Public sector contracts: resources for charities and social enterprises

On this page you’ll find resources designed to support social enterprises and charities – otherwise known as voluntary community and social enterprises (VCSEs) – compete alongside other organisations for public sector contracts as well as the latest news from the ongoing VCSE Contract Readiness Programme.

Upcoming events on the Contract Readiness Programme

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) funds the VCSE Contract Readiness programme. DCMS has worked with a consortium led by School for Social Entrepreneurs partnering with Social Enterprise UK and Voice4Change England to design and deliver a programme that will enable VCSEs to compete alongside other organisations for public sector contracts. 

Find out more about the programme here

Further support from government on applying for contracts

VCSEs – A guide to working with government – The VCSE Crown Representative, Claire Dove CBE commissioned this  guide from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (which holds responsibility for the VCSE sector in government) and Cabinet Office. It sets out  how social enterprises and charities can best work with government.

It goes through the best ways for VCSEs to approach working with public sector commissioners from steps such as registering to becoming an approved supplier to how to best engage early with commissioners. It contains top tips for tendering and details what public sector buyers are looking for.

Transforming Public Procurement – The Procurement Act is now law and will introduce significant changes to the way public sector organisations buy goods and services. The Act will help open up public procurement to a broader supplier base, including VCSE organisations, with the new regime due to go live in Autumn 2024.

This collection on the Government website runs through the key things you need to know about the Act and how it will change the procurement landscape. It includes a link to the official Cabinet Office learning and development offer, which contains a range of support resources for your organisation.

Transforming Public Procurement Knowledge Drops – The Knowledge Drops are a key part of the Government’s learning and development offer and are designed to provide a high-level overview of the changes to the procurement regulations. They take the form of short video presentations and there’s specific guidance for VCSE suppliers.

You can find out more about how the Procurement Act will help VCSEs in this short video:

Small and Medium Business Hub – The majority of social enterprises are small and medium size businesses (SMEs) and the Government has a commitment to support these organisations through procurement. As part of this, it has created the Small and Medium Business Hub to bring together guidance and resources. It contains information on where to look when applying for contracts, information on prompt payment, case studies, and action plans created by individual government departments on how they look to work with SMEs. 

Finding Opportunities

Contracts Finder – This is government’s single online portal on which contracts valued above £10,000 in central government and above £25,000 in the rest of the non-devolved public sector are listed. It’s free to use to find opportunities. You don’t have to register, but if you do, you can set up an account to have new opportunities that suit your organisation emailed to you regularly.

Join Frameworks – Framework Agreements are ‘umbrella’ arrangements allowing multiple suppliers to be listed as potentially being able to work on a specific contract. They are agreed by a lead buyer with one or more suppliers. Once part of a Framework Agreement the lead buyer and other pre-advertised organisations can purchase goods and services from your organisation. More information is in the VCSE guide listed above.

Government Dynamic Purchasing System – signing to the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is similar to an electronic Framework Agreement but one which allows new suppliers to join at any time. They however have their own set of requirements. More information can be found in the VCSE guide listed above.

Getting contract ready

A key part of being able to win public sector contracts is to make sure your organisation is contract ready. Here are a few resources to help apply from support courses and webinars to publications.

SSE Programmes

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) run a series of programmes and courses to support social enterprises grow and develop. These include:

Social Business Modelling and Scaling – This workshop covers a broad range of integrated topics that are instrumental in creating and expanding a successful social business model.

Winning Grants from Trusts and Foundations – This course will equip organisations with the tools needed to secure more funding from trusts and foundations, showing you how to identify valuable funder prospects, develop a more compelling case for support, write more impactful applications and build strong long-term relationships with funders

Unlocking Social Investment – Social investment can offer impact-driven organisations valuable investment to help achieve their aims but many don’t know what it is, where to find it or how it works. In this workshop, you will get all the essential information and gain insights from expert speakers to help you take your next steps with social investment and unlock this potentially game-changing funding source.

Measuring Social Impact – This three-day course is full of the information you need to measure your impact successfully.

Measuring Social Value – An introduction to measuring and valuing the changes your work makes on individuals and the knock-on effects of this on their lives. This is how commissioners are looking for you to demonstrate the value of your work when applying for contracts.

Bid Writing Support

Lime Green Consulting – Lime Green Consulting are a fundraising and strategy consultancy for UK charities and social enterprises. They offer bid-writing support and review applications. They also run training programmes in partnership with organisations like the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Key things to have in place to apply for a bid

When applying for a public sector contract, VCSEs need to ensure that they have a few things in place before applying. These include:

• insurance policy
• modern slavery policy
• cybersecurity certificates

Access to funding

Access to appropriate funding is vitally important for VCSEs to grow and develop. Here are some places to go to find advice and finance from repayable social investment to grant funding.

Find a Grant – Find a grant is a pilot service that allows organisations to both search for government grants and find out if they are eligable for support. 

Access – The Foundation for Social Investment – Access’s mission is to make sure that social enterprises and charities can access the finance they need to sustain or grow their impact. As a social investment wholesaler, Access funds a series programmes designed to help social enterprises and charities – from blended finance (grants and loans) to investment readiness programmes. 

The National Lottery Community Fund – The National Lottery raises money for good causes, supporting charities, community groups and social enterprises access grant funding. In 2021/22 it awarded over £579 million to these organisations. Current live funds can be found here.

Good Finance – The Good Finance website is designed to help social enterprises and charities navigate the world of social investment. It contains resources to help you find out if repayable finance is for you, a fund mapper, case studies and a pre-investment support page for organisations that are not yet investment ready.

Funders Online – A database of over 8,000 sources of grant funding. Organisations need to pay a subscription to access the resources.

UnLtd – UnLtd is the foundation for social entrepreneurs. They run a series of awards offering funding for smaller social enterprises and also provide social investment (repayable finance) through the Growth Impact Fund.

Get your organisation noticed

With social value being a mandated part of central government contracts and all public sector bodies having to consider social value in commissioning as well as an increased focus on ESG amongst corporates – organisations from across the public and private sector are looking for VCSEs they can partner with. Here’s some ways on getting your organisation noticed.

Social Enterprise Directory – All Social Enterprise UK members are featured on SEUK’s Social Enterprise Directory which is used by organisations looking to find social enterprise suppliers. If you are a social enterprise and not a member of SEUK you can find out more about membership here.