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Health and Wellbeing Alliance FAQ and overview

Updated 4 November 2020

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is looking for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations and consortia to join the Health and Wellbeing (HW) Alliance.

If you missed the webinars, this page contains answers to all queries that came from webinar content.

We will monitor the impact of any potential second wave of COVID-19 and reserve the right to postpone or extend the application process if needed.

DHSC has changed statutory power from Section 64 of the Health & Social Care Act to Section 70 of the Charities Act to help streamline the application and award processes from previous years.

The 25% income threshold

VCSE organisations should not receive over 25% of their income from central government departments. The DHSC Grants Team will undergo due diligence checks on lead organisations bidding for funding. This is to ensure that the grant you are applying for, alongside any other grants you receive from central government, does not exceed over 25% of your annual income.

The Grants Team will do this by looking through the last published annual accounts, and will compare them to the largest amount of yearly grant funding requested, to check that they do not exceed 25% of your income.

In the event that the cumulative amount of funding exceeds the 25% threshold, further checks of the financial health of your organisation may take place. You should include any supporting evidence with your application that may assist in this process.

What ‘grant funding’ means

When we say ‘grant funding’, we are only referring to funding received from UK government departments, including both grants and contracts. All other funding, whether from statutory partners or the National Lottery, will not be included in these checks.

The 25% income threshold for consortia

In a collaborative bid, the due diligence and eligibility checks will only be taken on for the lead organisation. The lead organisation will need to meet the 25% threshold on their own. The threshold cannot be spread across all the organisations and their cumulative income.

For other partner organisations in the consortium, the lead is expected to undertake their own due diligence checks, but there is no requirement for them to meet the 25% threshold individually.

Eligible expenditure

Eligible expenditure is spending made for the purpose of the funded activity of the grant. Any expenditure unrelated to the funded activity is ineligible for grant funding. Examples of ineligible expenditure include but are not limited to lobbying, political or religious activity, fines and gifts.

HW Alliance coordinator and member roles

Can I join a consortium in a member position and apply to be the HW Alliance coordinator?

While you can apply to be both a HW Alliance member and the coordinator you cannot, even if successful, be appointed to both roles.

What do you mean by ‘act as a leader for the communities they work with’?

We expect HW Alliance members to engage with other VCSE organisations representing the communities that they work with. Therefore, acting as a leader for that community when working with system partners is an important aspect of the role.

Why is funding lower for the HW Alliance coordinator role than the HW member role?

The funding for the HW Alliance coordinator role is lower because we anticipate the activity for both roles to be different. While we expect HW members to pull together those they represent to get input and/or feedback on different system priorities, we don’t see the coordinator undertaking that type of work.

You previously had a role for a national volunteering partner in the HW Alliance. Is that no longer required?

This was an omission in the information pack that has now been altered. We are interested in exploring the health inequalities in volunteering further and would like a HW Alliance member to undertake this work.

Consortia

You can be in more than one consortium.

Can we join if our organisation works in 3 regions across England?

Yes, we are looking for national VCSE organisations, or consortia, that reach across England.

Do we need to supply supporting information for every member of the consortium with our application?

DHSC needs supporting information from the lead organisation only of a consortium. Supporting information from every member is not required. However, we do expect the lead organisation to have undertaken due diligence for all partners.

How can we join a consortium of organisations?

The funder webinars contained sections dedicated to facilitating the building of partnerships. If you missed these sessions, you should contact similar organisations to see if they are applying and how you can join together.

Can we join a consortium if we aren’t a charity?

You can join a consortium even if you are not a charity. As long as the lead voluntary sector partner is a registered charity or can demonstrate they are fully non-profit. We would expect the working relationship to be defined in a partnership agreement, and in all cases the lead body would be expected to retain the majority of grant funding. This would be monitored throughout the grant period.

We’re a local organisation, can we lead a consortium bid?

A local organisation can we lead a consortium bid as long as you demonstrate that your consortium has national coverage and can gather national voice.

Exit plan

Each applicant will have to provide a signed exit plan that details in advance the process of closing the project alongside their application. Read an example exit plan template for the grant, with instructions and expectations.

HW Alliance impact documentation

We have commissioned an external evaluation of the impact of the HW Alliance so far, which is currently being prepared for publication. In the meantime, you can sign up to the DHSC monthly newsletter for case studies and updates about the alliance.