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The Civil Service Reform Plan introduced the Ministerial Contestable Policy Fund to give ministers direct access to external policy advice through a centrally managed match fund. Projects funded through this Fund seek to commission high quality advice from outside the civil service on ministers鈥� priority policy areas; draw directly on the thinking, evidence and insight of external experts; and achieve a potentially broader and more radical range of options than ministers would receive internally.

About the Fund

Ministers can bid directly for funding to commission specific pieces of policy development from external organisations such as think tanks, academic or voluntary organisations. They must match any funding they receive from the Fund with resources from their department. The Fund will run for 3 years, starting in June 2012, and provide funding of 拢500,000 per year, subject to financial approvals.

Application process

Ministers submit applications for external policy advice to the Secretariat for the Fund, run by the Open Policy Making team at the Cabinet Office. Ministers can request funding to match the resources committed to the project by their department, up to a value of 拢50,000. Applications will be submitted for review to the Minister for Government Policy and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Procurement and project management

If an application is successful, the commissioning minister will oversee the procurement process which will be run according to usual departmental processes. The contractor will report directly to the minister on the basis of its work. The civil service will continue to provide policy advice in parallel to this.

How to get involved

All projects will be procured through departmental processes. External organisations can respond to invitations to tender.

Projects funded

The following projects were part funded by the Ministerial Contestability Policy Fund between June 2012 and June 2015.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

If you would like further information about the Ministerial Contestable Policy Fund, please contact [email protected].