Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the capacity of local authorities and voluntary sector organisations to design and deliver Social Outcomes Partnerships at scale.

DCMS is currently in the design stages of the Better Futures Fund and is currently consulting with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to assess their capacity for participation in delivery. We anticipate large-scale participation in social outcomes partnerships to commence in 2027 onwards, for which we will engage local commissioners via a dedicated capacity and capability building programme beforehand.

The Better Futures Fund is not yet open for applications. The first phase of bidding is expected to invite bids in Summer 2026 for projects where all partners have a track record of successfully delivering social outcomes partnerships.

The Better Futures Fund is part of a suite of combined measures outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy which support the government’s ambitions to tackle the structural and root causes of poverty for children, young people and their families. The Fund is being designed to fund projects that reduce the short or longer term impacts of poverty on the life chances and outcomes for children.

The Better Futures Fund will primarily fund projects that deliver social outcomes partnerships. The exact proportion will be determined during the application stages.