National network Locality UK has been chosen to deliver a £11.6m government fund to strengthen partnerships between charities and local authorities.
The community organisation membership body has been selected by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to invest the Local Covenant Partnerships Fund.
Initially earmarked for delivery in April, the fund was awarded to Locality UK yesterday after an application process launched in January.
DCMS stated that Locality UK was the highest scoring bidder and would deliver the fund alongside a consortium including think tank Demos, social impact organisation Renaisi-TSIP and Collaborate CIC.
The money is to be spent over three years in 15 deprived areas of England, which the organisations will need to identify first partnership with DCMS.
In the selected areas, the organisations have been tasked with increasing local investment in the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, and strengthening partnership infrastructure by 2029.
They have also been assigned the job of improving evidence and understanding on the best ways VCSEs and public sector partners can collaborate.
Tony Armstrong, Locality chief executive, said: “As the national membership network for local community organisations, we know collaboration between the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector with the public sector is crucial.
“We’re committed to the Civil Society Covenant’s principles and are looking forward to supporting local areas to put them into practice.”
Evaluator appointed
Meanwhile, IFF Research has been appointed in consortium with Social Finance and Alma Economics to evaluate the fund’s success.
The fund is part of the government’s Civil Society Covenant programme, the principles of which were published last year to “reset” the relationship between the state and voluntary sector.
Locality UK, which registered as a charity in 1994, was established as a national network of community-led organisations which collaborate to improve neighbourhoods, focusing on areas including social care, child poverty, mental health and women’s refuges.
It recorded an income of £9.14m in the year to 30 June 2025, marginally above its expenditure of £9.05m.
A substantial portion of its income has come from government contracts: £6.04m that year and £10.6m the year prior.
