Lloyds Bank Foundation announces National Influencing Programme in the UK

Deadline: 19-May-23

The National Influencing Programme is now open for applications to charities and CICs with an income over £25,00 working directly or with others to influence those in power to tackle the causes and consequences of complex issues and the barriers people face.

Charities and CICs seeking to influence and achieve change in national policy and practice around specific issues within accommodation, social security, and refugees and asylum seeker.

Objectives

• This programme is focused on changing policies, practices and structures so that people facing the greatest challenges experience improved support over the longer term. Grants awarded through this programme will need to work towards achieving positive change around the objectives. They will not fund work that does not seek to meet one of the following identified objectives.
• Across these objectives, they are particularly interested in work that is led by or actively developed with user groups and / or those with direct lived experience of these issues, and that addresses inequalities.
• Work should be focused on at least one of the programme objectives but may include a range of these programme objectives where an organisation’s influencing work cuts across these issues.

Themes

Rising living costs and economic, political and policy challenges are making it much harder for many people. But for people already facing complex issues, the systems designed to support them are not fit for purpose and risk pushing them further into hardship and destitution.

Under this programme, they have three priority themes:

• Social security system
  • They are looking to support work that influences policy and practice to make the social security system work better for people facing the greatest challenges under the following priorities:
    • Ensure benefits are not taken away unfairly
    • Under this objective, they are interested in work which makes the case to:
      • Improve access to disability benefits through appropriate/better Personal Independence Payment and work capability assessment processes
      • Reduce the impact of sanctions
      • Reduce the impact of deductions
      • Increase the availability of support for people facing crisis / destitution
  • Under this objective, they are interested in work which makes the case to:
    • Improve crisis support for people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) status
    • Reduce homelessness for people with NRPF status
    • Improve the availability of and access to local discretionary support for anyone who needs it
• Accommodation
  • They are looking to support work that influences policy and practice to make sure people facing complex issues have access to suitable accommodation under the following priorities:
    • Improve the affordability of accommodation
    • Under this objective they are interested in work which makes the case to:
      • Increase Local Housing Allowance and change the way it is calculated so it better reflects rent levels
      • Increase the Shared Accommodation Rate (for under 35s) and change the groups it applies to and the way it is calculated to better reflect rent levels
      • Ensure rents are genuinely affordable to people who are accessing support from the social security system.
      • Improve the appropriateness of accommodation
  • Under this objective they are interested in work which makes the case to:
    • Drive up standards and practice in the private rented sector to prevent and resolve housing issues
    • Improve the appropriateness of asylum seeker and refugee accommodation
    • Ensure supported and temporary accommodation (including institutional asylum accommodation) is appropriate and supportive for people from the LGBTQ+ community
    • Improve the quality of support available in exempt accommodation, with rules that work for both people and charities.
    • Increase the availability of accommodation
    • Under this objective they are interested in work which makes the case to:
      • Increase access to high quality, affordable and appropriate move-on accommodation.
• Asylum seekers and refugees
  • They are looking to support work that influences policy and practice to improve support and services for asylum seekers and refugees under the following priorities:
    • Increase the availability of support for asylum seekers and refugees
  • Under this objective they are interested in work which makes the case to:
    • Improve the availability of support for people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) status
    • Increase the financial support available to asylum seekers.
    • Improve the appropriateness of support for asylum seekers and refugees
  • Under this objective they are interested in work which makes the case to:
    • Improve the appropriateness of asylum seeker and refugee accommodation
    • Increase the availability of culturally appropriate support for different communities
    • Support anti-racist approaches within the sector.

Funding Information

• You can apply for grants of £30,000–£150,000 to be spent over up to three years. They anticipate making grants up to a total value of £1.8m.

Who they aim to benefit?

• All of their funding through this programme is focused on structural changes that will improve support for working-age people aged 17 and older. They will not fund work that is focused on children under 17 or solely older people.
• They are particularly interested in work that addresses inequalities within these identified issues. They recognise the exponentially greater impact of poor policies on people experiencing inequalities based on, for example, their race, gender, disability or sexual orientation, or an intersection of these identities.
• They  also have an ambition to support more people to influence change who have lived experience of the issues they are looking to address.

Eligibility Criteria

• Registered charities or charitable incorporated organisations and Community Interest Companies (limited by Guarantee or Limited Shares under Schedule 2) with an income over £25,000 are eligible to apply. There is no upper income threshold.
• The Foundation’s priority is supporting small and local charities. They are particularly interested in proposals led by or actively developed with user groups and / or those with direct lived experience of the relevant issues.
• Larger organisations applying will be expected to demonstrate how they will work with and include the insights of smaller charities and people with lived experience.
• Partnerships with other organisations (or between charities) will be considered where the lead partner meets the eligibility criteria. Partnership agreements will need to be in place before any funding is awarded.
• For Community Interest Companies, if you are invited to the second stage of the application process they will need to see your Articles of Association that show you have an asset lock in place and that you have named the organisation that will receive the company’s assets on dissolution).

For more information, visit Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales.