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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) monitor and (b) report on the cost-effectiveness of the interventions funded by the Better Futures Fund.

DCMS are currently in the policy development stages of the Fund; therefore, decisions on funding criteria and eligibility are yet to be confirmed, with an aim to publish policy guidance in 2026 which will indicate the overall fund timelines.

As announced in July 2025, the fund will support up to 200,000 struggling children, young people and their families over ten years and will focus on innovative impact funding projects that seek to break down barriers to opportunity and deliver on the government’s Plan for Change. DCMS has already begun engagement with a range of stakeholders including local and central government, the impact economy, and representatives from the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

The funding will primarily be for the commissioning of Social Outcomes Partnerships, in which government payments are tied to the achievement of measurable improvements in people’s lives, such as school attainment, improved youth employment or reduced youth reoffending. Outcomes-based commissioning means that individual outcomes are monitored in order for payments from government to be released depending on these specific outcomes being achieved.

The Better Futures Fund will be supported by a robust and comprehensive evaluation that will also assess cost effectiveness while monitoring that the objectives of the fund have been met.