Access to Elected Office Fund

This multi-year grant seeks to secure an administrator to set up and manage a new Access to Elected Office Fund, on behalf of the Government (until 31/3/2029). The successful administrator will set up and launch this new Fund by March 2027; to support disabled candidates contesting local and national elections (England and Northern Ireland); followed by UK Parliamentary election cycles. The Access to Elected Office Fund’s ultimate goal is to enable disabled candidates to compete on an equitable basis with their non-disabled peers, in line with the principles of the Equality Act 2010. The fund will cover the additional disability-related costs of contesting elections, like BSL interpretation or accessible transport, etc. The fund will only support additional disability-related requirements, and will not cover any standard campaign expenses e.g. registration fees or leafleting. The majority of the funding is expected to be disbursed to third-party service providers where possible and practicable, rather than the candidates directly. This will ensure funds are utilised for verified adjustments, as well as reducing the administrative burden on the disabled candidate themselves. The total funding available for 2026/27 will be up to £500k. This grant will cover both the administration costs, and the funding pot. The estimated spending per candidate is expected to range significantly across candidates, with some requiring awards costing a few hundreds to others requiring several thousand. Unspent grant funding for 2026/27 and 2027/28 will roll over to build up funding ahead of the next general election, and additional funding sought to ‘top up’ the pot in future years if required following an audit of spending. Scheme Objectives Objective 1 - Successful development and timely launch of the Access to Elected Office Fund The administrator will develop and launch the Fund by March 2027, to support disabled candidates with disability-related barriers to contest local and national elections in England and Northern Ireland and UK Parliamentary elections (as specified in the grant agreement). This objective will be met by: • providing details of appropriate partnerships/arrangements with other DPOs/third sector organisations, and how these will be strengthened/developed in order to successfully deliver this project; in particular for disabled candidates in Northern Ireland, • developing and agreeing with the Disability Unit a detailed project plan (including milestones and key actions required to successfully launch the Fund) within 2-3 weeks of commencement of the grant. • delivering the project at pace (2 months, or less) to successfully develop and launch the Fund; with advice/guidance from the Disability Unit (when needed). • establishing rigorous administrative and fraud-prevention protocols (prior to the fund’s formal launch). • setting up an Independent Non-Partisan Adjudication Panel comprising disabled people in advance of the formal launch - to ensure fund applications can be reviewed and assessed quickly (based on criteria and timelines set out in the grant agreement). • implementing agreed plans for the Fund’s launch, including: arranging appropriate and wide reaching accessible marketing/advertising/communications (including but not limited to a webpage) to publicise information for applicants on how the fund will work and how to apply. Objective 2 - Ongoing development and efficient management of the Access to Elected Office Fund The administrator will effectively manage the continued development and ongoing administration of the fund, by: • building and maintaining strong working relationships with key partners, including the Disability Unit, to enable successful development and delivery of the fund. • successfully managing the fund, including: application intakes, award assessments, and grant dispersals, within agreed timescales. • ensuring the timely provision of appropriate support for potential fund applicants. • ensuring the timely processing and notification to the candidate on the success of their award. • regularly reviewing and refining any arrangements or processes which require adaptation or improvement. • maintaining detailed and accurate financial and award provision records, which will be provided to the Disability Unit at agreed intervals for auditing purposes. Objective 3 - Effectively promoting the Access to Elected Office Fund and ensuring information is available accessibly The administrator will actively promote the fund to improve disabled people’s awareness/understanding of the support available, and encourage take up. This objective will be met by: • developing and launching an accessible website/webpage(s) and maybe an app/other mechanisms, to publicise the fund(as mentioned above). • developing a suite of accessible promotional activities and communication materials (e.g. using social media, or specialist news methods/mediums/channels in addition to the website/webpages) to raise

Who can apply We welcome applications from: • a qualified Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO, also sometimes called DDPOs: Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations), or • an expert third-sector organisation with the requisite disability expertise, experience, knowledge and capability to deliver effectively. This will ensure the programme is run "for disabled people, by disabled people”, or by an organisation with a high level of disability expertise and skills needed to establish and run the fund effectively. A good understanding of the barriers disabled people can face, and how to support them to overcome these, is essential. The successful organisation will administer the Access to Elected Office Fund for UK General Elections, local government elections in England, and in Northern Ireland for local elections and the NI Assembly. Partnership and consortium bids can be submitted, but one organisation must act as the lead, accountable body and will be responsible for managing the grant and ensuring funds are used appropriately. Eligibility Criteria Organisations applying for this grant: • Must be a non-governmental, non-profit entity, such as a: DPO/DDPO, charity, social enterprise, or co-operative that works independently from the state and market. • Must be based in the UK. • Must have been operational for 2 years minimum. • Must make copies of financial accounts available for the last 2 years. • Applicants must confirm that neither their organisation nor its senior leadership/trustees have unspent convictions for electoral offences or other relevant unspent offences that could reasonably call into question the organisation’s ability to deliver an impartial, lawful and trustworthy project. Political Impartiality: • Must operate independently and avoid any activity that promotes or endorses a specific political party/agenda. • Must administer all grant applications fairly and without any political party preference. • Must not use the grant funding for lobbying, campaigning for elected office outwith the strict purpose of the fund, or influencing legislation. Accessible Communications: • Must commit to providing Access to Elected Office Fund information in accessible formats. For example: plain english, Easy Read, Large print, British Sign Language (BSL), etc. • Digital information and any website or app produced to support the fund must meet the accessibility requirements for public sector bodies (for guidance see: Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies ). Legal and Financial Standing: Must be legally constituted and able to demonstrate governance and financial controls.

Applications must be submitted via the online application form. Applications submitted in any other way will not be accepted, unless agreed in advance with the Disability Unit’s Access to Elected Office team. The application form is designed to capture clear, consistent information to support fair assessment and robust monitoring and evaluation. Applicants should read this advert information carefully before applying, and contact us (details below) with any questions/requests for support. You will be asked to complete the following sections in the application form: • Organisation details - Information about your organisation, legal status, governance, financial details and eligibility. (Sections 1-5 in the form.) • Project details (plan) - A description of your proposed project, activities, objectives, delivery approach, and how the project meets the objectives for this 3 year grant. (Including details of how you will meet Objectives 1, 2 and 3 in the advert.) • Project costs - Details of your proposed budget for this multi-year (3 year) grant, including set up and operational management costs for each year. This should take into account any likely drop in pro-rata’d Admin costs in subsequent years, as set-up costs will have already been incurred in the first year, and demonstrate value for money. • Barriers, risks and mitigations - Identification of key delivery barriers and risks, and actions to mitigate these. • Evaluation - Your approach to monitoring and evaluation, including experience of data collection and your ability to provide quarterly performance reports that track specific Key Performance Indicators. • Declaration - Confirmation that the information provided is accurate, that funding will be used appropriately, and that the project will be delivered in line with eligibility, timescales and grant conditions. Before applying, you should ensure that: • Your organisation meets all eligibility criteria set out in this advert (to prevent your application being rejected during early assessment). • You are able to meet the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting requirements. • You can deliver the project at pace; within the required timeframes.