- A 500-word track record narrative detailing your experience managing large-scale funding, complex supply chains, or previous programmes of a comparable scale (for example, over £50 million plus).
How we will assess it:
- Quality threshold (met/not met): Evaluators will look for proven, qualified personnel (for example, PRINCE2, MSP, or Agile certified) and an organizational infrastructure that demonstrates you have the capacity to scale up smoothly to manage a £400 million portfolio without operational collapse.

4. Youth sector landscape experience

Criterion: Does your organisation have experience of the youth sector landscape?

What you must provide (evidence):
- Two distinct case studies (max 500 words each) demonstrating your organisation’s active delivery, research, or infrastructure support within the UK youth sector over the last 3 to 5 years.
- Evidence of existing strategic partnerships, networks, or memberships within national youth work bodies.
How we will assess it:
- Met/not met: The applicant must demonstrate an established baseline understanding of the current challenges, policy environment, and statutory/voluntary frameworks governing the youth sector in England.

5. Intermediary and capacity-building experience

Criterion: Does your organisation have experience of working with, and providing support/guidance to other organisations?

What you must provide (evidence):
- Evidence of your track record acting as an ‘umbrella’ or intermediary body. This should include data on the number of downstream organisations you have previously supported, funded, or trained.
- At least two testimonials or reference letters from partner organisations you have previously guided.
How we will assess it:
- Met/not met: We are assessing your capability to act as a primary grant-maker/distributor. You must prove you have successfully managed ‘second-tier’ support or sub-granting mechanisms previously.

6. Expertise in incorporating ‘youth voice’

Criterion: Does your organisation have expertise in incorporating youth voice within project design and/or delivery?

What you must provide (evidence):
- Practical examples of co-design methodologies used in previous projects (for example, frameworks, youth advisory board Terms of Reference).
- A brief narrative explaining how insights from young people directly altered, improved, or governed a previous programme’s delivery.
How we will assess it:
- Met/not met: We look for evidence of meaningful participation rather than tokenism. The applicant must show that young people have a genuine seat at the decision-making table within their operational model.

7. Geographic reach across England

Criterion: Does your organisation have the capacity to deliver support to local organisations across all nine regions in England?

What you must provide (evidence):
- A regional footprint map or table detailing your current physical presence, staff deployment, or established delivery partners across all nine official regions of England (North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West).
- If relying on a network model, supply signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with regional delivery partners.
How we will assess it:
- Pass/fail: Applications that leave regional ‘blind spots’ or cannot convincingly demonstrate an immediate operational reach into all nine regions will fail this gateway.

8. Technical expertise, capacity and knowledge

Criterion: Does your organisation have the technical expertise, capacity and knowledge to meet the objectives?

What you must provide (evidence):
- A high-level Operational Delivery Strategy outlining the technical systems, software (for example, grant management systems, CRM, data analytics tools), and digital infrastructure you will deploy to run this programme.
- An initial high-level risk register identifying technical and operational delivery risks and their mitigations.
How we will assess it:
- Met/not met: Assessors will determine whether your proposed technical infrastructure is robust enough to process the sheer volume of data, applications, and monitoring requirements associated with a major national programme.

9. Financial management and counter-fraud systems

Criterion: Does your organisation have appropriate financial management systems and processes to account for grant expenditure accurately and transparently (…) while ensuring value for money?

What you must provide (evidence):
- Your audited financial accounts for the last 3 consecutive financial years.
- A copy of your organisation’s live Fraud Risk Assessment template/matrix.
- A written summary of your internal financial controls (for example, segregation of duties, delegation of authority limits, and sub-grantee auditing processes).
How we will assess it:
- Pass/fail: Your audited accounts must demonstrate that your organization is a ‘going concern’ with a stable financial baseline. Your financial controls must align with the UK government’s Grants Functional Standard (GovS 015) regarding counter-fraud, bribery, and due diligence checks on downstream partners.

10. Programme timeline commitment

Criterion: Please confirm that your organisation can deliver the funded activity within the stated programme period.

What you must provide (rvidence):
- A high-level project milestone plan (Gantt chart) mapping out key delivery milestones against the official programme start and end dates.
How we will assess it:
- Pass/fail: Direct verification that your proposed timeline aligns perfectly with the overarching funding window. Any proposed timelines that spill past the hard deadline will result in an immediate fail.

By ‘sustainable’ we mean making investments and driving change which will carry on beyond the lifetime of DCMS funding. ↩
This is limited by the scope of the current Spending Review period, which confirmed departmental revenue funding allocations to the end of the 2028/29 Financial Year only. It is possible that DCMS will bid for additional funding for Financial Years 2029/30 onwards at the expected 2027 Spending Review which may extend this date. If that happens, DCMS will likely seek a grant variation with the delivery partner. ↩
This may be via funds the successful applicant will raise directly or via funds the successful applicant will assist organisations and/or partnerships in the local youth sector to access. Match funding can be from any other source (including the private sector, charities and trusts or other Govt Departments or through local/regional government). Match funding can be during the life of the DCMS funding period or can come on stream to replace DCMS funds after this scheme ends. ↩
This assumption is based on DCMS’s experience of comparable capital schemes, where this level of contingency (c.25 % of the capital budget) has been needed previously to manage significant delivery risks and unforeseen cost escalations. However, we are open to considering changing this percentage if there is justification to do so. ↩
The frequency of the programme board will be kept under review, but is likely to be monthly to start with. ↩

Cookies on GOV.UK

Applies to England

1. Summary of grant opportunity

1.1 The outcomes we would like to achieve

1.2 Strategic alignment

1.3 Delivery approach

1.4 Delivery roles and accountabilities

1.5 Period of grant agreement

1.6 Timeline

1.7 Latest spend dates

2. Funding purpose

2.1 Objectives

3. Previous delivery models/lessons learned

4. Eligibility criteria for applicants

4.1 Legal status of applicant

4.2 Essential criteria

4.3 Applicant preferences

Sector knowledge and capability

Delivery experience

Monitoring and evaluation

Technical ability

4.4 Due diligence

5. Funding available and associated costs

5.1 Available funding

5.2 Eligible Expenditure

5.2.1. Eligible administration expenditure

5.2.2. Eligible programme revenue expenditure (including any onward grants)

5.2.3. Eligible capital revenue expenditure (including any onward grants)

5.3 Ineligible expenditure (capital and revenue)

5.4 Financial requirements

6. Reporting responsibilities

7. Evaluation

8. How to apply

8.1 Minimum requirements (eligibility checker)

8.2 Application criteria

8.3 Scoring methodology

Scoring and aggregation

Interview scoring mechanics

8.4 Completing your application form

9. Grant award process

9.1 Grant award - acceptance of approval

Grant terms and conditions

Unsuccessful applications

Advice and support

Application documents

10. Privacy notice

Who controls the information you provide

Why are we collecting and processing your personal data

Will we share your personal data

How long will we keep your personal data for

Your rights over your personal data

Your right to complain

Annex A: DCMS standard terms and conditions of grants

Definitions

Provision of Grant

Eligible expenditure and VAT

Payment of Grant

Forecasts

Accountability

Monitoring and reporting

Annual grant review

Financial management and controls

Accounts

Intellectual Property Rights

Disposal of assets, change of use and assignment

Fraud

Borrowing

Termination, withholding and repayment of Grant

State subsidies

Procurement

Prompt Payment

Losses, gifts and ex gratia payments

Compliance with the law

Publicity

Variation of the terms and conditions

Assignment

Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

Joint and several liability

No partnership or agency

Waiver