Community-Based Debt Advice (CBDA) Grant Scheme 2028-2033

For full details, please refer to the CBDA Grant Application Information Pack which is available to download from Atamis - further information available here: Community-based debt advice | Money and Pensions Service. Summary provided below.

Ambition

Our ambition is to create a network of services that are visible, trusted, and integrated into local support systems. These services will provide in-person advice as a core component, alongside telephone and digital channels, ensuring flexibility and accessibility for all. The scheme aligns with wider government priorities such as the Child Poverty Strategy, Financial Inclusion Strategy, Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, the NHS 10-Year Plan, and the devolution agenda. By adopting a place-based approach, CBDA will contribute to reducing child poverty, supporting victims of economic abuse, improving health outcomes, and strengthening local partnerships. 

Geographical Lots

To ensure services are delivered in ways that reflect local needs, the CBDA grant scheme is being competed across 15 geographical Lots, grouped within England’s nine regions. These Lots have been shaped through extensive regional engagement and market feedback, ensuring that each Lot represents a realistic, manageable area with strong local connections and provider capacity.  

Some larger regions have been divided into smaller sub‑regional Lots. This structure enables:

·       More localised, community-focused service design

·       Greater opportunities for smaller and specialist organisations

·       Stronger partnerships rooted in local networks

·       Better alignment with devolved structures and local priorities.

Competition Rounds

The CBDA competition will run in two rounds, reflecting feedback during market engagement and ensuring stability for existing services. 

Round 1, which opened for applications on 11 May 2026 for service commencement on 1 April 2028, consists of nine Lots across four regions:

East Midlands

• Lot 1: Covers the East Midlands and is delivered as a single, regional lot.

North West

• Lot 2: Covers Greater Manchester.

• Lot 3: Covers Lancashire and Cumbria.

• Lot 4: Covers the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire.

West Midlands

• Lot 5: Covers Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.

• Lot 6: Covers the West Midlands Combined Authority area, comprising Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton.

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Lot 7: Covers South Yorkshire.

• Lot 8: Covers West Yorkshire.

• Lot 9: Covers York, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull and Humber, and North East Lincolnshire.

The remaining five regions will be competed across six Lots in 2027 for a service commencement in April 2029: London; North East; East of England; South West (all single Lots) and the South East (2 Lots - Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire & Isle of Wight; and Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent).

Award budgets

Budgets vary across Lots – See Section 2 of CBDA Grant Application Information Pack for full details.

Competition Process

The CBDA grant application process has been designed to be clear, transparent, robust and supportive for applicants. It follows a structured, multi‑stage process that gives organisations the opportunity to develop their proposals progressively, receive feedback, and strengthen their applications before final submission and assessment. The competition includes four main steps:

Step 1: Stage One Process - Light-Touch Application

Stage One is a short, accessible application designed to confirm basic eligibility and gather high level information about your proposal. Applicants answer a small number of questions about their approach, local insight, organisational suitability, and indicative budget. Stage One places minimal burden on applicants and helps ensure that organisations of different sizes, including smaller community-based providers, can participate. 

At this stage, MaPS carries out due diligence checks, reviews eligibility, and following robust assessment, shortlists up to three applicants per Lot (plus ties).

Step 2: Stage Two Process - Detailed Application

Applicants shortlisted at the end of Stage One are invited to a feedback meeting to discuss their Stage One bid in further detail, and to outline the Stage Two process.  This helps applicants understand expectations, refine their delivery model, and ensure their proposal aligns with CBDA priorities. 

Applicants will then need to submit a draft Stage Two application. This stage requires more in-depth information, including service design, partnership arrangements, governance, mobilisation plans, financial methodology, sustainability, and evidence of financial health. 

Step 3: Dialogue Phase

After submitting the draft Stage Two application, there will be a Dialogue Phase. This involves one online meeting with MaPS, where the applicant and up to three of their delivery partners discuss and clarify any areas that need strengthening, and work through aspects of the proposal in more depth. The purpose of this stage is to support applicants to refine and strengthen their final submission, reduce misunderstandings, and ensure proposals are robust, realistic, and aligned to local needs and CBDA objectives. MaPS reserves the right to nominate which delivery partners are invited to this stage and will include both key and non-key delivery partners to ensure a diverse range of perspectives.

Step 4:  Final Application & Assessment

Following dialogue, applicants submit their final Stage Two application. MaPS then undertakes a full assessment and moderation process, scoring the weighted questions and verifying all pass/fail requirements such as governance, mobilisation, and financial health.