Better Commissioning Pathways
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Award
Up to £2.02m
Total fund Up to £2.02m
Deadline
Closes today (23 August 2026)
Where
England
North East, North West, South East, South West
Summary
The Better Commissioning Pathways programme (the “Pathways Programme”) is a funding package of up to £2.03 million to deliver a national training and guidance offer to support voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) to develop the skills and capacity to enter into public sector supply chains.
Who can apply
Pass/Fail: The grant funding will be provided under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 . To be eligible to apply as a grant recipient for the Better Commissioning Pathways Programme, the applicant or lead applicant organisation for a consortium is required to demonstrate eligibility to receive a grant under Section 70. They must be an institution established for charitable, philanthropic or benevolent purposes, and provide the mandatory documents with their application. Pass/Fail: Applicants may apply as a single organisation, or a consortium (with a lead partner making the application). The aim of this grant funding is to appoint a single grant recipient, or the lead partner where there is a consortium - therefore applications to deliver part of the fund only, will not be eligible. Pass/Fail: If bidding as a consortium, there must be a written agreement in principle between all parties, outlining budget splits and staffing arrangements. Legally binding agreements would need to be in place before the successful applicant commences delivery. Pass/Fail: The value of any grant requested in any given year must not represent more than 50% of the applicant’s average annual income for the previous 2 financial years or, in the case of a consortium bid, the lead applicant’s average annual income for the previous 2 financial years. Pass/Fail: You agree that your proposal delivers on a national-level (England only) against all the objectives of the fund as set out in the competition guidance. NB: Please be aware that for monitoring purposes, the Find A Grant platform will have asked you to select the regions you are working in. Please ensure you have selected all England regions for this question.
Full details
The Better Commissioning Pathways programme (the “Pathways Programme”) is a funding package of up to £2.03 million to deliver a national training and guidance offer to support voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) to develop the skills and capacity to enter into public sector supply chains. The Pathways Programme is one of many UK Government initiatives designed to realise the ambition of the Civil Society Covenant . The Covenant calls for a strong, sustainable and independent civil society which collaborates with the government to benefit the public and achieve shared goals. DCMS is seeking to select a single grant recipient to deliver training and guidance to VCSEs and public sector commissioners (PSCs), to support a wider range of VCSEs to bid for public sector contracts and to broaden the understanding of the unique role VCSEs can play in public service delivery among PSCs. This grant recipient could be a single organisation, or a consortium (with a lead partner making the application). The successful bidder will deliver this funding between October 2026 and March 2029. This funding can only be used for activity in England. Funding of up to £2,029,600 is available over three financial years as follows: Up to £430,000 in financial year 2026/27 Up to £830,000 in financial year 2027/28 Up to £769,600 in financial year 2028/29 The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 23rd August. Please make sure you read the full guidance document for applicants 'Better Commissioning Pathways Programme: guidance for applicants' available on GOV.UK. Please refer to the Clarification questions and answers.