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 are 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 forms the main focus of each assessment, however applicants also submit additional documentation. These documents are taken into consideration where appropriate.
Initial checks take place against the published criteria in the prospectus to ensure application is: in scope, eligible and has provided sufficient information to carry out assessment. Bids are then assessed against the published assessment framework (this was updated for R3). In order to be fundable, bids are required to meet benchmark minimum scores for both the management case and the strategic case. If it becomes apparent that the application will be unable to meet the required standard on any part of the assessment, the assessment of that bid may end.
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, are also invited during the assessment process. The devolved administrations are also given an opportunity to comment on bids from their respective nations.
A process of moderation is then undertaken. Assessments selected for moderation will comprise of a mix of low, borderline, and high scoring bids or particularly complex bids. Moderation panels discuss the approach to scoring each of the criteria to ensure that the assessment guidance has been applied fairly and consistently, amending any scores as necessary. In Round 1, due to this being the first round of assessment, DLUHC 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 are undertaken. Organisations’ identity, governance arrangements and solvency are checked as part of this process, which also helps to detect and prevent fraud.
Following moderation, officials present a shortlist of bids to Ministers which met the minimum criteria and are therefore considered fundable.
Ministerial decision-making
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is given advice with the shortlist of bids for a decision on which to fund.
In Rounds 1 and 2, the Secretary of State was given the option to apply the following 3 additional factors when considering the shortlist in order to select the final list for funding. These are 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
From Round 3, the Secretary of State was given the option to also apply 2 further considerations, in order to select the final list for funding. These are to ensure:
4. a balance of organisation types who have applied, e.g., parishes vs community orgnisations
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 are also presented with the shortlist and given the opportunity to provide comments and advice, based on the same additional factors.
Ministers notify their respective Private Offices of any personal or pecuniary interests in relation to the Fund, and recuse themselves as appropriate.
In Round 1 the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 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.
Considerations of the equalities impacts of ministerial decisions
Ministers will receive equalities analysis for the programme as part of the decision making process. Once ministers have 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, they will confirm their decisions.
Announcement and next steps
After decisions are confirmed, the successful bidders for the Community Ownership Fund will be announced and applicants will be notified of the outcome of their bid. Unsuccessful bidders will be provided with feedback on their application alongside their outcome.
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.
Internal decision-making
Prioritisation process for awarding targeted support
In order to prioritise the in-depth support for applicants, our development support provider will use a 4-step decision making process to prioritise applicants that have passed the EOI stage. This includes:
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 are:
- The level of deprivation, which will be obtained by using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation for England, Scotland, and Wales. In Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure will be used.
- The level of social infrastructure, which will be 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 will provide project context to help inform decision making.
- Ethnic diversity, which will be considered by using Census data for the percent of ‘People in Ethnic Minority group (non-White British)’.
Projects who receive in-depth support may 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 is available to Round 1 and Round 2 Window 1 projects only. We expect future applicants to account for inflationary pressures in their business plans and therefore not be faced with unexpected pressures.
Updates to this page
Last updated 5 July 2023 + show all updates
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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.