Debt Advice Transformation Fund 2025/2026

You can apply as an individual organisation or as the lead for a consortium. In either case, the lead applicant must be:

Organisational Type:

• Not-for-profit organisations delivering free-to-client debt advice at scale.

• Commercial organisations delivering free-to-client debt advice.

• Membership bodies that support the debt advice sector.

Relationship with MaPS:

• Current MaPS grant or contract holders, or

• Recognised membership bodies supporting the sector, or

• Large-scale providers delivering free-to-client debt advice across England that are not currently funded by MaPS.

Financial Scale:

• Debt advice providers: annual turnover above £10 million.

• Membership bodies: turnover thresholds do not apply where they directly support sector delivery.

Service Criteria:

• Delivering or directly supporting the delivery of free-to-client debt advice in England.

• All funded projects must align with the MaPS Debt Advice Standards, even where the applicant is not currently funded by MaPS.

UK-wide organisations may apply if their proposed project delivers clear benefit to the debt advice sector in England. MaPS funding must only support activities related to the England element of the project.

The Debt Advice Transformation Fund aims to strengthen and modernise the free-to-client debt advice sector in England by supporting short-term projects that deliver innovation, discovery, and collaboration.

This scheme is designed to help larger debt advice organisations and membership bodies test new ideas, research emerging challenges, and explore new ways of working that can deliver long-term benefit for those delivering or supporting debt advice. Through this fund, MaPS seeks to:

• Support discovery and research activities that build the evidence base for future service transformation.

• Encourage collaboration across the sector to address shared challenges and develop scalable, sustainable solutions.

• Test and learn from new tools, models, and approaches that improve access, efficiency, or quality of free-to-client debt advice.

• Enable organisations to share learning and build capacity for lasting improvement across the sector.

Projects funded through this scheme must deliver practical, evidence-based outputs by March 2026 and contribute to the longer-term transformation of the debt advice sector, rather than business-as-usual activity or internal system upgrades.

Applications will open on Wedensday 22 October 2025 (midday) and close on Friday 14th November 2025 (midday). Only one application per organisation can be made.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by mid-December. The timeframe for assessment and award is indicative and subject to change, as it is dependent on the volume of applications received.

Grant Funding Period - to commence from 12th January 2026.

All funding must be spent by 31st March 2026.

How to Apply

Eligible organisations are invited to submit an application by selecting ‘Start new application’ on the Find a Grant platform.

Applications must be submitted through your Find and Apply for a Grant account — you can save your work and return to it at any time before the closing date.

Each organisation may submit one application as a lead applicant, although organisations may be listed as partners in multiple collaborative bids.

All applications must demonstrate how the project will be delivered by 31 March 2026 and how it will provide long-term benefit to the debt advice sector in England. 

Application Structure

The online application will include the following sections:

1. Eligibility Statement

Applicants must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.

Full details are available in the Eligibility and Summary sections of the application form.

Failure to confirm eligibility will prevent progression to the next stage. 

2. Due Diligence Checks

To ensure compliance and prevent fraud, MaPS will conduct due diligence checks on all applicants.

Information required will vary by organisation type and may include:

• Organisation legal name and type (e.g. charity, company, membership body).

• Registered address.

• Charity Commission and/or Companies House registration number (if applicable).

• FCA Firm Reference Number (if applicable).

• Confirmation that you deliver or support free-to-client debt advice.

• Confirmation of annual turnover.

• Amount of funding requested (£25,000–£100,000).

• Intended use and expenditure of funds.

• Confirmation that your proposal aligns with the objectives of the fund and that you have the capacity to deliver within the timeframe.

• Confirmation that the proposed activity is not funded by another source.

3. Project Overview and Strategic Fit

Applicants must describe the problem, opportunity, or challenge their proposal seeks to address and explain how this aligns with the purpose of the Debt Advice Transformation Fund.

You should set out the expected benefit to the debt advice sector in England and how your project contributes to innovation, collaboration, or discovery. 

4. Collaboration and Sector Benefit

If applying as a consortium, outline each partner’s role, contribution, and governance arrangements.

If applying as an individual organisation, describe how learning, outputs, or benefits will be shared with the wider debt advice sector.

All applicants should demonstrate how the project will support collaboration or generate sector-wide learning. 

5. Delivery Approach and Capability

Provide a clear delivery plan showing how you will deliver the project between January and March 2026.

You should outline:

• Key milestones and timelines.

• Roles and responsibilities of the delivery team.

• Relevant experience and capability of staff and partners.

• Risk management and mitigation measures.

Applicants may refer to similar projects previously delivered to evidence their capacity to deliver discovery or innovation activities successfully. 

6. Impact and Learning

Describe the expected outputs, learning, and impact of your project.

Explain how the findings will benefit those delivering or supporting free-to-client debt advice beyond your own organisation.

You should also outline how evidence or insights generated could inform future pilots, scale-up opportunities, or sector-wide improvements. 

7. Financial Methodology

Applicants must complete and upload the Budget Toolkit template available in the Supporting Documents section.

Your budget should:

• Align with your delivery plan.

• Provide clear cost breakdowns linked to activities.

• Demonstrate value for money and proportionality.

• Exclude business-as-usual costs, core salaries, or activities not directly related to the project.

8. Data Protection, Cyber Security, and Compliance

Applicants must self-certify that their organisation:

• Complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, with appropriate policies and controls in place.

• Meets or is actively working towards the Cyber Essentials standard, confirming basic cyber security measures are implemented to protect systems and data.

• Complies with FCA regulatory requirements where applicable.

• Aligns all funded activity and outputs with the MaPS Standards.

9. Submission and Deadlines

Applications must be submitted via the Find a Grant portal by the published closing date.

Late submissions will not be accepted.

Applicants are encouraged to review the application guidance and ensure all supporting documentation is uploaded before submission.

1. Delivery Plan MS Excel Template

2. Financial Methodology - Budget Management Tool MS Excel Template

3. Debt Advice Transformation Fund Application Guidance