Policy paper

Communities for Afghans phase 2: frequently asked questions

Updated 1 April 2025

Principal Sponsor’s role

1. Principal Sponsor should provide specialist support as required, for example mental health provision”. Does this mean signposting people to the GP or to pro bono therapy for support?

We are expecting Principal Sponsors to set out a plan on how they will support families who may be suffering from trauma. This can be an in- house service or from other sources.

2. Is there any gagging clause as part of the funding agreement? If so, what is it?

The Grant Funding agreement sets out the terms and conditions of the award of funding. It contains clauses around confidentiality, transparency and data protection. Please contact sponsorship@communities.gov.uk, which can send a sample Grant Funding Agreement.

3. It would be helpful for bidders to know what the demand might be for the services of the Principal Sponsor(s) and their sponsor groups at any one time during the course of the service.

The responsibilities we expect Principal Sponsors to undertake are set out in the policy document. We would look to Principal Sponsors to assess the workload and demand on their time, which will be dependent on the number of households they apply to support and how they will provide that service.

4. The prospectus says that successful applicants must comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Please clarify what the applicant’s responsibility (as opposed to MHCLG’s responsibility) in relation to the Act.

The applicant should retain appropriate records on spend and activity, which will be requested via monitoring and reporting. Successful applicants should not carry out activities that mean the funding impacts trade and that it remains aligned to non-economic activities. More detail is contained in the Grant Funding Agreement. A sample can be obtained from sponsorship@communities.gov.uk.

5. In relation to data protection, will MHCLG want to receive reports which include personal data of the beneficiaries?

No. Any data which needs to be sent to MHCLG for reporting purposes will be anonymised or pseudonymised, so that families and individuals are not identifiable.

6. Please could MHCLG clarify expectations on Principal Sponsors for sponsor groups engaged in the final 3 years of the project? For sponsor groups sponsoring families in the final 3 years, their 3-year obligation of support will fall outside of the grant. Where this happens, is there an exit strategy or plan for ongoing support? In particular this could have implications for engaging groups in that final period if there will be uncertainty for ongoing support.

Principal Sponsors will be required to lead the project with MHCLG until the final households finish their 3 years of support. The final households will be supported into accommodation at the end of March 2031, and so Principal Sponsors will need to be part of leading the scheme until March 2034. We would welcome views from bidders on their involvement between March 2031 and March 2034. However, we expect this to be a much lighter role as recruitment, administering to Sponsor Groups the upfront costs, training, and matching for example will no longer be necessary. Oversight and troubleshooting will still be necessary.

7. In the bid documentation it asks for project completion to be by 31 March 2031. Can you clarify what project completion means please? I ask as most families welcomed in year 4 and 5 would be unlikely to reach financial independence in year 5, if that is a measure of completion.

We would expect the last moves into sponsored accommodation to happen by the end of March 2031. Those households will then be in sponsored accommodation for 3 years until the end of March 2034. We anticipate that the Principal Sponsors’ roles will be far smaller from March 2031-March 2034.

8. In section 4 ‘Your Project’ in the application questions, it mentions ‘devolved administrations’ - is this devolved as in ‘regional’ or devolved in terms of the nations?

This is a UK wide project so we expect Principal Sponsors to explain how they will work with devolved nations.

9. Will there be a letter of assurance from Lord Khan/MHCLG to landlords available to Principal Sponsors as in the pilot?

We have a letter of assurance on Communities for Afghans phase 1 and we can adapt this for Communities for Afghans phase 2.

10. Is there flexibility on numbers of families during the life of the contract? For example, if a Principal Sponsor finds that they can support more families than originally anticipated and another Principal Sponsor finds that they are struggling, could numbers be reallocated.

Yes. MHCLG will review the Grant Funding Agreement on a quarterly basis with the successful applicant(s). That review will take into account the Grant Recipient’s delivery of the funded activities against the agreed outputs set out in the Grant Funding agreement. There will be opportunity to review numbers of families that can be accommodated, and the resulting funding required.

11. When describing governance at Section 5 of the response, should this be for the consortium, the lead partner, or both?

We expect applicants to provide details of the governance, management arrangements and structure of the Principal Sponsor who are responsible for delivering what is set out in the Grant Funding Agreement and Delivery plan. This needs to be satisfactory for delivery of the activity that has been pledged by both the lead partner and the consortium.

12. Can you provide detail on the training needs (ideally a training needs analysis) for the sponsor groups? If not, to what extent do you expect the Principal Sponsor to conduct a training needs analysis.

Principal Sponsors will be expected to assess what training is necessary for Sponsor Groups to successfully find appropriate accommodation and support households to integrate into the UK. We aim to have one united training provider for Communities for Afghans and the Home Office Community Sponsorship scheme within the next 12 months. However, in the meantime, Principal Sponsors will need to deliver this.

Payments and funding

13. Will payments to Principal Sponsors and Sponsor Groups be made in arrears or in advance?

Through the process of agreeing the Grant Funding Agreement with the successful applicant, we can arrange a payment schedule that works for all. To ensure the scheme does not limit who can apply, we are open to payments in advance based on forecast costs and past delivery rather than arrears. Payments will be related to delivery.

14. “Usual terms include an initial payment to be made on signing the agreement followed by quarterly payments based on performance”. Is there an option to have a larger up front payment at the start of the scheme with a break clause arrangement after a longer period of time instead to enable effective recruitment and greater certainty for people employed to deliver the scheme? Smaller organisations in a consortium cannot afford to take the risk of not having agreed funding to support the recruitment of any employed workers.

An initial payment will be made to the Principal Sponsor when the Grant Funding Agreement has been signed. Subsequent payments will be made on a quarterly basis, subject to review. Applicants should set out the costs in their financial plan.

15. How are upfront costs delivered? Is this in arrears and needing to be claimed back? For instance where rental deposits are paid there should be an expectation that the family will pay towards this when their housing benefit comes through?

An initial payment will be made to the Principal Sponsor that should specifically cover up front costs. This payment will be made once the Grant Funding Agreement has been signed. Subsequent payments will be made on a quarterly basis subject to a review. Principal Sponsors are responsible for managing their element of the upfront fund paid to Sponsors. The monthly sponsor payment is paid via local authorities, but we are considering whether this should be paid via Principal Sponsors. There is no expectation that a household should pay deposits back, but they should pay the rent.

16. Regarding the supporting information on page 15 “cannot charge rent to guests over and above housing benefit”. Does this mean that groups are expected to take on rental agreements rather than families directly if the rental amount is greater than LHA, rather than the family have the rental agreement and the group pay the top up amount to the landlord? The first situation is not ideal as rental agreements should be in the families name wherever possible to prevent potential difficulties later on in transferring the rental agreement to the family.

17. Under ‘Role of Sponsor Groups’ it states, ‘cannot charge rent to guests over and above housing benefit’. Does this mean rental properties have to be found at LHA rate? In which case what do you intend the top up to cover if it’s not rent. Please can you remove this - it’s very unhelpful and will be fundamental to the success, or not, of the scheme.

This means that if the Sponsor Group have access to their own accommodation, e.g. a vicarage, that they are using for the household, they should not charge over and above the housing benefit allowance for that area and property. This does not mean that Sponsor Groups are expected to take on rental agreements. We expect that in the majority of cases the family will be renting a property in the private rented sector, which can be supplemented with the help of the monthly Sponsor Group funding. If that is the case, the housing benefit allowance is not the limit, but the Sponsor Group should take a common-sense approach to what the family can afford on an ongoing basis, after the Sponsor Group have finished supporting the household at the end of the 3-year period.

18. If possible, please could you offer further explanation of ‘performance’ in relation to funding, and what KPIs or checks would influence judgement of performance?

KPIs will be agreed with the Principal Sponsor as part of the Grant Funding Agreement process MHCLG will review the Grant award on a quarterly basis with the successful applicant(s). That review will take into account the Grant Recipient’s delivery of the Funded Activities against the agreed outputs set out in the Grant Funding agreement. A sample copy of a Grant Funding Agreement can be obtained from sponsorship@communities.gov.uk.

19. Regarding funding structure, will there be any consideration taken into account of inflation to ensure delivery remains affordable up to year 5 in the event of significant rises in costs?

20. We would like to understand if (and how) you have factored in inflation in the funding amount? This could mean quite a change in costs as inflation rises – would the funding flex with this?

The Grant Funding Agreement does not have the flexibility to provide inflationary increases across the term of the funding. Applicants should consider factoring in potential inflationary increases into their cost submission. Where there are unforeseen circumstances which impact all recipients, we would need to take a view at that time.

21. Are there maximum overheads commissioners will accept (e.g. as a percentage of total costs)?

The total amount of grant funding available to all Principal Sponsors for all 500 households is £4.145 million. Applicants should set out the total cost of their project for their preferred total number of households with a breakdown of the costs by year and activity. Exact funding amounts and number of households to be supported will be agreed in the negotiation period.

22. Will there be the opportunity to negotiate KPIs to reflect the inevitable period of capacity building needed at the start of the project? i.e. No of groups coming online lower in first year, then ramping up for the next 4 years.

Yes, there will be an opportunity to negotiate KPIs to reflect a necessary period of capacity building. We are realistic about how many households could be provided for in the first year compared to following years. The scheme will aim to resettle 20 households in 2025/26, 80 in 2026/27, 100 in years 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 and 2030/31. There is a need which needs to be met now so any proposals should include a speedy stand-up period. We expect delivery to start in August 2025. This will be addressed in the negotiation period.

23. The supporting information says that “Sponsor Groups may fundraise but the Department will need assurance that organisations are not receiving duplicate funding for the same deliverables. Fund raising is not a requirement of this scheme.” Can we have some clarification on the kinds of activities group fundraising can be used for and that are not classed as deliverables? For example, would support with trauma and counselling (i.e. beyond statutory trauma provision and in their native language) be a possibility?

We are looking to applicants and potential Principal Sponsors to inform us what activities would be helpful to be funded by fundraising, or whether fundraising should not be expected/required at all. Trauma and counselling would be good examples of additional support which could be paid for by fundraising, but we are looking to the sector to propose activities. This question won’t be scored.

Consortiums

24. Consortia of more than 4 organisations are eligible, but we do not intend to partner with more than 4 consortiums. What does this mean?

Any consortium of two organisations or upwards are eligible. A consortium should nominate one lead organisation to apply for grant funding. That organisation will be legally responsible for delivery and be responsible for delivering the terms and conditions in the Grant Funding Agreement. We have not placed a limit on the number of organisations in a consortium. Organisations do not need to be in a consortium to apply - they can apply on their own. (We stated that a consortium of more than 4 organisations could apply to avoid confusion, as we have said we are looking for 4 lead Principal Sponsors.)

25. We note that timescales for preparing applications are extremely short, with less than a month between 17 March and 10 of April. This is insufficient time for us to put together a high-quality proposal, put legal agreements in place and obtain internal sign-off. This is particularly so as we plan to apply as a consortium, adding significant complexity. Furthermore, the final week of the timetable falls during the Easter holidays, meaning that many key staff are on holiday.

26. For a consortium bid, what kind of agreement needs to be in place between the consortium members at the point at which the application is submitted.

The application process opened on 10 March. We will not be extending the application deadline.

For a consortium bid, we will need one lead organisation to come forward for the legal agreements with MHCLG. A Memorandum of Understanding/formal letter will be needed between the different organisations setting out their different responsibilities, signed by their CEO/CFOs.

If applicants are unable to have internal sign off and legal agreements in place on their proposed delivery model before the submission deadline, they should set out a plan for obtaining those agreements and indicate what commitments are place. All legal agreements such as memorandums of understanding must be fully in place before a grant award can be made. We intend to sign Grant Funding Agreements at the start of June.

27. Where a group of organisations bids as a consortium, we understand that there must be one lead recipient which will receive the funding for all of them. Will MHCLG sign the grant agreement just with the lead recipient, or with all of the members of the consortium?

28. For a consortium bid, will only the lead recipient be considered a Principal Sponsor?

MHCLG will enter into a Grant Funding Agreement with the lead organisation only. The lead recipient will be considered the Principal Sponsor and be required to agree to the terms and conditions in the Grant Funding Agreement.

29. Can we add or remove consortium members during the life of the contract?

The Grant Funding agreement will be between MHCLG and the Principal Sponsor/lead applicant who have responsibility for delivering the project. A Memorandum of Understanding/formal letter will be needed between the different organisations setting out their different responsibilities, signed by their CEO/CFOs. The MOU should set out how the consortium will handle new members joining or leaving it.

Accommodating households

30. At what point in their journey from Afghanistan into the UK will households and/or individuals be made known to the Principal Sponsor(s) and added to the housing backlog?

Currently Principal Sponsors on the pilot are made aware of the households they need to support once they are in the UK and in temporary accommodation. We may in the future expect Principal Sponsors to find accommodation for households not yet in the UK. We would expect flexibility from the Principal Sponsor on when they receive the relevant information about the household. We aim to make this available as early as possible in the process.

31. What is the assumed arrival profile over time of households and/or individuals into the UK by calendar quarter?

The scheme will aim to resettle at least 20 households in financial year 2025/26; 80 in 2026/27; 100 in years 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, and 2030/31. Organisations should be prepared to scale if the scheme is successful.

32. Must bidders state numbers of families we will support for each geographical region in which we plan to deliver? Or is it sufficient to give a total number of families and state geographical locations where we will deliver?

Applicants are not required to provide numbers on a geographical basis. Applicants should set out how they will work with devolved nations, Strategic Migration Partnerships and local authorities and set out plans for working across the UK.