The Innovation Fund

What is the aim of the fund?

Innovation! This scheme has been set up to fund innovative projects (which do not duplicate existing provision) that will:

support disadvantaged 14-17 year olds to participate and succeed in education or training in order to achieve better employment outcomes
provide interventions and support which help to deliver employment outcomes for young people aged 18 and over.

How will our project be funded?

Your bid will include an investor who will provide the initial funding for the project. Once the project has delivered its intended outcomes the DWP will then pay more than this amount back to the investor. The DWP states that ‘We will only pay for outcomes which are focused on young people and can clearly be linked to improved employment prospects’.

Who are possible investors?

Investors are not expected to have a role in delivery. Investors could include (but are not limited to):

a number of individuals or organisations investing in Social Impact Bonds or similar via an intermediary body
single organisations or individuals
existing DWP prime providers

Who are possible deliverers?

According to the DWP the Delivery Bodies are likely to be smaller organisations, with many of them (but not necessarily all) from the voluntary sector and with the skills and experience to deliver services to the most disadvantaged young people. Organisations may want to work together to develop a project.

There is no minimum funding requirement for Innovation Fund bids (although all projects must be of a sufficient size to be properly evaluated against the agreed outcome measures and wider Innovation Fund success measures)

How big should these projects be?

Each project can apply for a maximum of £3million pounds BUT the DWP has said they expect most projects to ask for a lot less. Approx 5-20 contracts are expected to be awarded, but there may be a more or less depending on the bids received. Projects will run for three years.