United Kingdom introduces a £500 million social fund aimed at assisting at-risk children
The UK government has launched a ten-year £500 million fund called the Better Futures Fund, a significant step in their commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people. The fund aims to support up to 200,000 children and their families over the next decade [1].
The Better Futures Fund is part of a wider government slate of measures known as Plan for Change. It focuses on early, targeted support for children who face challenging circumstances, such as those with parents in or recently released from jail, children whose parents have experienced the care system, and children suspended from school before age 13 [1].
The fund's scope covers investments in social services and community organizations that work directly with vulnerable children and families. It emphasizes early intervention, transparency in measuring impact, and gives freedom to local providers to deliver solutions tailored to community needs [1].
The Better Futures Fund will work with impact investors, national and local government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, and philanthropists. The upfront and operational costs of the projects will be paid for by these entities, in return for a small profit if those targets are attained [1].
The fund is expected to work under a social outcomes structure, where the government pays for successful accomplishment of set social targets [2]. This approach has shown promising results, with research commissioned by Better Society Capital (BSC) estimating that the use of social outcomes contracts to deliver public services in the UK had created nine times more in public value than they cost to provide [4].
Stephen Muers, CEO of BSC, is a member of the Social Impact Advisory Group for the Better Futures Fund and considers it a "great outcome" of government-social investor talks. He believes the announcement of the Better Futures Fund shows the UK government is serious about seeking innovative ways of increasing social investment [5].
The success of the Better Futures Fund will take time to gauge, with the first outcomes contracts expected to be signed "in due course" [1]. However, with the fund's focus on evidence-based interventions, it is hoped that the fund will lead to significant improvements in the lives of vulnerable children and young people.
As the Better Futures Fund gets underway, it is expected to serve as a spur for further similar initiatives in the future [6]. Meanwhile, other initiatives like the Regional Resilience Fund in Spain are backing urban development and sustainable tourism [7]. The People's Partnership and Good Things Foundation are also partnering to tackle UK digital and financial exclusion [8].
In the fight against childhood vulnerability, the Better Futures Fund is a promising step forward. With its focus on early intervention, transparency, and local solutions, it offers hope for a brighter future for many vulnerable children and young people in the UK.
[1] Gov.uk. (2021). Better Futures Fund. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-futures-fund/better-futures-fund [2] Gov.uk. (2021). Social Outcomes Contracts. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/social-outcomes-contracts [3] Better Society Capital. (2021). Better Futures Fund. Retrieved from https://www.bettersocietycapital.com/what-we-do/better-futures-fund/ [4] Better Society Capital. (2021). Impact Report 2020. Retrieved from https://www.bettersocietycapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BSC-Impact-Report-2020.pdf [5] Better Society Capital. (2021). Stephen Muers on the Better Futures Fund. Retrieved from https://www.bettersocietycapital.com/news/stephen-muers-on-the-better-futures-fund/ [6] Gov.uk. (2021). Plan for Change. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-change/plan-for-change [7] European Commission. (2021). Regional Resilience and Recovery Fund. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/funding-opportunities/horizon-2020/regional-resilience-and-recovery-fund_en [8] Good Things Foundation. (2021). The People's Partnership. Retrieved from https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/what-we-do/our-partnerships/the-peoples-partnership/
- The Better Futures Fund, a £500 million investment from the UK government, will focus on development finance in the form of early intervention programs for vulnerable children, with a goal of promoting financial inclusion and education-and-self-development for these individuals.
- Through its emphasis on evidence-based interventions, transparency, and local solutions, the Better Futures Fund aims to have a significant social impact, ultimately leading to improvements in the lives of children and young people, and potentially serving as a model for future initiatives.
