The Challenge Fund has been created to encourage councils and primarycare trusts to find solutions to longstanding problems that have the potential to lead to real social change and improvement in health and well-being.

The Fund aims to encourage councils and PCT service commissioners to find collaborative solutions through social enterprise. It is an opportunityfor commissioners and system managers to develop and support their World Class Commissioning strategies through entrepreneurial thinking and collaborative working involving social enterprise.

Successful applicants for funding will be expected to develop regional, system or borough wide cross-sector social enterprise networks and to encourage social enterprises that could provide whole-systems solutions to become ‘commissionable’ or investment ready. They will also support local communities to develop social enterprise solutions to health and well-being issues. This will involve engaging social enterprises with the delivery of shared PSA targets on strategic regional challenges such as health inequalities, worklessness, climate change and community cohesion.

Further information and application details are available from DH. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_084716