Better Futures Fund
Information about the Better Futures Fund.
Applies to England
Overview
The £500 million Better Futures Fund (BFF) will support up to 200,000 children, young people 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 across England.
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 up to an additional £500 million in match funding for outcomes over the full duration of the programme, working with partners including local government commissioners and philanthropists. It will also bring in additional upfront funding from social investors creating total funding of up to £1 billion. We are committed to a 10-year funding lifecycle, ensuring funding is accessible for the duration of the programme.
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 outcomes the fund will look to deliver are currently being determined. The specific metrics will be decided in local places, aligned to local needs, but will be guided by an overarching set of outcomes that align with evidence on tackling child poverty.
The UK is a leader in the international SOPs market, with 100 partnerships launched to date. The Better Futures Fund follows the success of other SOP funds, such as the Life Chances Fund (2016 to 2025), which supported more than 50,000 people in areas like youth unemployment, mental health and homelessness. Building on this experience and a comprehensive evaluation exercise, the Better Futures Fund will be the largest outcomes fund of its kind in the world.
Timescales
Round 1: funding
The first funding round is expected to invite bids in Summer 2026, designed for those with prior experience of delivering SOPs, and existing SOP projects. Successful applicants will be expected to demonstrate they are ‘ready to go’ projects, able to begin delivering quickly.
This first funding round will be able to commit up to £37 million of government funding towards outcomes within the next decade. Further detail on criteria and match funding requirements will be available in the summer.
Round 1: delivery partner
DCMS is running a competition to select a grant recipient to deliver the first round of the BFF. For further information and details on how to apply to be the Round 1 Delivery Partner, visit the competition guidance page.
Future funding rounds
Subsequent rounds that will cover the remainder of the BFF’s funding will be from 2027 onwards, designed to significantly scale up the number of SOPs and widen participation across the market.
These will be open to all applicants, whether or not they have experience of SOP delivery. We know that it takes time to set up SOPs and this will be reflected in the design and management of the fund.
We are currently in the design process of the fund, in close collaboration with a range of stakeholders from across local government, the impact economy, and civil society. This includes exploring the role of local and regional government, prioritising a place-based approach to the fund’s delivery. More information will be available on this page in due course.
Capacity and capability building programme
Alongside these funding rounds, we will launch a dedicated capacity and capability building programme. This is in recognition of the commitment and time required to establish new SOPs and further details will be provided in Autumn 2026.
How to engage with the Better Futures Fund
Please direct all enquiries about the Better Futures Fund to betterfutures@dcms.gov.uk
We will only process your data in order to respond to enquiries. For more information on how we collect, hold, use or process your personal data, see the DCMS personal information charter.
Social Outcomes Partnerships
There are a range of entrenched social issues, such as homelessness, unemployment and health inequalities which, due to their intersecting nature, are 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 page.
Updates to this page
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Information added about Round 1 of the Better Futures Fund.
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Added link to the DCMS personal information charter.
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First published.