---
title: "Evaluation of Cultural Development Fund"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "The Arts Council of England"
published: "2026-09-11"
---

# Evaluation of Cultural Development Fund

Buyer: The Arts Council of England  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a.json)

## Summary

Arts Council England commissioned services to evaluate its Cultural Development Fund (CDF). The requirement is for a rolling programme evaluation covering all CDF rounds, consolidating existing evidence and strengthening ongoing monitoring. The work is intended to assess the programme’s economic and social outcomes at programme level and explain its impact to stakeholders including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the cultural sector and wider government. This is an economic research and programme evaluation service, classified under CPV 79311400. The contracted work is delivered across the United Kingdom. The buying organisation is Arts Council England, a public authority based in Manchester. The requirement centres on evidence-based evaluation, impact assessment and clear reporting about a publicly funded cultural development programme.

The procurement is complete and one supplier was selected for the single lot. Steer Davies & Gleave Limited was awarded the contract on 5 August 2026, with the contract running from 6 August 2026 to 31 March 2029. The contract value is £69,054.47 excluding VAT, or £82,865.36 including VAT. The process was a below-threshold procedure, recorded as “unknown” in the procurement details. The award is active and the contract is active. The published outcome identifies services rather than goods or works. The evaluation requirement was framed around a proportionate, theory-based rolling approach that builds on evidence from every CDF round, supports continuing monitoring and demonstrates economic and social outcomes. No separate scored evaluation criteria are recorded in the procurement outcome.

This requirement indicates demand for specialists in public programme evaluation, economic and social research and cultural-sector impact assessment. Strong competitors for a future requirement would need to design proportionate, theory-based evaluation methods; consolidate evidence across multiple funding rounds; establish or improve monitoring arrangements; and assess outcomes at programme level rather than focusing only on individual projects. Useful capability would include analysing qualitative and quantitative evidence, linking activity to economic and social outcomes, and producing clear findings for government departments, cultural organisations and wider public-sector stakeholders. The work suits an established research or consultancy team able to manage a rolling evaluation over a substantial programme, maintain consistency across successive rounds and turn complex evidence into credible impact reporting for policy and funding decisions.

## Notice

Arts Council England is seeking a Contractor to deliver a rolling programme evaluation of the Cultural Development Fund (CDF). The core aim of the evaluation is to deliver a proportionate, theory-based rolling evaluation that consolidates and builds on existing evidence across all rounds of CDF and strengthens ongoing monitoring demonstrating the extent to which the economic and social outcomes of CDF have been achieved at a programme level. This will be important to tell the story of impact to key stakeholders including DCMS, the cultural sector and wider Government department

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086618-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - unknown |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 11 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 6 Aug 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £69,054 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | The Arts Council of England |
| Locality | MANCHESTER |
| Postcode area | Manchester |
| Postcode | M1 1FN |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLD3 Greater Manchester |
| ITL 3 | TLD33 Manchester |
| Local authority | Manchester |
| Electoral ward | Piccadilly |
| Westminster constituency | Manchester Central |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Steer Davies Gleave |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79311400 - Economic research services

## Release History

- 11 Sep 2026 at 16:38 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086618-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086618-2026
  11th September 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f89a.json.