Guidance

Night Shelter Transformation Fund 2022-25: funding prospectus

Updated 8 August 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on 31 March 2023

This page has been withdrawn as the bidding round has closed.

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The government is committed to ending rough sleeping and has made considerable progress in recent years to reduce the numbers of people who sleep rough on our streets. The dedication and commitment of the faith and community sector is vital to ending rough sleeping, and the government’s Night Shelter Transformation Fund seeks to advance the development, growth and long-term sustainability of the sector.

The pandemic has shown that partnership working between local authorities and non-commissioned services in the faith and community sector has a significant impact on rough sleeping services, rough sleepers’ experiences of services, and individual outcomes. The annual rough sleeping snapshot for 2021 showed there were 2,440 people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2021 – a 9% decrease from last year.

To enable this impactful and important work to continue and to increase the variety and quality of services, the government is committing up to £10 million to 31 March 2025 to a Transformation Fund.

This funding will ultimately help people sleeping rough to receive support they need and reduce the risk of the most vulnerable in our society returning to the streets.

This fund will make annual and multi-year grant funding available to Night Shelter providers to provide a diverse range of quality, dignified provision for individuals experiencing rough sleeping, offering more sustainable routes off the streets.

This will include both:

1. Enhancing or developing single room accommodation for people experiencing rough sleeping.

2. Developing non-residential support for rough sleepers where applicants can demonstrate a specific need and targeted solution that enhances local areas’ support and reduces the number of people experiencing rough sleeping.

The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will give equal priority to bids for single room accommodation and non-residential support. However, bidders must demonstrate that they are, or have been, providers of Night Shelter services in order to be eligible.

The fund will not support bidders who have only ever provided non-residential support, or who have not provided Night Shelter services since 2019/20.

Night Shelter refers to non-commissioned accommodation services, with a low threshold for access, focused on rough sleepers and generally providing temporary accommodation.

Sector membership bodies, Homeless Link and Housing Justice, will work in partnership with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to support organisations to prepare bids and implement any bids awarded funding. See the Application Support section below for more information about how these organisations will be able to support you in developing your bid.

The Fund will open bi-annually in both 2022/23 and 2023/24, with the first round launching week commencing 25 July 2022 and close for applications on 26 August 2022.

Bidders can apply for short-term, one-year or multi-year funding. Bidders should specify the length of the funding required in their application form.

We will consider bids from night shelters operating in a partnership or consortium. Bids of this type must identify a lead grantee, who will in turn agree sub-grants with partners.

2. Objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund

The strategic objectives that DLUHC are seeking to support organisations to achieve through this fund are threefold:

• Improve quality of off the street accommodation, supplementary to that which is provided through local authority commissioned services.
• Help reduce the number of individuals sleeping rough or requiring emergency shelter, in close partnership with local authorities and other housing-related support services.
• Make long-term sustained transformations to the provisions made by non-commissioned Night Shelter providers, including diversification of services provided, greater organisational and financial resilience, and greater sustainability without requiring government funding to meet core costs.

These objectives will enable transformation to take place in three distinct areas, all of which come together to contribute to an overall transformation within the sector and the services provided to service users.

• Organisational transformation: To enable smaller community and faith groups to transform their model of support for people affected by homelessness. This would mean a significant development which helps them establish or embed a new way of operating.
• Local transformation: For funded projects to contribute to transformation within the local area by playing a clear and demonstrable role in reducing rough sleeping. We want this funding to contribute to building greater collaboration between smaller faith and community groups and local authorities.
• Individual transformation: Underpinning the above is the aim of helping faith and community groups have a greater transformative impact on people affected by homelessness. Most of all, we want to support models and approaches which empower people to make lasting and authentic positive changes in their lives.

Funding will be made available through three funding streams.

• The revenue stream will fund staff, running and operational costs – including small scale refurbishments such as painting and decorating costs.
• The capital stream will fund building-based works, including property or land purchase and significant renovations to existing sites.
• A new capital incubator programme will fund smaller organisations to receive support with ideas for capital programmes, with bids expected in later rounds of funding.

DLUHC encourages bidders to consider the ways in which this funding will be transformative organisationally, locally and individually. All bids should have a clear transformative goal in mind. This fund will not make grants to support the maintenance of programmes already underway unless there is a clear ambition to transformation made possible by the funding.

The types of transformative provision for which we expect to receive bids fall into two broad categories:

Enhanced accommodation offers, including hotels and B&Bs, single room accommodation, the re-configuration of properties, modular housing and supported housing.

Diversifying into community-based services, including but not limited to drop-ins, day services, befriending, peer support, floating support, advice and advocacy, employment support and provision for people with restricted eligibility.

3. Eligibility

In order to have your application considered, your organisation must be a small to medium sized organisation (up to £5 million annual turnover), that currently works directly with people experiencing rough sleeping in a Night Shelter setting or provided a Night Shelter on or after 2019/20.

Organisations with a higher turnover may apply in very specific circumstances, such as evidencing being the only emergency provider over winter in a particular area. If this is the case, please contact us directly for advice before submitting an application.

Successful applicants will be required to report to DLUHC and partners throughout the funding period , including to update on progress of Revenue and Capital projects and, where appropriate, detailed sitreps on units in delivery. Interim reports will contribute to an overall end-of-grant report delivered in mid-2025

We want to know that you will work with local authorities and partners towards delivery of agreed strategic plans to meet the needs of those rough sleeping and experiencing homelessness. This should include consideration of move-on from your provision. We will be keen to understand how provision from this fund ties to the government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) funding, delivered through the local authority.

We therefore require applicants to submit the relevant local authority’s endorsement, by letter or email, to ensure that bids complement (and do not duplicate or contradict) the council’s work and that of commissioned services. Please note that letters should come from Officers responsible for rough sleeping within the local authority. Supporting letters from an elected member/councillor will not be considered and so should not be submitted.

Only organisations meeting these criteria are eligible for funding:

• An incorporated organisation
  • A company limited by guarantee
  • A charitable incorporated organisation
  • A community interest company
  • A community benefit society
  • Other (please outline in application form)
• An unincorporated organisation (see section 1.6 of the application form)
• Based in and operating in England
• Organisation is already working to end homelessness and rough sleeping and has operated a Night Shelter since 2019/20
• Proposed activity is in line with the organisation’s charitable mission/purpose

Unincorporated organisations will be required to submit:

• Full accounts (audited or independently examined) for the three most recent financial years

4. Proposal guidance

Purposes of grant-making

The purpose of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund is threefold, the objectives detailed below summarise the goals of the fund and should be taken into consideration for all applications made to the fund.

• High-quality secure accommodation that is available year-round. Capital investment is likely to include retrofitting units, long-term modular structures, adding a bathroom to an HMO property, and improving kitchen spaces to enable self-contained accommodation, all of which will add long term value to the accommodation. We will not welcome capital bids for short life expectancy structures or enhancements, such as temporary pod structures. The value for money of capital proposals will be assessed as part of the bidding process.
• Enhanced quality and availability of support services provided by the faith and community sector to prevent rough sleeping and support individuals to independent living, including through employment support, tenancy sustainment support, and increasing individuals being supported to navigate statutory and commissioned systems (substance misuse, mental health, physical health, housing services).
• Intensive support and signposting for rough sleepers for whom connecting with statutory services is challenging. Revenue investment into specific support staff and related services will enable hard-to-reach groups to receive more appropriate, proportionate support.

Considerations

This section of the prospectus outlines the considerations that applicants should review ahead of submitting an application to the fund.

Revenue

• For Revenue, grants must be between £10,000 and £100,000 per annum.

• Revenue bids can contain up to 10% for minor capital costs.

• Revenue work must be completed and spent no later than the end of the financial year (the last day in March) in which it is eligible to be spent.

• Organisations with a turnover higher than £1,000,000 should seek to provide match funding for their bids, as these bids will be reviewed favourably in value for money terms.

Capital

• For Capital, grants must be between £25,000 and £100,000, unless you can provide an exceptional rationale for falling outside of these amounts.

• Capital bidders can also apply for revenue (e.g. for different costs) but should also indicate in both bids whether they require the revenue funding to be approved in order to deliver the capital project - and vice versa.

• Capital funding must be spent no later than the 31 March 2023 in the first year of the fund.
• Organisations with a turnover higher than £1,000,000 (as identified in their most recently published accounts) should seek to provide match funding for their bids, as these bids will be reviewed favourably in value for money terms.

Capital Incubator

• For capital incubator proposals, revenue applications must be less than £30,000 per annum. This funding must be spent no later than 31 March 2023.
• Organisations with turnover higher than £1,000,000 are not eligible for this funding.

VAT

The grant we offer will be a maximum and so you should ensure all relevant costs are included. Any irrecoverable input VAT should also be included.

5. Timeline 

Bids for the Night Shelter Transformation Fund will open in bi-annually in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Round 1 of the programme is expected to begin in the week commencing 25 July 2022. Please see below more details:

Date	Programme stage
W/C 25 July	Night Shelter Transformation Fund open
W/C 25 July	Capital Incubator open
26 August	Deadline for Night Shelter Transformation Fund
26 August	Deadline for Capital Incubator
October	Capital applicants notified of outcomes
October	Revenue applicants notified of outcomes
November	Night Shelter Transformation Fund payments
November	Capital Incubator Grant Funding Agreements and payments

Details of subsequent funding rounds will be shared in due course.

6. Eligible spend

Revenue

Grant amounts:

• The Fund will award grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 per annum.

Grants can be used to fund:

• Investments in systems
• Investments in people
• Investments in infrastructure (but excluding purchases of buildings or land)
• Dedicated capacity development
• Staff salaries
• Project activities
• Running costs including rent of premises
• Small-scale refurbishment (but excluding refurbishments which significantly improve existing land or building assets)
• Equipment
• Organisational development
• Contributions to fixed costs

Grants cannot be used to fund the following types of activities:

• Activities of a political or exclusively religious nature
• Lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties
• Using grant funding to petition for additional funding
• Input VAT reclaimable by you from HMRC
• Goods or services that you have a statutory duty to provide
• Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants
• Contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money);
• Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets by you
• The acquisition or improvement of fixed assets by you
• Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
• Gifts to individuals and promotional items
• Entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit; to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations)
• Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties
• Liabilities incurred before the issue of a funding agreement unless agreed in writing by us
• Use in respect of costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from any other source
• Use to cover interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases) and
• Use to purchase buildings or land

Capital

This strand of funding should be used to make available high-quality secure provision that is available year-round. This fund will only consider funding capital applications that will provide single-room accommodation.

For the purposes of this Fund, self-contained provision is defined as separate living accommodation in which an individual has access to a single room (with a lockable door, access to running water, four walls and a ceiling, secure window and appropriate ventilation) which is not shared with anyone else, and access to cooking facilities and full bathroom facilities (single-use or shared with a limited number of individuals). Please note that these criteria do not therefore allow dormitory style accommodation.

Given the limit to capital spend in this fund, we expect capital bids for this Fund to be focussed on enhancement of existing premises, rather than acquisition of new buildings, although bids for some relatively low-cost acquisition of new assets may be considered.

Any capital expenditure should be used to adapt provision permanently to facilitate effective, longer-term models of support that offer individuals sustainable routes out of rough sleeping.

Capital can be used to fund:

• One off costs for acquiring, or significantly upgrading a fixed asset such as land, a building or equipment

• Expectation that the asset will be used for more than one year

• Upgrading / enhancement works would be undertaken to provide significant transformation and must be beyond that which could be achieved through repairs and maintenance (which are covered by revenue costs)

Capital cannot be used to fund:

• Temporary sleeping structures
• Shared sleeping facilities of any kind
• Significant staffing costs (small amounts of staffing costs less than 10% the amount of the overall grant are acceptable)

Grant amounts

The Fund will award grants of between £25,000 and £100,000

Requirements

• Your capital bid meets the core definition of capital funding.
• Your turnover is a minimum of £250,000 p.a. or your organisation can provide suitable assurance (such as previous history) of being able to manage a grant of this size and style.
• Your capital bid is between £25,000 and £100,000 (or you can provide an exceptional rationale for falling within 10% of these amounts).
• Your works will be delivered by 31 March 2023 for single year grants (ongoing monitoring will support this).
• You will have a letter of support from your local authority – this written support should be from the officers with responsibility for rough sleeping within the local authority.
• You are enhancing a property that you either own or have a lease that is for at least £5k per annum and for at least 3 years (longer term arrangements will be viewed favourably in value for money terms).
• If you are enhancing a leased property (leasehold improvement), you will be able to provide written approval from the owner of the property for the intended works.
• You will have the required planning permission and building control approval for any works or a clear timetable to achieve this in time to deliver the planned works in principle where appropriate and you can demonstrate that this has been planned and budgeted for (e.g. considers local authority planning processes and timescales).
• You will have proof (e.g. quotations, cost estimates) that works will be carried out by qualified contractors (and therefore adheres to fire and safety regulations for works, as noted above) and you can demonstrate that this has been planned and budgeted for.

Considerations

• Ownership: who owns the building?
• What is the current ‘use’ of the building? (in particular the planning class)
• What planning permission, building regulations or other legal and regulatory permissions may be required?
• Is the building listed (which grade)?
• What level of insurance does the building have?
• Have you made yourself familiar with HSE guidance for clients? 
• Have you sought appropriate legal advice?

Capital incubator

Grants can be used to fund:

• Contracting specialist support to assist in preparing a capital project e.g. architects quantity surveyors, designers, solicitors, planning consultants, M&E consultants, project managers, etc

Grants cannot be used to fund the following types of activities:

• Actual capital works
• Ongoing revenue costs

Requirements

• The fund will make grant awards for this programme up to the value of £30,000 per annum. This funding stream is only open to organisations with turnover lower than £1,000,000 per annum (as defined by their most recent published annual accounts).
• It is envisioned that a Capital Incubator grant in year 1 or 2 of the fund will generate a full Capital application in year 2 or 3 of the fund.

7. Scoring process

Your application will be evaluated based on weighted criteria. The weighted criteria are as follows:

Criteria	% Weighting
1. Organisation (Eligibility check only)	Y/N
2. Your skills and experience	15%
3. Your Proposal	40%
4a. Outputs and outcomes (For Capital & Revenue bids only.)	(15%)
4b. Capital Incubator Proposal (For Capital Incubator bids only.)	(15%)
5. Deliverability	15%
6. Value for money	15%

Marking guidance, scoring and weightings:

Bids will be assessed by a panel comprised of representatives from DLUHC’s Homelessness & Rough Sleeping and Commercial Grants teams against the criteria listed in the attached Annex B.

Where questions are assessed they will be given a score from 0-3. Bids receiving a score of 0 for any question will be automatically rejected.

Scores will be multiplied by weightings to give a Section Score. Section Scores will be added to provide a Total Score. The Total Score will be used to rank applications.

The maximum total score is 300.

Bids will be prioritised by Total Score.

The final decision as to which application receives what level of funding will rest with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

DLUHC reserves the right to vary these conditions and the right to either withdraw or reduce the funding, in line with the terms and conditions set out within the Grant Funding Agreement.

8. Application support

DLUHC has partnered with sector membership bodies, Homeless Link and Housing Justice, to support applicants throughout the funding period.

Homeless Link and Housing Justice are available for application support via email. If your organisation is already a member of one of the two membership bodies, we recommend speaking to them in the first instance. If your organisation is a member of neither body, please email transformationfund@levellingup.gov.uk to be put in touch with the most suitable contact.

Housing Justice: j.quagliozzi@housingjustice.org.uk

Homeless Link: fund@homelesslink.org.uk

Once funding has been allocated, Homeless Link and Housing Justice will convene communities of practice to support grantees. The communities of practice will offer peer to peer support, and advice and guidance for grantees.

9. FAQ

Q. Can I apply for funding to set up a new Night Shelter?

A. No, we will only fund organisations who have provided Night Shelter services previously. However, we will fund organisations that have previously provided Night Shelter services to develop non-accommodation based offers. We will not fund communal Night Shelters where individuals are not given their own room. This is described in more detail in the definitions below.

Q. Can I apply as an organisation that has supported rough sleepers but has not provided an accommodation service?

A. No, we will only fund organisations who have provided Night Shelter services previously.

Q. Can I apply for funding in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland?

A. No, this funding programme is only available in England.

Q. Can I apply for multi-year funding?

A. Yes, you are welcome to apply for funding for the whole 2022-25 period. Please make this clear in your application form. Funds will be sent to successful grantees on an annual basis so please ensure your cost schedule is accurate and representative of your funding need in each year. Note that this funding will expire in 2025, and you should detail plans regarding longer-term sustainability in your application.

Q. Can I apply for capital funding and revenue funding at the same time?

A. Yes, we will accept more than one bid from the same provider. We are seeking to support organisations who are planning to make significant transformative developments to their service. To that end, we will accept applications for both Capital and Revenue funding in the same funding round, or in separate funding rounds. Please ensure you make clear in your bid any instances of interdependencies between capital and revenue funding.

Q. Can I apply for funding as a commissioned service?

A. Yes, although your main source of income should not be through commissioned services.

Q. Can I apply for funding for a communal Night Shelter?

A. The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will not fund the setting up or maintenance of any communal Night Shelters. The fund will, however, support the transformation of these services to provide single room accommodation for rough sleepers, including modular structures. Providers of communal Night Shelters may also apply for non-accommodation based transformations, detailed in the Revenue section of this document.

Q. Can I apply for funding to purchase a property?

A. Yes, funding to support the purchase of a property to provide services for rough sleepers including accommodation is eligible under the Capital tranche of this fund. Please be aware that grantees will still be expected to complete their spend on time and so it may be beneficial to look to purchase properties without an onward chain or properties which your organisation currently rents.

Q. Can I apply for funding to rent short term accommodation (i.e book hotel rooms) for rough sleepers?

A. The vision for the fund is not to fund hotel rooms in years 2 and 3, however where a project can make a case for hotel accommodation for the winter of 2022 (year 1 of the fund) as an interim solution as part of their journey of transformation for their service, this will be considered.

Q. Can I apply as an individual?

A. No. We do not fund individuals, we can only fund organisations with one of the structures listed in the Criteria for Applicants section of this document.

Q. What if my organisation is part of a larger organisation?

A. If your organisation has a separate constitution and accounts then you are eligible to apply as an organisation. However, if you share accounts and a governance structure then the larger organisation must be the applicant and must meet the eligibility criteria and turnover limit.

Q. What if we want to apply for a specific project that is one component of a larger organisation that may not always work with rough sleepers?

A. We do expect that the organisation’s primary beneficiaries to be people experiencing homelessness. We understand organisations may work with other people too, but to be eligible for this grant, people experiencing homelessness must represent more than 50% of your organisation’s beneficiaries.

Q. Does it matter what level of reserves we have?

A. Organisations with any level of reserves are able to apply to this Fund. In the event that we receive a very high number of applications, we will look to forecasted cash reserves in order to prioritise funding, so please provide this information in your application. Provision of match funding through reserves will be viewed favourably in value for money terms.

Q. Do I need a letter of support from my local authority?

A. Yes, or a clear explanation of why not. Local authorities are expected to play a key role in planning provision for rough sleepers so we want to know that you are working with local authorities and partners towards delivery of agreed strategic plans. We strongly encourage applicants to submit the relevant local authority’s endorsement, by letter or email, to ensure that bids complement (and do not duplicate) the council’s work. Ideally supporting letters should come from Officers responsible for planning winter provision. Supporting letters from elected members/councillors will not be considered and so should not be submitted. If it has not been possible for you to obtain support you will need to explain why.

Q. Will successful applicants receive any support as part of the award?

A. Yes, Homeless Link and Housing Justice will support applicants through establishing Communities of Practice. These groups will be peer support driven and will provide grantees with a forum to discuss ideas, concerns and ask questions.

Q. Will the fund be open for new applications in 2023 and 2024?

A. We envision one further funding round to be completed during this financial year, and at least one further round in 2023/24.

We do not currently envision a new round of funding in 2024, though this is subject to change and contingent on budgets.

Q. Are we at a disadvantage if we do not apply this year?

A. As an organisation you will be at a disadvantage if you do not apply this year, as there is significant funding available to you.

The revenue and capital budgets allocated to future rounds and future years of funding is subject to change, as the budgets are contingent on the multi-year funding we approve in the first rounds of funding in 2022/23.

We would therefore recommend that you apply at the earliest opportunity.

Q. If we are awarded a multi-year grant, are we eligible to alter our budget and plans in the second year?

A. DLUHC’s preference would be for your application to provide details of future years’ funding - this can be inclusive of predicted inflationary costs and/or foreseen changes to the delivery of your services.

We will work with Housing Justice, Homeless Link and grantees to finalise high level workplans as part of the Grant Funding Agreement process. These will be subject to review, providing an opportunity to inform DLUHC of any proposed changes to grant spend during the grant agreement period.

Q. If we are awarded a multi-year grant, will further information be requested from our organisation, and if so, what information will that be and at what point?

A. Depending on your organisation’s membership affiliation, you will be expected to regularly update Homeless Link or Housing Justice on your progress.

This information will be fed back to DLUHC via a RAG Rating system as part of on-going monitoring of the programme. DLUHC may choose to more closely monitor your project to manage risks to delivery.

You will be expected to provide monitoring information to DLUHC on a quarterly basis. This information will be proportionate, and allow DLUHC to have on-going management information that informs the overall performance of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund.

Q. If we are awarded a multi-year grant, will payment be dependent on process?

A. While DLUHC is not providing grants on a payment-by-results basis, it does reserve the right to withhold payments or exit any Grant Funding Agreement on the basis of grantees’ failure to deliver.

Q. If we only apply for funds for this financial year and then apply for further funds in the second round, will the organisation experience a funding gap while the second round of funding is agreed?

A. DLUHC recommends that you apply for multi-year funding in order to avoid any funding gaps.

Q. Where do we send applications?

A. Send applications and relevant attachments to TransformationFund@levellingup.gov.uk.

Q. What constitutes match funding?

A. Match funding is commonly understood in two ways - as “actual” and “in-kind”. “Actual” match funding can include match funding from reserves and other external funding sources. “In-kind” funding includes non-cash funding such as staff salaries and/or volunteer hours.

As a working principle, “actual” match funding bids will be viewed more favourably in relation to value for money than “in-kind” match funding.

Q. Can we fund any project running communal provision?

A. Organisations that provide communal night shelters are encouraged to apply for the Night Shelter Transformation Fund, though DLUHC will not specifically fund the provision of communal night shelter services.

DLUHC will, for example, fund communal night shelters to provide non-accommodation-based support, or single-room accommodation which is to be provide in addition to communal accommodation.

Q. Can we apply for SWEP accommodation?

A. Night shelter organisations are able to apply for funding for single-room accommodation, which will then be able to be provided as SWEP provision in a local area.

The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will not fund communal provision, and applicants will be required to submit a letter of support from their local authority in applying for the fund.

Q. Will the Night Shelter Transformation Fund fund preventative services?

A. Yes, we encourage applications for funding for non-accommodation based provision, including but not limited to preventative services.

Q. Can a night shelter organisation apply on behalf of an organisation that is not a night shelter, and sub-contract that organisation to provide services with Night Shelter Transformation Fund monies?

A. Bids of this nature are not eligible, as funding can only be provided to organisations that have provided a night shelter in 2019/20, 2020/21 and/or 2021/22.

Q. Can night shelter organisations submit partnership bids?

A. Yes, partnerships of night shelter organisations are able to apply for this fund. Please contact Homeless Link and/or Housing Justice in the first instance to discuss any partnership bids.

Q. Can this funding be used to accommodate / support people with no recourse to public funds?

A. The Night Shelter Transformation Fund can be used to support anyone, including individuals with restricted eligibility. The types of interventions this could fund include high-quality, secure temp accommodation as well as increasing quality and availability of support services.

Q. Can we request capital funding to be spent over multiple financial years?

A. Funding may be requested to be drawn down in one or more of the years of the Fund (ie 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/5). However, please note that any funding awarded will be available to be claimed only during the financial year(s) for which it is made, and not beyond. Before submitting a bid, please consider carefully whether your project schedule would enable you to claim within this timeframe. As it is probable that the majority of projects will seek funding in later years, some priority may also be given to projects that can spend funding in 2022/23. It should be noted that there will be tight restrictions on the profile of funding available over the three years and bidders will wish to assure themselves that expenditure is genuinely achievable in the years requested.

Q. What can my organisation expect to happen if we are successful in bidding for the Night Shelter Transformation Fund?

A. You will be informed if your bid has been successful and the amount of funding you have been awarded. You will be sent a Grant Funding Agreement to sign, this sets out the conditions of accepting the grant and confirms that the Department has entered into an agreement with the organisation. You will also be asked to return a form to register as a DLUHC supplier alongside a Grant Claim Form to claim the grant. Once these have been returned your payment will be processed.

10. Definitions

To ensure a common understanding of terminology used in this prospectus, we have provided below an agreed set of definitions for sector-specific use. We understand that other organisations may use these terms in different ways, for the purposes of this grant programme this is how these terms will be used and understood.

Term	Definition
Single room	Separate living accommodation. A room with a lockable door, four walls and a ceiling, secure window and appropriate ventilation. Access to cooking facilities and full bathroom facilities (single-use, or shared) – cooking facilities are required unless this is explicitly indicated as unnecessary, for example in fully catered provision.
Night Shelter	Emergency accommodation service provided to people. Generally run by community and faith groups, primarily staffed by volunteers and often offered free of charge.
Modular housing	Prefabricated building with a lockable door, four walls and a ceiling, secure window and appropriate ventilation.
Communal sleeping arrangements	A room where multiple people will be sleeping in the same space – oftentimes not including appropriate ventilation.
Secure	Rough sleeping services which have appropriate security measures in place. Including, but not limited to, waking watch guards, security guards, CCTV.
Community-based services	Services supporting rough sleepers beyond Night Shelters. Including drop-ins, day services, befriending, peer support, floating support, advice and advocacy, employment support and specific provision for people with restricted eligibility.
Transformation	A significant and long-term change to the operating model of an existing rough sleeping service. This could include significant changes to either buildings, staffing arrangements or to the approach.
Match-funding	Funding that is used to bolster the value of a bid.
Commissioned services	Describes services which are made possible under contract from a local authority.

Annex A: Further information capital expenditure

What can capital funds be used for?

Capital expenditure is used to buy or improve an asset that will be used for more than one year, and whose value is above a set threshold.

Where an asset already exists, further work (enhancement) may be carried out over its lifetime to lengthen the life of an asset or to substantially increase the operational capacity of the asset. This must be beyond that which can be achieved through repairs or maintenance – repairs and maintenance come under revenue costs.

For the purposes of the Transformation Fund, self-contained provision is defined as separate living accommodation  in which an individual has access to a single room (with a lockable door, access to running water, four walls and a ceiling, secure window and appropriate ventilation) which is not shared with anyone else, and access to cooking facilities and full bathroom facilities (single-use, or shared with a limited number of individuals to comply with social distancing requirements). Please note that these criteria do not therefore allow dormitory style or communal provision.

All works should comply with building regulations health and safety standards and guidance – please refer to the Manual to the Building Regulations when developing your bid, and we recommend that you seek advice from your local authority for further clarification. As the guidance sets out, you must ensure that any work is carried out by companies who have the necessary qualifications and accreditations to comply with the requirements of the building regulations.  It is therefore critical that you employ companies who are accredited appropriately - this will be a condition of the grant agreement.

We expect capital expenditure through this Fund to enable faith and community groups to deliver better quality, self-contained provision in the longer term to support people who would otherwise sleep rough, thereby meeting a local need.

Fundamentally, any capital expenditure through this Fund should be used to adapt provision to facilitate effective, longer-term models of support that offer individuals sustainable routes out of rough sleeping.

How will you assess the capital bids?

Minimum criteria for submitting a capital bid in this Fund

• Your capital bid meets the core definition of capital funding (outlined above).

• Your turnover is a minimum of £250,000 p.a. or your organisation is able to provide suitable assurance (such as previous history) of being able to manage a grant of this size and style.

• Your capital bid is between £25,000 and £100,000.

• You have a letter of support from your local authority – this written support should be from the officers with responsibility for rough sleeping within the local authority.

• You are enhancing a property that you either own or have a lease that is for 3 years or longer from the point of bidding and is on the balance books (i.e. a finance lease, in which your lease is a defined asset / is over £5k etc), as with industry guidelines on the use of capital funds.

• Have written approval of the intended works. If you are enhancing a leased property (leasehold improvement), you have a lease that is for 3 years or longer from the point of bidding, you have written approval of the intended works, including planning decisions in principle where appropriate, and you can demonstrate that this has been planned and budgeted for (e.g. considers local authority planning processes and timescales).

• You can demonstrate that you have planned and budgeted for works to be carried out in the required timeframe by qualified contractors (and therefore adheres to fire and safety regulations for works, as noted above). You may be asked for proof (e.g. quotations) over the course of the bid.

Annex B: Scoring process

Marking guidance, scoring and weightings:

Your application will be evaluated based on weighted criteria as follows:

Criteria	% Weighting
1. Organisation (Eligibility check only)	Y/N
2. Your skills and experience	15%
3. Your Proposal	40%
4a. Outputs and outcomes (For Capital & Revenue bids only.)	(15%)
4b. Capital Incubator Proposal (For Capital Incubator bids only.)	(15%)
5. Deliverability	15%
6. Value for money	15%

• Bids will be assessed by a panel comprising representatives of DLUHC’s Homelessness & Rough Sleeping and Commercial Grants teams against the criteria listed in Table A1 below.
• If you are bidding for Capital Incubator funding and Revenue funding then please submit two application forms – one for Capital Incubator and another for Revenue.
• A Capital and Revenue bid should be submitted on one form.
• You cannot submit a Capital Incubator bid together with a Capital bid because a Capital Incubator bid is designed to fund the costs of preparing a Capital bid to be submitted in future rounds.
• Please read the Bid Prospectus before writing your responses. Your bid will be evaluated according to the aims and objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund.
• Where questions are assessed they will be given a score from 0-3. Bids receiving a score of 0 for any question will be automatically rejected.
• Scores will be multiplied by weightings to give a Section Score. Section Scores will be added to provide a Total Score. The Total Score will be used to rank applications.
• The maximum total score is 300.
• Bids will be prioritised by Total Score.
• The final decision as to which application receives what level of funding will rest with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
• DLUHC reserves the right to vary these conditions and the right to either withdraw or reduce the funding if reasonably required, in line with the terms and conditions set out within the Grant Funding Agreement.

Table A1 Scoring and weighting

Criteria	Weighting	Maximum score
Section 1 - the applicant
Organisation and contact details	Eligibility check	Yes/No
Section 2 – Your skills and experience (15%)
Q2.1 What are your objects as defined by your constitution or other governing document? (Maximum 200 words) Q2.2 How is your organisation governed and managed? (Maximum 200 words) Q2.3 What services do you provide? In particular, describe how you provide a night shelter service. (Maximum 200 words)	10%	30
Q2.4 Do you employ any staff? If so how many, and in what roles. (Maximum 200 words)	n/a	not scored
Q2.5 Do you use volunteers? If so how many, and in what roles? (Maximum 200 words)	n/a	not scored
Q2.6 Summarise your understanding of the challenges for night shelter providers (Maximum 250 words)	5%	15
Total for section 2	15%	45
Section 3 - Your Proposal (40%)
Q3.1: What are you proposing to do? (400 words)	10%	30
Q3.2: How will this funding build on your existing work? Why is this important? (400 words)	5%	15
Q3.3: How will this proposal help achieve the aims and objectives of the Fund? (400 words)	10%	30
Q3.4: How will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area? (400 words)	5%	15
Q3.5: This is a short-term transformational fund. How will this funding support the longer-term sustainability of your service, beyond the funding period? (400 words)	5%	15
Q3.6: Please provide details of your programme delivery plan. Please refer to the prospectus for further guidance (Maximum 1 page).	5%	15
Total for Section 3 proposals	40%	120
Section 4a: Outputs and outcomes, (For capital & revenue bids only.)  (15%)
Q4a.1 What impact do you expect your proposal to have?	15%	45
Total for Section 4a - Outputs and Outcomes	(15%)	45
Section 4b: Capital Incubator Fund Proposal (For Capital Incubator bids only.)
Q4b.1: How will you use a Capital Incubator grant to prepare a viable capital bid for submission in later rounds of this grant programme? (400 words)	10%	30
Q4b.2: How will your service work alongside other services, including local authorities, in supporting the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area? (400 words)	5%	15
Total for Section 4b - Capital Incubator Programme	(15%)	45
Section 5: Deliverability and risks (15%)
Q5.1 We request an outline risk register of your proposal, detailing the risks and mitigations associated with your proposal.	15%	45
Total for Section 5, Risk / Deliverability	15%	45
Section 6 – Costs and value for money (15%)
Pricing schedule(s)	15%	45
Total for Section 6 Costs & VFM	15%	45
Maximum total score available	100%	300

A2. Criteria definitions

Criteria 1: The applicant

Section 1: Organisational information about the applicant

In this section, we ask for basic details of your organisation and the services you currently provide.

To be eligible for grant from this Fund, applicants must be non-profit distributing organisations, as described in the Prospectus. This section will be used to confirm the eligibility of the applicant.

This section is un-scored. However, you will be disqualified should you not meet the eligibility criteria as detailed in the Bid Prospectus. You may also be asked to provide further assurances if you are an unincorporated organisation.

Criteria 2 Skills and experience

Section 2 – Your skills and experience 
(This section is worth 15% of the total marks available).

In this section, we ask questions about the way your organisation is managed and its experience, and its understanding of the challenges faced by night shelter providers.

This helps us to understand your ability to deliver the proposed activities.

Criteria 3 The proposal

Section 3: Your Proposal 
(This section is worth 40% of the total marks available).
In this section, we ask what you propose to do, why this work is important and how it will help achieve the objectives of the Fund. (If you are bidding for the Capital Incubator Programme, please see Section 4b.)

Criteria 4a Outputs and outcomes

Section 4a: Outputs and outcomes, the impact of your proposal (For capital & Revenue bids only.)

(This section is worth 15% of the total marks available).

During your grant period you will be expected to share quarterly monitoring data with DLUHC and others.

To note, this information will be shared for informational purposes only, and you will not be performance managed against these metrics.

Capital fund applicants only are to submit supporting documentation with the application.

Criteria 4b Capital Incubator

Section 4b: Capital Incubator Programme Bid Proposal (For Capital Incubator bids only) (This section is worth 15% of the total marks available).

In this section, we ask for details about your proposal for funding from the Capital Incubator Programme. This section is optional and only to be completed if you are applying for Capital Incubator funding.

How will you use a Capital Incubator Programme to prepare a viable capital bid in later rounds of this grant programme? How will your service work alongside other services, including local authorities, in supporting the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area?

Criteria 5 Risk register & deliverability

Section 5: Night Shelter Transformation Fund Risk Register (Deliverability)
(This section is worth 15% of the total marks available).

An outline risk register of your proposal, detailing the risks and mitigations associated with your proposal.

Criteria 6 Costs and value for money

Section 6: Costs and VFM
(This section is worth 15% of the total marks available).

In this section we ask how much you are applying for, what your proposal is going to cost and how this has been calculated. We will use these figures to assess Value for Money. We also ask about any other sources of funding that you may use to support this proposal. The grant we offer will be a maximum and so you should ensure all relevant costs are included. Any irrecoverable input VAT should also be included. Relevant pricing schedule(s) should be completed.

A3. The Scoring process

Section 1 - The Applicant Referenced in application form: Section 1	Weighting	Score guide
Organisation and contact details	Mandatory requirement	Not scored however applications that do not provide this information will be disqualified

Section 2 – Your Skills and experience (Governance, knowledge, and experience of applicant, 15%) Referenced in application form: Section 2	Weighting	Score guide
Q2.1  What are your objects as defined by your constitution or other governing document? (Maximum 200 words)	Q2.1 to 2.3: 10%	No meaningful details provided. Score = 0 Poorly defined description of the organisation’s purpose and mission and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme. Score = 1 Description of the organisation’s purpose and mission and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of the organisation’s purpose and mission and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q2.2 How is your organisation governed and managed? (Maximum 200 words)	Q2.1 to 2.3: 10%	No meaningful details provided. Score = 0 Poorly defined description of the organisation’s governance and management and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme. Score = 1 Description of the organisation’s governance and management and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of the organisation’s governance and management and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q2.3 What services do you provide? In particular, describe how you provide a night shelter service. (Maximum 200 words)	Q2.1 to 2.3: 10%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined description of services provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme. Score = 1 Description of the organisation’s services provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of the organisation’s services provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q2.4 Do you employ any staff? If so how many, and in what roles. (Maximum 200 words)	n/a	Not scored
Q2.5 Do you use volunteers? If so how many, and in what roles? (Maximum 200 words)	n/a	Not scored
Q2.6 Summarise your understanding of the challenges for night shelter providers (Maximum 250 words)	5%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined description of the challenges for night shelter providers. Score = 1 Description of the organisation’s challenges for night shelter providers has been provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme that is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of the organisation’s challenges for night shelter providers has been provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3

Section 3 - Your Proposal (Proposal, including sustainability and long-term plans, 40%) Referenced in application form: Section 3	Weighting	Score guide
Q3.1: What are you proposing to do? (400 words)	10%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined description of the proposal. Score = 1 Description of the proposal has been provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of the organisation’s proposals has been provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q3.2: How will this funding build on your existing work? Why is this important?  (400 words)	5%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined response to how this funding will build on existing work and its importance. Score = 1 Description of how this funding will build on existing work and its importance is provided, and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of how this funding will build on existing work and its importance is provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q3.3: How will this proposal help achieve the aims and objectives of the Fund? (400 words)	10%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined response to how this funding will help achieve the aims and objectives of the Fund. Score = 1 Description of how this funding will help achieve the aims and objectives of the Fund is provided, and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of how this funding will help achieve the aims and objectives of the Fund is provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q3.4: How will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area? (400 words)	5%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined response to how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area. Score = 1 Description of how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area is provided, and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area. is provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q3.5: This is a short-term transformational fund. How will this funding support the longer-term sustainability of your service? (400 words)	5%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined response to how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area. Score = 1 Description of how this funding will support the longer-term sustainability of your service is provided, and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of how this funding will support the longer-term sustainability of your service is provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q3.6: Please provide details of your programme delivery plan.	5%	No meaningful details provided. Score = 0 Proposal includes a delivery plan timetable but includes poorly defined milestones and unclear delivery dates. Score = 1 The proposal includes a detailed timetable that will meet the delivery requirements. Score = 2 The proposal included a detailed timetable that will meet the delivery requirements.  This includes further project delivery points and links project actions. Score = 3

Section 4a: Outputs and outcomes, the impact of your proposal (For capital & Revenue bids only.) Referenced in application form: Section 4a	Weighting	Score guide
Q4a.1 What impact do you expect your proposal to have	15%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals.Score = 0 Poorly defined response with little detail of anticipated impacts, outputs, outcomes or how this data will be collected & shared with DLUHC. Score = 1 Description of anticipated impacts, outputs, outcomes and how this data will be collected & shared with DLUHC has been provided, and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of anticipated impacts, outputs, outcomes and how this data will be collected & shared with DLUHC has been provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3

Section 4b: Capital Incubator Programme Bid Proposal (For Capital Incubator bids only.) Referenced in application form: Section 4b.	Weighting	Score guide
Q4b.1: How will you use a Capital Incubator Programme to prepare a viable capital bid in later rounds of this grant programme? (400 words)	10%	No meaningful details provided. Score = 0 Poorly defined response with little detail around how you will use a Capital Incubator Programme to prepare a viable capital bid in later rounds of this grant programme. Score = 1 Description of how you will use a Capital Incubator Programme to prepare a viable capital bid in later rounds of this grant programme has been provided, and how this aligns with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of how you will use a Capital Incubator Programme to prepare a viable capital bid in later rounds of this grant programme has been provided, and how this aligns with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3
Q4b.2: How will your service work alongside other services, including your local authority, in supporting the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area? (400 words)	5%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals. Score = 0 Poorly defined response to how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area. Score = 1 Description of how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area is provided, and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is adequately defined. Score = 2 Description of how you will you work with other services, including your local council, to support the reduction of rough sleeping in your local area. is provided and how these align with the objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund Programme is well defined with clear synergies. Score = 3

Section 5: Night Shelter Transformation Fund Risk Register (Deliverability) Referenced in application form: Section 5	Weighting	Score guide
Q5.1 We request an outline risk register of your proposal, detailing the risks and mitigations to risk associated with your proposal.	15%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals Score = 0 The proposal identifies some potential risks and limited mitigations are outlined. Score = 1 Proposal includes a basic risk register, risk assessments, and has some mitigations listed. Score = 2 Proposal includes a full risk register and assessments detailing delivery and financial risks and has planned mitigations listed. A method of monitoring and controlling risk is listed and further risk policy documents are referenced. Score = 3

Section 6 - Costs and Value for Money Referenced in application form: Section 6	Weighting	Score guide
Q6.1 Complete the relevant pricing schedule(s). In this section we ask how much you are applying for, what your proposal is going to cost and how this has been calculated. We will use these figures to assess Value for Money. We also ask about any other sources of funding that you may use to support this proposal. The grant we offer will be a maximum and so you should ensure all relevant costs are included. Any irrecoverable input VAT should also be included.	15%	No meaningful details provided in the proposals Score = 0 Proposal includes basic Pricing Schedule(s). Score = 1 Proposal include completed Pricing Schedule(s) linked to the delivery plan. Costs are shown and calculations provided. Sources of funding are indicated, and funds are projected to be fully committed by the end of the grant programme. Score = 2 Proposal include complete and detailed Pricing Schedule(s) linked to the delivery plan. Detailed breakdown of costs are shown and calculations clearly provided. Sources of funding are clear, and the funds are projected to be fully committed by the end of the grant programme. Score =3