Design Code Pathfinder Programme Support Grant
Guidance on the grant to provide additional support to 21 areas producing exemplar design codes.
Applies to England
Detail
Government is committed to supporting and funding local authorities to ensure the planning system delivers more beautiful and sustainable buildings and places. The Office for Place, which sits within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), has already supported 14 local councils last year to test the application of the National Model Design Code (NMDC).
A further 25 organisations (21 local authorities and 4 neighbourhood planning groups) have received a share of £3 million this year to produce exemplar design codes and design coding processes, for other areas to follow. The Office for Place recognises that this cohort will need additional place specific expert support, guidance and review of gathered data, which cannot be provided internally by DLUHC, in order to produce exemplar design codes that can be shared widely and provide best practice and lessons for other organisations preparing design codes.
The Design Code Pathfinder Programme Support Grant, alongside other areas of support provided by DLUHC, will enable the 25 Design Code Pathfinders to build their capacity and produce design codes that provide certainty to local communities and developers.
Who is eligible
We are seeking applications from interested charitable organisations, with expertise in design coding and providing support and training to local planning authorities.
An organisation is eligible to apply for grant funding if:
- It is a third sector organisation that falls within the scope of the Charities Act 2006 definition of being a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution.
- The total grant received from government (including this grant application) is less than 50% of the organisation’s annual income in its accounting year ended in 2022, as demonstrated through its audited annual accounts. This is to ensure that the organisation does not become liable for consideration as an Arm’s Length Body.
- It is a corporate body or has a formal constitution if not incorporated.
- It has a proven track record of delivering training and support to local authorities and community groups that will improve their inhouse capacity to produce design codes.
- It has a proven track record of monitoring and evaluating outcomes from engagement.
Please note this list is not exhaustive. Advice should he sought if an applicant believed that the status of their organisation is not listed.
How to apply
We are asking interested eligible organisations to respond to the questions set out below noting the page limits. Questions asked include proposed scope of support offered to the 21 local planning authorities, including relevant experience and cost. Please answer all questions, numbering your responses, and send the pdf files to designquality@levellingup.gov.uk.
Below we have included a list of questions we are asking potential bidders to answer, however a fuller summary of questions and page limits are included in the attached prospectus.
- Provide a charity registration number (if applicable) or company registration (number if applicable)
- Detail the governance structure of the organisation and a statement setting out the purpose of the organisation.
- Provide an organisation organogram
- Describe your understanding of the related issues in improving design outcomes in the built environment and the stakeholders involved
- Describe your recent experience of managing similar projects, specifically projects relating to design coding and local authority support
- Describe your experience delivering a national support offer, setting out the values, and the outcomes achieved
- Briefly describe the experience and qualifications of key individuals who will make up the project team.
- Please briefly describe the experience and qualifications of key individuals in the consortium team, summarise the scope of each partner’s work, the proposed roles and responsibilities for each organisation
- Provide details of the proposed activity including:
- The type of support and training to the pathfinder organisations and how this will be delivered, and how this will complement the wider support package offered by DLUHC and the Office for Place
- A description of the range of expertise that will be deployed to respond to different design codes in different locations, setting out how pathfinders benefit from a range of technical expertise from built environment professionals with a wide geographical spread
- Provide details of the monitoring and evaluation activities that will ensure lessons are applicable not only to the 25 pathfinders participating in this programme but that short, digestible tools and guidance are available to others preparing design codes, nationally
- Provide a project programme plan showing the key milestones and how the programme of support will overlap with the rest of the support package (workshops, peer to peer)
- Describe the benefit of the programme for pathfinder organisations. Applicants should describe how they intend to monitor the effectiveness of the programme on the delivery of outcomes. Applicants should also describe how the outcomes are sustainable and long lasting, and how they will impact other local authorities outside of the pathfinder cohort
- Provide a programme budget by quarter which includes a breakdown of the costs of staffing, supplies and services, contribution to overheads, and any irrecoverable VAT. DLUHC will assess this criterion based upon its quoted costs for the work
- Provide a risk assessment highlighting the key risks, including fraud, to the programme and the way in which they are to be managed. Please list your top three risks and how you intend to mitigate them
Last updated 8 July 2022 + show all updates
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Added 'Responses to questions' section to prospectus.
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First published.