Better Futures Fund
Information about the Better Futures Fund.
Overview
The £500 million Better Futures Fund (BFF) will support up to 200,000 children and their families over the next 10 years. It will do this by bringing together government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, investors and philanthropists, to deliver place-based solutions to complex social problems.
The funding will primarily be for the commissioning of Social Outcomes Partnerships (SOPs), with government payments tied to the achievement of measurable improvements in people’s lives, such as school attainment, improved youth employment, and reduced youth reoffending.
The fund will aim to raise another £500 million from local government, social investors, and philanthropists on top of the government’s funding, creating total funding of up to £1 billion.
The BFF will fund projects which support the government’s ambitions to tackle the structural and root causes of poverty for children, young people and their families - projects that reduce the short or longer term impacts of poverty on the life chances and outcomes for children. The specific outcomes the fund will look to deliver are currently being developed.
The UK is a leader in the international SOPs market, with 100 partnerships launched, supporting over 100,000 beneficiaries in areas like youth unemployment, mental health and homelessness. The Better Futures Fund follows the success of other SOPs funds, such as the Life Chances Fund (LCF). Launched in 2016, this fund focused on supporting those in society who face the most significant barriers to leading happy and productive lives. The £70 million fund ran until 2025 with projects helping support more than 50,000 beneficiaries in areas like youth unemployment, mental health and homelessness.
Timescales
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are currently in the design stages of the fund in close collaboration with a range of stakeholders from across local government, the impact economy, and civil society. Given the scale and ambition of the fund, this process will take time in order to ensure that the fund delivers its objectives - better outcomes for young people and their families.
We are anticipating a two-stage rollout with a dedicated capacity and capability building programme. The first phase is expected to invite bids in Summer 2026 for projects where all partners have a track record of successful social outcomes partnership delivery. This will be followed by a multi-year second phase, anticipated to launch in 2027, designed to significantly scale up the number of social outcomes partnerships and widen participation across the market. We are committed to a 10-year funding lifecycle, ensuring funding is accessible for the duration of the programme.
More information will be available on this page in the lead up to the first phase of bidding.
How to engage
Please direct all enquiries about the Better Futures Fund to betterfutures@dcms.gov.uk
Social Outcomes Partnerships
There are a range of entrenched social problems which, due to their intersecting nature, have been consistently challenging to address through conventional approaches to public service commissioning. Social Outcomes Partnerships (SOPs) create partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors to help solve these challenges through a clear focus upon delivering the outcomes and real world impact we want to see. For more information and guidance on the use of SOPs (also known as Social Impact Bonds), visit the Social Outcomes Partnerships and the Life Chances Fund page.