Voluntary and community organisations awarded £60 million grant

The Department for Education today announced the voluntary organisations that have been successful in their bid for funding from the Department’s Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) grant worth around £60 million each year.

Over the next two years, the VCS organisations awarded grants today will play a significant role in reforming and delivering services for children, young people, parents and families.

At the launch of the bidding prospectus for the VCS grant in November 2010, the Government set out criteria to directly fund, at national level, voluntary and community organisations that work with children, young people, parents and families, with a particular emphasis on early intervention and tackling the needs of the most disadvantaged groups.

The VCS grant has been allocated according to services offered under specific grant themes, these are:

• Families and Relationship support
• Early Years and Childcare
• Child Protection and Safeguarding
• Young People
• Children in Care
• Special Educational Needs and Disability

In addition ‘Strategic Partner’ grants have been established to ensure Government gets advice about issues affecting VCS organisations and to help capacity building of the sector through transition, in particular smaller organisations. The themes for strategic partner grants are

• Family Services
• Young People
• SEN and Disability
• Early Years and Childcare
• Overarching

Following a competitive process, the successful VCS organisations have been notified of the indicative amount of grant they will receive, which is subject to negotiation, and the service the Government wishes them to deliver.

There will be around £6 million available from the £60 million for successful bidders to receive extra help and support to build extra capacity, so that they are in good shape to remain sustainable long after this two year grant comes to an end.

The Grant aims to help create

• a vigorous and responsive sector, freed up from dependency on grant-based funding and better equipped to operate within a payments by results environment
• organisations which are efficient, effective and sustainable - “commissioning ready” - funded through grants and contracts to provide services for LAs (and others)
• innovative approaches which will lever in private investment.

Through the localism bill, Government is opening up markets to enable the voluntary sector to play a bigger role in delivering key services such as children’s centres and youth services – and we will work with local authorities to ensure that they commission services from the sector.

Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said:

The Government is committed to supporting voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to have a much greater involvement in the running of public services.

The VCS is central to our commitment to building a Big Society. This is demonstrated by today’s announcement of around £60m each year for the next two years for VCS organisations. This is a significant investment in a tough financial climate, and is only one aspect of the funding we will route through the voluntary and community sector.

The voluntary sector plays, and will continue to play, a significant role in reforming services for children, young people and families. I hope this grant further inspires a responsive and determined sector to do even more to improve outcomes for children, young people, parents and families.

Notes to Editors

1. This grant is part of a wider range of DfE funding opportunities.  A number of contracted services will be procured through separate formal tender processes and there are likely to be other funding opportunities as a result of developing policies e.g. the forthcoming SEN and Disability Green Paper. In addition to central government funding available on a national basis, the Department continues to fund the voluntary and community sector indirectly through local authorities and for services which are commissioned by schools.
2. While the VCS cannot be immune from reductions in public expenditure, the Spending Review announced that Government will direct around £470 million over the SR period to support capacity building in the sector, including an endowment fund to assist local voluntary and community organisations. As part of this, the Government will provide funds to pilot the National Citizen Service and establish a Transition Fund of £100 million to provide short term support for voluntary sector organisations providing public services. The sector will also be able to access funding from the Big Society Bank, which will bring in private sector funding in addition to receiving all funding available to England from dormant accounts. The Big Society bank will start operating in April with up to £100m of the £400m from dormant accounts being made available this year. High street banks are going to lend it another £200m on commercial terms.
3. The Funding amounts are indicative. Year 1 funding is dependent on successful negotiations on detail of the grants. Year two amounts are dependent on successful delivery of agreed outcomes.
4. A list of successful organisations is in the following table

Successful VCS Organisations

Disclaimer: The Funding amounts are indicative. Year 1 funding is dependent on successful negotiations on detail of the grants. Year two amounts are dependent on successful delivery of agreed outcomes.

Key to Themes:

1. Families and Relationships
2. Early Years & Childcare
3. SEN & Disability
4. Children in Care
5. Child Protection & Safeguarding
6. Young People

SP EY&C: Strategic Partner Early Years & Childcare
SP FS: Strategic Partner Family Services
SP SEND: Strategic Partner SEN & Disability
SP YP: Strategic Partner Young People 
SP OA: Strategic Partner Over Arching

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