How to bid for Tampon Tax Fund
Adam Offord
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Charities supporting women and girls can now get a share of £15m fund derived from tax on sanitary products.
Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in the 2016 Autumn Statement that the 2017/18 Tampon Tax Fund would open for applications in December 2016 to support women's charities, including those running programmes that tackle violence against women and girls.
The fund was announced in the 2015 Spending Review by his predecessor George Osborne, who committed £15m annually for women and girls' charities through VAT on women's sanitary products over the next five years.
The government made an "initial donation" of £5m to support organisations in November 2015. Osborne then allocated £12m for women and girls projects in the March 2016 Budget and Hammond announced the final £3m in November for Comic Relief (see box).
Now that organisations are being invited to apply for the next round of the fund, we examine how it will work and how can you apply.
Who administers the fund?
The Office for Civil Society, which now sits in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Grants are available for up to three years.
Who can and cannot apply?
In 2017/18, the fund is inviting charitable, benevolent, and philanthropic organisations to bid. The fund is UK-wide, but a national remit is not needed. This means local and grassroots projects in rural or inner-city areas can apply.
Applications from projects working in partnership with statutory organisations and those involving the voluntary and public sectors are also welcome.
The fund will not cover academic research, debts and loans, individuals, schools, colleges, hospitals and services run by statutory or public authorities.
How much is available?
"The fund is expected to be worth around £15m in 2017/18," says a DCMS spokeswoman. "The number of organisations we fund depends on the number of high quality bids that we receive and we do not have a target number."
The government will not fund grants that are more than 50 per cent of an organisation's annual collective income, the guidance states. But it may seek to adjust this figure based on the income of the parent organisation, if applicable.
How many categories are there?
Two. The first category, for which the government is particularly interested in receiving bids, is the violence against women and girls category. It will consider applications from bodies that support women and girls affected by or at risk of violence or abuse.
The second category is broader, with the government considering applications from organisations working to improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls - including female offenders, black and minority ethnic services for women and girls, drug and alcohol abuse, and education and employment.
Organisations can submit more than one application under each of the themes, but each project should be submitted separately.
What criteria do you have to meet for each category?
Proposals for the violence against women and girls category should provide additional activity that is not within mainstream provision, such as new services not commissioned locally or nationally.
The guidance states that the government favours proposals that:
- Provide a crisis response for victims with no recourse to public funds;
- Address the needs of women with multiple disadvantages and complex needs;
- Provide specialist services that are not commissioned locally;
- Consider the needs of a diverse range of victims.
Proposals in the general category should demonstrate how their proposed outcomes fit with government or local authority strategies and services.
Will projects be evaluated?
The guidance states that the government is "committed" to ensuring that funded work is appropriately monitored and evaluated.
Evaluation and sharing of good practice should be built into every application, it says. Applicants also need to show they have appropriate monitoring and data collection systems in place.
How can you apply?
Organisations should request an application form by emailing ttf@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. The deadline for applications is 27 January 2017.
TAMPON TAX 2016/17 BENEFICIARIES FOR GIRLS AND MOTHERS PROJECTS
Birth Companions - £90,000 to support women in prison and the community through pregnancy, birth and early parenting, in London and Peterborough
Girlguiding - £1m to develop, implement and evaluate a renewed youth programme and revitalise national framework
Pause - £500,000 to expand current programme nationwide, to support women and reduce the number of children taken into care
White Ribbon Campaign - £265,000 to deliver a campaign in Europe aimed at encouraging boys and men to challenge violence against girls and women
Standing Together Against Domestic Violence - £311,000 to create a Health Alliance for Domestic Abuse and support work to identify risks within mental health settings
Muslim Women's Network UK - £114,000 to expand services for Muslim girls and women suffering abuse
Action for Children SAIL - £497,000 to provide young mothers and mums-to-be going through care proceedings with advocacy and emotional support
Parenting NI - £118,000 to empower mothers to develop skills for managing the behaviour of their children
Rosa Fund for Women - £2.2m to administer a small grants fund for local bodies working with girls and women
Comic Relief - £3m to distribute to a range of women's charities
