GrantRadar

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Better Futures Fund Round 2 Local Regional Funding: Delivery Partner

DCMS is looking for one organisation (or a lead with partners) to run Round 2 Local Regional Funding of the £500m Better Futures Fund from 2027 to 2036. The grant recipient receives up to £158.8m, of which about £148m is passed on as outcome payments to Social Outcomes Partnerships (SOPs) tackling child poverty and youth disadvantage across England, plus about £10.5m for running the fund. This is a fund-management role, not funding for a single project. Applicants must be eligible to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 and show experience of grant management, payment-by-results funds and outcomes-based commissioning.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£155,000,000 – £158,793,656
Deadline
63 days left
15 January
Effort
Heavy
budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

  • A single organisation, with or without delivery partners, or a joint application led by one organisation that is the applicant, main contact, payee and body responsible for the grant terms
  • The lead and every participating partner must be eligible to receive a grant under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006; partnership agreements, or written confirmation from each partner, should already be in place
  • DCMS wants an organisation that can show: experience of managing grant funding and onward grants with appropriate governance; ability to run a payment-by-results SOP fund and track outcomes data; knowledge of SOPs and outcomes-based commissioning; understanding of child poverty and youth disadvantage; established relationships with social investors, VCSE delivery organisations, local commissioners and sector experts; a qualified financial management team; and a track record of assurance, audit and closing down funds of this scale
  • Prior SOP experience in the funded projects is not required, but the fund manager must be able to assess it

What it funds

Running the Round 2 LRF application process, programme and closure, including:

  • Onward outcome payments to Social Outcomes Partnership projects across England (at least £148 million, 2027 to 2036)
  • Financial support to beneficiaries, such as project costs, onward grants or contracts, and appropriate remuneration or accessibility support for volunteers and participants
  • Staff costs directly related to BFF activity, including salaries, employer's NI and pension contributions, and agreed travel and subsistence
  • Communication and marketing (subject to Cabinet Office controls)
  • Other delivery costs such as learning and development activity
  • Specialist business support, including legal, commercial and data evaluation services
  • Administration costs such as rent, utilities, administrative staff, senior oversight and office supplies

Revenue only; there is no capital spend. Funding comes in three tranches (£19.8m in years 1-3, £78.4m in years 4-6, £60.5m in years 7-9), with tranches 2 and 3 subject to a review of the scheme's effectiveness. Annual allocations must be spent by 31 March and cannot be carried forward.

What it will not fund

  • Lobbying or activity intended to influence Parliament, government, political parties, or the awarding of contracts and grants
  • Using grant funding to petition for additional funding
  • Input VAT reclaimable from HMRC
  • Activities of a political or exclusively religious nature
  • Goods or services you have a statutory duty to provide
  • Costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private grants or funding
  • Contributions in kind
  • Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of your own fixed assets
  • Acquiring or improving fixed assets, buildings or land
  • Interest payments, including finance lease service charges
  • Gifts to individuals over £25 a year, and entertaining
  • Statutory or criminal fines and penalties
  • Liabilities incurred before the funding agreement unless agreed in writing
  • Bid costs
  • Models without an outcomes-based payment component

How to apply

  1. Read the Delivery Partner Round 2 competition guidance in full
  2. Send any clarification questions to betterfutures@dcms.gov.uk by 27 November 2026 (answers published 4 December 2026)
  3. Complete the application form and email it to betterfutures@dcms.gov.uk by 11:59pm on 15 January 2027
  4. Shortlisted applicants are notified on 11 February 2027 and interviewed between 22 February and 5 March 2027

Recommendation for approval is due 22 March 2027 and final confirmation of appointment 12 May 2027, with work starting in June 2027. Word limits are enforced and supplementary documents are not assessed.

Have ready

  • Completed Delivery Partner Round 2 application form
  • Mandatory eligibility and due diligence documents listed in the application form
  • Partnership agreements or written confirmation from each participating partner (joint applications)

A request for payment in advance must be justified in the application against the form's criteria.

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