Guidance

Changing Places Fund: explanatory note on the decision making process

Published 4 February 2023

Applies to England

The purpose of this document is to set out the decision-making process behind confirmation of awards made under the second round of the Changing Places Fund to local authorities in England. The context, assessment methodology and decision -making process was set out in the Changing Places Fund Round 2: Prospectus Changing Places Fund Prospectus published in August 2022.

Background

The Changing Places Fund was launched in 2021 and made a public commitment to make £30 million capital funding available over 3 years to local authorities in England with the objective to increase both the number and geographic spread of Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) and to provide them in venues of greatest need.

The CPF Prospectus for the second round was published in August 2022, inviting eligible local authorities to submit an expression of interest (EoI). This approach enabled us to target 155 local authorities targeting those areas where there is no existing provision and those who are ranked within the top 50% of Index of Need. This is a local authority level measure created through a combination of an assessment of the supply (the number of current Changing Places toilets registered and funded) and demand (the population of individuals who have a disability).

The Changing Places Fund is delivered in partnership with Muscular Dystrophy UK (MDUK), which co-chairs the national Changing Paces Consortium supporting organisations with technical advice and training and maintaining a public register of CPTs.

CPF expressions of interest received

67 expression of interest bids were received in October 2022, totalling £7.8 million, ranging from £20,000 to £287,000. EoIs were limited to three venues to be given in preference order with 24 local authorities bidding for three, 15 bidding for 2 and 28 bidding for 1.

The CPF prospectus stated that the DLUHC minister will make decisions on final funding allocations taking into account the number of expression of interests and Changing Places toilets that can be delivered, sectors and venue types and/ or their geographical spread.

CPF assessment

With support from MDUK we assessed EoIs received from local authorities to establish a list of appointable expression of interests for recommendation to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) minister.

Assessment under round 2 was based primarily on a gateway and pass/fail approach using the benchmark award of £40,000 as a factor in the value for money assessment.

EoIs were required to fulfil the gateway criteria relating to co-funding obligations and delivery time frame. EOIs were then reviewed on a pass/fail criteria based on the information provided and value for money. This established a list of appointable projects mapped against the updated index of need whilst retaining a core focus on essential criteria such as:

• eligibility
• deliverability
• rationale (including evidence of research and consultation with users/ stakeholders)
• value for money (including confirmation of co-funding).

In mapping against areas of zero provision and the updated index of need, we considered the first, second and third preference of applicants in the assessment process.

Following assessment by DLUHC and MDUK officials, three local authorities were deemed ineligible alongside two venues within two local authority applications.

Allocation Process

DLUHC officials create a list of appointable EoIs mapped against the index of need. They were kept in the order of preference to be considered for funding by applicants.

This approach resulted in 64 local authorities delivering 120 Changing Places toilets totalling over £7 million.

Ministerial decision making

As outlined in the CPF Prospectus, the DLUHC minister may exercise discretion to concentrate support in areas of high need or for particular sectors or venue types identified as high priority in the research set out at Annex A. Alternatively, the minister may decide to seek the widest possible geographical distribution and spread of support.

Following assessment, the minister was presented with a list of local authorities and suggested allocations that each should receive, including the geographic distribution of recommended CPTs..

Officials considered potential conflicts of interest and how to balance ministerial involvement in decision-making whilst ensuring that ministers do not take decisions where personal, pecuniary or constituency interests may appear to impact their judgement.

The final funding decision sat with the Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State for Levelling Up.

The minister was required to recuse herself from the decision-making process if she had prior knowledge of a bid from her constituency or if she had any other personal or pecuniary interest in any EoI featured in the list for approval. The minister confirmed she did not.

In addition, the information submitted to the minister was edited to ensure that any EoI from her constituency could not be identified.

This resulted in the decision being taken by the minister to fund a total 64 local authorities across England totalling over £7 million.

Considerations of the equalities impacts of ministerial decisions

Before making the final decision on fund allocation, the minister considered the potential equality impacts on the need to:

1. eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010;

2. advance equality of opportunity between people who share protected characteristics and people who don’t; and

3. foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who don’t.

The CPF policy is focused on one of the relevant protected characteristics that is disability.

The assessment concluded that while the funding decisions will directly benefit those with a disability and has potential to indirectly benefit older people (in terms of advancing equality of opportunity), this is not a decision that will have an adverse or disproportionately negative impact on people who share a different relevant protected characteristic.

The decision will advance equality of opportunity by providing appropriate facilities to enable access and participation, encouraging and enabling those sharing a particular protected characteristic (Disability/Age) to better participate in public life. It will raise awareness and foster good relations between people who share a particular protected characteristic and those who do not by raising the visibility of CPTs and why they are needed across a range of publicly accessible places, providing facilities that will also support families and carers.