Community Ownership Fund: explanatory note on decision-making
This sets out the assessment and decision-making process for selecting successful bids to the Community Ownership Fund and the internal decisions approved by the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO).
Assessment and ministerial decision-making process
Community Ownership Fund assessment and shortlisting
All bids were assessed against the criteria set out in the Prospectus and in the Assessment Criteria document published on gov.uk. The application form submitted by applicants formed the main focus of each assessment, however applicants also submitted additional documentation. These documents were taken into consideration where appropriate.
Initial checks took place against the published criteria in the prospectus to ensure applications were: in scope, eligible and had provided sufficient information to carry out assessment. Bids were then assessed against the published assessment framework (this was updated for R3). In order to be fundable, bids were required to meet benchmark minimum scores for both the management case and the strategic case. If an application did not meet the required standard on any part of the assessment, the assessment of that bid was ended.
Comments from officials in the Offices for the Secretaries of States for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, formed part of the assessment process. The devolved administrations were also given an opportunity to comment on bids from their respective nations.
A process of moderation was then undertaken. Assessments selected for moderation comprised of a mix of low, borderline, and high scoring bids or particularly complex bids. Moderation panels discussed the approach to scoring each of the criteria to ensure that the assessment guidance had been applied fairly and consistently, amending any scores as necessary. In Round 1, due to this being the first round of assessment, MHCLG also sought the services of Local Partnerships and the Government Actuary Department to act as independent assurers to review and moderate assessments to ensure that the assessment criteria had been applied fairly across the assessment of all the bids.
Due diligence checks were undertaken. Organisations’ identity, governance arrangements and solvency were checked as part of this process, which also helped to detect and prevent fraud.
Following moderation, officials presented a shortlist of bids to Ministers which met the minimum criteria and were therefore considered fundable.
Ministerial decision-making
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government was given advice with the shortlist of bids for a decision on which to fund.
The Secretary of State was given the option to apply the following 5 additional factors when considering the shortlist in order to select the final list for funding. These were to ensure:
1. a balanced spread of location of projects across all parts of the United Kingdom
2. a proportionate spread of the location of projects between rural and urban areas
3. a reasonable thematic split of asset types supported by the programme
4. a balance of organisation types who have applied, e.g., parishes vs community organisations
5. a balance between projects requiring large amounts of funding and those requiring small amounts
Ministers from HM Treasury and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as well as the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Offices were also presented with the shortlist and given the opportunity to provide comments and advice, based on the same additional factors.
Ministers notified their respective Private Offices of any personal or pecuniary interests in relation to the Fund, and recused themselves as appropriate.
In Round 1 the Secretary of State decided to place particular focus on ensuring there was a geographic spread of projects across the United Kingdom. The ministers from HM Treasury and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Offices, agreed with this approach.
Round 4 Window 1 of the fund opened for applications on 25 March and closed 10 April 2024. No outcomes were issued prior to the calling of the UK general election on 22 May. In line with election guidance the fund was paused awaiting the outcome of the election.
At the beginning of July, the Chancellor asked officials to prepare an assessment of the state of the UK’s spending inheritance from the previous government. After this announcement Round 4 of the Community Ownership Fund was put on pause.
Following the outcome of the Spending Review, at the direction of Ministers, officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contacted all those applicants whose applications had met the minimum benchmark score to be considered for funding and undertook deliverability checks to determine whether their projects were still viable.
As usual, further validation checks will take place as part of the COF onboarding process. This includes the satisfactory completion of an Initial Project Meeting (IPM), and a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) that has been agreed and signed by both parties.
Each of the projects funded in this window will be prioritised for additional post-application support from our development support provider to help ensure their success.
Considerations of the equalities impacts of ministerial decisions
Ministers received equalities analysis for the programme as part of the decision making process. Once ministers considered the impacts of their decision on equalities, recognising the requirements of the Equalities Act 2010, section 149 of the Public Sector Equality Duty and, in the case of Northern Ireland, the additional requirements of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, confirmed their decisions.
Announcement and next steps
The successful bidders to the first round of the Community Ownership Fund were announced by the Chancellor at the 2021 Spending Review and are listed on Community Ownership Fund: first round successful bidders. Further successful bidders from future rounds are listed and available to view.
Unsuccessful bidders were provided with feedback on their application alongside their outcome.
The Community Ownership Fund is now closed. There will be no further application windows on the COF programme. We have taken this difficult decision due to the challenging inheritance left by the previous government.
Whilst we are closing the Community Ownership Fund, this government remains committed to the communities’ sector and community empowerment.
Internal decision-making
Prioritisation process for awarding targeted support
In order to prioritise in-depth support for applicants, our development support provider used a 4-step decision making process to prioritise applicants that passed the EOI stage. This included:
1. Using a suite of national metrics to determine the level of existing social infrastructure in a local place to prioritise the EOIs for further discussion.
2. Considering intelligence about specific EOIs and the applicant’s maturity and specific support needs in order to recommend whether to undertake a diagnostic assessment with a group.
3. Undertaking a 1:1 diagnostic assessment with the group in order to determine their readiness for submitting a COF bid, the project’s viability, and the group’s support needs.
4. Confirming the in-depth support package with a specified number of days of support and the tasks to be undertaken with the group.
The national metrics applied at step 1 were:
- The level of deprivation, which was obtained by using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation for England, Scotland, and Wales. In Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure was used.
- The level of social infrastructure, which was provided by the Community Needs Index (CNI) for England, Scotland and Wales. CNI is not available for Northern Ireland. Local intelligence provided by the development support provider provided project context to help inform decision making.
- Ethnic diversity, which was considered by using Census data for the percent of ‘People in Ethnic Minority group (non-White British)’.
Projects who received in-depth support could have also be recommended by the development support provider for a reduced match funding rate as detailed in the prospectus.
Top-up funding for Round 1 and Round 2 Window 1 projects facing inflationary pressures
In February 2023 ministers decided that Round 1 and Round 2 Window 1 projects could apply for top-up funds to manage unforeseen inflationary pressures that are affecting their overall deliverability as a sustainable community business. This would only be agreed if evidence is provided to demonstrate the unforeseen impact inflation has had on their project costs. This process was approved by the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the Community Ownership Fund.
This support was available to Round 1 and Round 2 Window 1 projects only. We expected future applicants to account for inflationary pressures in their business plans and therefore not be faced with unexpected pressures.
Updates to this page
Published 27 October 2021Last updated 23 December 2024 + show all updates
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Update on Community Ownership Fund Round 4.
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Updated Welsh translation.
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Updating the explanation of the assessment and decision making process.
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Updated to separate ministerial and internal decision making.
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Added translation
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Amended to include the reopening of round 1.
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Added translation
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First published.