Grants and monitoring

Contact gives a grant of up to £17,500 to one parent carer forum in each local authority area in England. This money comes from the Department for Education (DfE). 

As this funding is a government grant from the Department for Education, there are conditions and reporting requirements attached. We recognise that some of the language used around grants, monitoring and compliance can feel daunting or even distressing, particularly for parents who have had difficult experiences within the SEND system. Contact is here to explain these requirements clearly, provide practical support, and help parent carers feel confident and supported in their involvement with a parent carer forum.

The grant enables parent carer forums to engage with local parents and carers to  help improve services for children and young people (0–25) with SEND.  It strengthens parent carer forums, supporting parents to shape services and influence decision-making for children and young people with SEND.

If anything in the grant documents is unclear or you’d like to talk it through, please contact your adviser or the grants team [email protected].

Changes to grant documentation this year

If you are a forum that has received the grant before, you will want to read this document explaining this year’s grant application and monitoring form changes. Forums may find it useful to look at this before completing the form.  If you are a new forum, feel free to read this, but do watch at the recorded Grants Online Learning session and familiarise yourself with the Managing your Grant document, the conditions of grant, and jargon page.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

The value of the main grant remains at £17,500 for 2026-2027, but in addition, this year the DfE has awarded an extra £3,500 per forum in recognition of the increased workload associated with engagement around SEND reform, the white paper consultation process, and wider peer support, training and collaboration with the NNPCF. This means you will receive an additional £3,500 as part of your first tranche.

It is up to forums how best to allocate this additional £3,500 in line with the above details on additional work during the reform period, and the application/monitoring approval process remains the same.

Please include this additional £3,500 in your grant application budget when applying for your grant.

2026-2027 grant applications

The grant application process for 2026-2027 is now open. You can apply for your Grant applications for 2026-2027 here

You may notice the grant forms have been released earlier again this year, this means we can accept and process applications now. However, due to rules financial year rules relating to the grant we won’t be able to pay any approved grants until after 31 March 2026.

Applications can be submitted at any point between now and the closing date of Friday 3 July 2026. If your forum will struggle to meet this deadline, let us know and we can negotiate a revised deadline with you.

We encourage forums to submit applications at the earliest opportunity to minimise any gap in funding.

Note: all underspend from any 2025-2026 grant will be deducted from the 2026-2027 grant total.

You can apply anytime from now until 3^rd July 2026. If you need more time, let us know, and we can discuss a new deadline.

You can access the 2026-2027 grant application form, guidance document, and Managing Your Grant document below:

• Please read our 2026/2027 Grant Application Guidance when completing your application.
• Grant application form 2026-27
• Glossary of jargon and legal terms in the grant conditions – use it to understand any unfamiliar terms.
• 2026-2027 – Managing Your Grant  – all forums will receive a copy by email when their application is approved. We suggest that forums refer to it to help with record keeping and paperwork during the year.
• Local Authority Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) – This document is signed by both the forum and the local authority, confirming they will work together and recognise the forum’s independence.

All forums in receipt of the grant will need to adhere to the HM Government Code of Conduct for Grant Recipients.  We recommend that all steering group/committee members read this in full. Here is an example grant application form to help new forums draft their first application:

• Example

Grant myth busting

• Submit your application as soon as possible. You don’t need to complete your 2025-2026 monitoring before applying for the first half of the 2026-2027 grant, unless we tell you otherwise. So, don’t wait – apply early to ensure there’s no gap in funding.
• The local authority (LA) is not being asked to approve the grant application. They are being asked to confirm that they recognise the independence of DfE-funded forum and will work in partnership with them. The MOU explains this working relationship.

Partnership working is central to the grant, so we need the signed MOU before we can approve the application.

Sometimes delays happen because we are waiting for the MOU to be returned to us. There can be different reasons for this. It may be due to LA staff absence or changes , emails being missed, or other practical issues. 

In some situations, we may need to have a conversation to clarify next steps, which can take a little more time. 
If we haven’t received the signed MOU after 5 days we follow up with the LA. At 14 days we follow up again and ask the forum to check-in with the LA to determine the reason for the delay.

 If you have any concerns about this delaying your funding please contact the grants team on [email protected] or your Contact Adviser.

Additional claims (2^nd tranche) applications

Your forum’s grant application for 2026-2027 is paid in two tranches (payments).

The first is paid when your grant application is approved.

The forum can apply for the second payment when the 2025-2026 grant monitoring has been approved.

Your forum will receive a grant monitoring approval letter from the grants team to let you know this has been approved.

The 2^nd tranche process will open in July.  

The amount your forum can apply for on the 2^nd tranche application is minus the confirmed underspend from the 2025-2026 grant monitoring. For example, if the forum had a £1,000 underspend and applied for the full £17,500, the forum will only be able to apply for £7,750 for the 2^nd tranche (£8,750 – £1,000).

Please be aware that all underspends will be deducted from your 2^nd tranche payment, no matter how big or small.  This is a condition set by the Department for Education

You can apply for the 2^nd tranche payment later in the year.  

2025-2026 grant monitoring

The grant monitoring form for 2025-2026 is now available and should be submitted by the closing date of Friday 8^th May 2026.

The 2025-2026 grant monitoring form is due by 8^th May 2026. Let us know if you need an extension. The parent carer participation team is here to support you.

Forums that received the DfE parent carer participation grant for 2025-2026 should submit a grant monitoring form and, if requested, all associated proofs of expenditure (POEs).

Any requested POEs can be submitted via a secure link provided by the grants team.

All new forums going through the grant monitoring process for the first time will need to submit full proof of how they’ve spent their grant. Other forums may be asked to submit selected proofs.

If you need help submitting proof of expenditure, reach out to the grants team.

The online monitoring form can be accessed below:

• 2025-26 Grant monitoring form
• 2025-26 Grant monitoring guidance – read this to help you to complete the form

Changes to grant documentation this year

We made a document explaining this year’s grant application and monitoring form changes.  Forums may find it useful to look at this before completing the form.

Priority Grant 

If forums don’t use their full grant allocation, the leftover funds create a ‘priority grant’ pot. Other forums can apply for this extra funding during the grant year for urgent projects or workstreams.

The amount of priority grant money varies each year, depending on how much forums request or underspend from the previous year’s grant.

Conference

Most forums include the cost of attending the national conference in their budget.  However, we understand this is usually an estimate as the full details aren’t known at the time of planning.  If your forum doesn’t have enough funding to support at least two parent carers to attend the NNNPCF and Contact National Participation Conference you can apply for additional support through the priority grant.  Please read the event FAQs , which will be available shortly, for more information about the Conference.

Forums

We will open the priority grant process in July. Forums can apply for the Priority Grant if they complete 2025-2026 grant monitoring and apply for both 2026-2027 grant tranches.

We cannot approve applications that exceed £10,000 from individual forums or regions.

The Priority Grant pot is limited. Forums usually get approval on a first-come, first-served basis, based on urgent need. Some funding is ringfenced to support new or at-risk forums.  We can only approve applications with an urgent need. If funds are low, we may have to reject or partly approve some applications.

Definition of Urgent Need

An urgent need refers to situations that, without immediate support, could significantly impact a forum’s ability to continue operating or respond effectively to a critical issue. This includes, but is not limited to:

• The forum is at immediate risk of folding due to financial, operational, or structural challenges.
• The forum is newly established and requires essential infrastructure or capacity-building support to begin meaningful engagement with families.
• The forum needs specialist training or intervention to manage a high-risk issue, such as safeguarding, governance failure, or crisis-level conflict.
• The forum must reach and engage parents and carers from communities who are underrepresented or underserved – including those who experience structural barriers due to race, disability, language, socio-economic status, or immigration status.

Forums should clearly demonstrate:

• Why the situation is urgent and time-sensitive
• How the proposed activity will address the specific risk or gap
• The outcomes expected, particularly for families less likely to engage through traditional methods

Please discuss your application with your Parent Carer Participation Adviser

Regions

Regions can apply for the Priority Grant once their 2025-26 Priority Grant monitoring has been approved. Each region has £3,000 set aside but can request more if funds allow, up to £10,000. Regions must include any unused 2025-26 Priority Grant funds in this year’s application.

We will accept regional and forum priority grants in July.

The Regional Priority grant and the NNPCF

Parent Carer Forums in each region continue to work together with their NNPCF Regional Director, supported by Contact, to strengthen their collective voice.  A regional grant can be applied for,  to:

• Identify common issues and emerging trends to influence national policy and responses through the NNPCF.
• Facilitate shared learning and peer support between forums.
• Work together to develop regional projects, training and/or enhance skills and impact.
• Strengthen how forums work together as a region with the NNPCF

When applying for a Regional Priority Grant, you will be asked to confirm that the application has been informed by the parent carer forums in the region.

Your local NNPCF director will be informed that you have applied for a priority grant. They will not be emailed a copy of your application..

Online Learning – Grants session

In this recorded online learning session, the grants team guide you through the grant application and monitoring process providing helpful hints on how best to complete your application and monitoring forms and outlining any changes that have been made to the process this year.  View the recording here.

Fraud resources

We strongly recommend that every forum reads our Fraud Guidance webpage, which includes tips and links to useful fraud guidance.

Use the tips to protect your forum from the possibility of fraud if you are not already doing so.

Important information for forums with new or different bank accounts

If your forum is new or has a new bank account, Contact will need to do checks. This may cause delays, so it’s best to apply as early as possible.

For further information, please contact the grants team – [email protected]. 

Queries and further information

If you have any queries about the grants process, please contact your parent carer participation adviser or email [email protected]. We are here to support all DfE funded forums.

Managing your 2026-2027 grant

If your forum gets the parent carer participation grant, these documents will help you manage it:

• Managing Your Parent Carer Participation Grant – All forums get a copy of this practical guide when their grant application is approved. We recommend using it throughout the year for good practice tips.
• Proofs of expenditure guidance 2025-26
• 2026 Excel spreadsheet to record grant spend