Access to Elected Office Fund

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:  

1. 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.

2. Must be based in the UK.

3. Must have been operational for 2 years minimum.

4. Must make copies of financial accounts available for the last 2 years. 

5. 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:  

1. Must operate independently and avoid any activity that promotes or endorses a specific political party/agenda. 

2. Must administer all grant applications fairly and without any political party preference.

3. Must not use the grant funding for lobbying, campaigning for elected office outwith the strict purpose of the fund, or influencing legislation.

Accessible Communications: 

1. 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.

2. 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.

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 awareness with those who do not/less frequently use the internet.

• targeting appropriate groups/organisations using existing, or new networks to increase awareness of the fund, which may include and non-digital methods.

• increasing promotional activities in line with upcoming elections throughout the entire 3-year grant period.

• ensuring that additional support to understand what the fund is/how to apply is provided in alternative means, based on potential candidates’ individual access requirements. 

Objective 4 - Build a Robust Evidence Base

Strengthen the evidence base on disabled people’s access to democratic engagement, by requiring consistent, high-quality monitoring and evaluation throughout project delivery, generating timely and usable insights into impact, effectiveness and good practice.

Throughout the grant period the administrator will meet this objective by:

• regularly monitoring and evaluating progress made towards achieving the agreed outputs and defined longer-term outcomes of the fund.

• providing quarterly performance monitoring reports that track specific Key Performance Indicators and enable financial tracking by the Disability Unit.

• providing ad-hoc information, explanations and documents to the Disability Unit, if requested.

• working with the Disability Unit to produce an evaluation on the success of the fund, identifying what went well and where lessons might be learnt.

• The grant application period will run for three weeks from 13 October (14.00) to 4 November 2026 (14.00).

• Applications will be processed and assessed within 2-3 weeks of the application period closing, with outcomes being communicated soon after.

• The Grant Funding Agreement will then be issued within 2 weeks. (Work to establish the Access to Elected Office Fund must begin immediately to develop the fund at pace.)

• An initial payment (amount to be agreed, up to 50% of the total budget) will be made on receipt and acceptance of the administrator’s project plan. The plan must detail milestones and key actions required to successfully launch the Fund by March 2027, and subsequently manage application intakes, award assessments, and grant dispersals to support disabled candidates contesting local and national elections in England and Northern Ireland and UK Parliamentary elections (as specified in the grant agreement). 

• The second and final payment for 2026-27 will be made when the Fund is launched. 

• The fund is expected to operate on a multi-year basis, subject to satisfactory performance, for three years (until 31 March 2029), with an option to extend this period by a further year or two. Future payment details will be advised during the course of the grant. 

• Following an annual audit of spending top up funding may be available.

• Unspent funding from 2026-27 and 2027-28 may be rolled over to the subsequent financial year.

• Unspent funding at 31/3/2029 will need to be returned, unless the grant period is extended.

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:

1. Organisation details - Information about your organisation, legal status, governance, financial details and eligibility. (Sections 1-5 in the form.)

2. 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.)

3. 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. 

4. Barriers, risks and mitigations - Identification of key delivery barriers and risks, and actions to mitigate these.

5. 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.

6. 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.

What support is available for applicants?

If you have questions about this grant, the application process, queries on the eligibility of your organisation or project plan, or have any accessibility requirements please contact the Disability Unit’s Access to Elected Office team on: duelectedofficeteam@cabinetoffice.gov.uk