• New dormant assets funding will take a targeted, impact and evidence-based approach to building financial capability, starting with young adults
• The first delivery phase will prioritise 16-24 year olds at key life transitions, with lone parents the next potential area of focus
• Initial £15m funding committed as part of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, to support financial education and capability in England

Following consultation and engagement with consumer groups and stakeholders across the industry, we have been working with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to identify priorities for building financial capability, including where we will focus our initial funding.

We’re pleased to share that we will prioritise young adults, 16-24 years, as the first delivery group, reflecting both high need and a clear opportunity to intervene at key transition points. Alongside this, we will undertake targeted development work into effective delivery mechanisms for lone parents, who are primarily women, and who experience some of the highest levels of financial vulnerability.

Through our initial £15m funding, we will take a targeted, impact and evidence-based approach to improving financial capability, working with the sector to deliver financial capability support to people, while testing and scaling what works. We will launch a fund for applications in late 2026.

‘We’re really excited to be launching this programme and to have the opportunity to work with partners across the sector to deliver meaningful, lasting impact. We see this funding as catalytic – it’s an opportunity to deliver tangible support to people now, while also testing what works and starting to build more joined-up, system-level support for those who need it most. We expect this programme will complement the government’s recent curriculum reforms, which strengthen the focus on life skills including financial education, by supporting people at key moments in their lives.’

Tom Lake, Director of Strategy and Policy

What we did to get here

Last year the Government allocated new funding through the dormant assets scheme to support the cause of financial inclusion including, for the first time, funding to build the financial capability of people in financially vulnerable circumstances.

We’re pleased to be expanding our work into this area, committing an initial £15m to financial education and capability initiatives in England as part of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy.

As this is our first time working directly in financial capability, we undertook a consultation and engagement process, receiving over 40 responses and working closely with consumer groups and stakeholders across industry.

Alongside MaPS, which has a statutory strategic role for financial capability, we have used these insights and wider research to develop evidence-based recommendations on target groups, outcomes and delivery options for this funding.

Key insights

This work highlighted that:

• Financial capability needs are greatest among groups most under-served by current provision
• The system is fragmented, with support often inaccessible to those most in need
• What works is well understood, including using trusted intermediaries, blending digital and human support and interventions at key life moments
• There is a shared understanding that financial capability goes beyond knowledge, requiring a focus on mindset, behaviour change, and reducing cognitive load
• There is strong appetite for a coordinated effort, embedded in existing systems, with long-term funding

Focus of initial funding

Young adults

We will prioritise young adults, 16-24 years old, as the delivery group for the initial £15m of funding, reflecting both high need and a clear opportunity to intervene at key transition points.

This focus is supported by strong evidence. Young adults have lower confidence in managing money and lower financial wellbeing than average, particularly those outside education or employment. Current financial capability provision is concentrated in schools and workplaces, leaving this group underserved.

There are clear life moments, such as entering work, leaving education or moving homes, where engagement and behaviours are most likely to change. There is also a strong foundation to build on, with existing infrastructure across youth services, further education, the Department for Work and Pensions and community organisations, providing a clear route to reach this group at scale.

We will establish a programme to deliver financial capability support using a test and learn approach, supporting a number of delivery coalitions to provide sustained, multiyear support, rather than short-term interventions.

Programme design is being defined, but delivery will include:

• A test and learn approach, with a strong interest in place based models that bring together local partnerships to deliver sustained support
• A mix of delivery models, including non-geographic models where these are better placed to reach and engage the target group
• Partnerships across sectors, including community organisations, employers, education providers and financial services
• Hybrid delivery welcomed, combining digital tools with personalised, human support
• Interventions embedded within existing systems and touchpoints

Lone parents

Alongside this, we will undertake targeted development work into effective delivery mechanisms for lone parents, primarily women, who experience some of the highest levels of financial vulnerability.

Lone parents show lower financial confidence and financial wellbeing than other adult groups and this is reflected in assessment data. They are over represented in their use of high-cost credit and face structural financial pressures, such as single incomes and complex benefit interactions, which can limit their ability to build financial resilience.

To ensure we identify the most effective and appropriate models for support, we will undertake a short market assessment phase to assess the availability, suitability and viability of delivery mechanisms for this work. We will undertake this work over the summer and will share further detail following this, with the intention of informing future funding decisions on lone parents.

Delivering through partnerships and coalitions

We will seek to fund a number of high-quality delivery partnerships, or coalitions, bringing together organisations across community services, employers, education providers and financial services among others.

This approach reflects evidence that coordinated, partnership based models can help overcome fragmented funding, enabling organisations to work together through trusted channels and provide sustained support over time.

By working through coalitions, we aim to embed financial capability support within existing systems and touchpoints, rather than creating standalone interventions. This is designed to support long-term systems change, creating more joined up and accessible financial capability support for those who need it most.

We will:

• Focus on outcomes and learning, rather than prescribing delivery models
• Build an evidence base on what works, with independent evaluation built in, alongside delivering measurable improvements in people’s financial capability and wellbeing
• Use learning to inform future funding and scaling decisions

We expect to make grants for two to three year periods.

What success looks like

Through this programme, we aim to:

• Improve financial capability, including confidence, behaviours and overall financial wellbeing, for people in financially vulnerable circumstances
• Demonstrate scalable models that can be embedded into existing systems
• Build evidence on what works and create a foundation for scaling effective financial capability approaches

Next steps

We are now moving into the detailed design and commissioning phase and will continue to work closely with stakeholders throughout. We will launch a fund for applications in late 2026.

In advance of this, we would like to encourage potential partners to begin thinking about how they might work collaboratively with others, including how they might form delivery coalitions, to deliver effective, joined-up support.

We will be engaging with potential delivery partners proactively between now and launching the fund, including through engagement events with potential delivery partners. If you would like to receive programme updates, including when the fund is launched for applications, please email financial-capability@fair4allfinance.org.uk