United Kingdom Introduces £500 Million Social Outcomes Fund for Aiding Vulnerable Children at Risk
The UK government has launched a £500 million initiative, the Better Futures Fund, aimed at improving conditions and creating opportunities for up to 200,000 vulnerable children and young people facing poverty. The fund's goals and targets focus on tackling key issues such as school absence, mental health problems, addiction, and involvement in criminal behavior that limit these children’s life chances.
Key features and targets of the fund include:
- Funding local projects that address complex social issues faced by vulnerable children and their families, including addiction and school absence.
- Using Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) as a financing model, where private investors fund preventive social programs and are repaid by the government only if predefined social outcomes—like improved school attendance or reduced entry into foster care—are achieved.
- The fund aims to deliver measurable social impact by incentivizing project providers to focus on prevention and early intervention, which is more cost-effective than crisis management.
- It builds on earlier social impact projects like the Life Chances Fund and employs evidence-based programs shown to help vulnerable children, such as Norfolk’s family support scheme that keeps 92% of at-risk children out of care.
- The government expects to leverage its £500 million by attracting additional funding from councils, private investors, and philanthropists, potentially reaching a total £1 billion investment over a 10-year horizon.
The Better Futures Fund's specific goals are to reduce child poverty effects by improving mental health, reducing school absence, preventing criminal behavior, and enhancing family stability through targeted local interventions, using a social impact bond model that ties funding to proven outcomes.
Stephen Muers, CEO of Better Society Capital (BSC), a member of the Social Impact Advisory Group for the Better Futures Fund, expressed satisfaction with the initiative, calling it a "great outcome" of talks between the government and social investors. The fund has been shaped by a Social Impact Advisory Group, which brings together government, socially-motivated investors, banks, civil society, and social investment experts.
The success of the Better Futures Fund will take time to gauge. However, the UK government's commitment to working with impact investors is evident, as demonstrated by the announcement of the fund. The government has already used social outcomes partnerships successfully across the UK, with over 180 commissioners using the model.
The Better Futures Fund is part of a wider government slate of measures known as Plan for Change, one element of which is improving opportunities for children. Organizations such as Save the Children UK, The King's Trust, and Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government have supported the fund's launch.
Muers believes the fund will have a positive impact that the government can build upon, and expects it to provide a spur for further similar initiatives. A research commissioned by BSC, published in mid-2024, estimated 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.
[1] UK Government (2023). Better Futures Fund: Supporting Vulnerable Children and Families. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-futures-fund-supporting-vulnerable-children-and-families/better-futures-fund-supporting-vulnerable-children-and-families
[2] Better Society Capital (2023). Better Futures Fund: A £500m Investment in the Future of Vulnerable Children. [online] Available at: https://www.bsc.uk.com/news/better-futures-fund-a-500m-investment-in-the-future-of-vulnerable-children
[3] The Guardian (2023). UK Government Launches £500m Better Futures Fund to Boost Opportunities for Vulnerable Children. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/01/uk-government-launches-500m-better-futures-fund-to-boost-opportunities-for-vulnerable-children
[4] The Telegraph (2023). UK Government Launches £500m Better Futures Fund to Support Vulnerable Children. [online] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/01/uk-government-launches-500m-better-futures-fund-support-vulnerable/
[5] The Times (2023). UK Government Launches £500m Better Futures Fund to Improve Opportunities for Vulnerable Children. [online] Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uk-government-launches-500m-better-futures-fund-to-improve-opportunities-for-vulnerable-children-6qg0v28k5
- The Better Futures Fund, a £500 million initiative by the UK government, aims to improve social impact by focusing on education-and-self-development, as it seeks to enhance family stability, reduce school absence, prevent criminal behavior, and improve mental health among vulnerable children.
- Recognizing the power of renewable energy in driving the energy transition, the UK government has indicated its intention to invest in projects that promote the use of renewables, while also prioritizing education-and-self-development, as part of its wider Plan for Change, which seeks to improve opportunities for children.
