The Market Improvement Fund was established through the implementation of change proposal CPM018: 'Treatment of Market Performance Standard charges and Operational Performance Standard charges which seeks to use some or all of the charges to fund activities which may address market failures that cannot be addressed through other funding mechanisms.
The first iteration of the fund in 2021 will award a total of up to £1 million to successful applicants, who will be judged by an independent selection panel.
The projects that are applicable to this fund are those which:
- Enhance market functioning and benefit non-household customers
- Cannot be considered 'business as usual'
- Do not confer any particular competitive advantage to any trading party or group of trading parties.
Applicants can bid for a minimum of £10k and a maximum of £150k, however bids which require funds outside of this criteria may be considered.
Further information on the timeline and criteria of the fund is available in the application documents below.
The first bidding window is now closed.
How will it work?
- Bids are not limited to themes - but it is important to show how a project will benefit the market and its customers
- Applicants must submit applications to MOSL but an independent Selection Panel will review and score the bids to decide the winners - subject to ratification by the Panel
- Applications must be sponsored by at least one trading party or MOSL, however, third-parties are encouraged to be part of bids.
A full list of criteria is available in the governance document.
How do I apply?
The bidding window is now closed.
To apply for the Market Improvement Fund you will need to submit an application form and supporting evidence to MOSL.
Meet the Selection Committee
Following a rigorous interview process, we are pleased to announce that we have now recruited our independent Selection Committee, who's role is to assess the bids. Find out more about them here.
Application top tips
For tips on how to make your application stand out, watch our video.
Keep up to date
To keep up to date with the latest Market Improvement Fund information, please sign up to the 'Market Improvement Fund' mailing list. If you already subscribe to our emails, simply click 'update subscription preferences' at the bottom of any email you receive from us and select 'Market Improvement Fund' when you receive your preferences email.
If you have any questions please email MIF@mosl.co.uk.
FAQs
If you would like your project to be sponsored for consideration by MOSL, please contact MIF@mosl.co.uk, providing the following information:
- A high-level summary of your bid, the delivery timeline and the amount being requested
- A rationale for why MOSL (and not a trading party) is your preferred sponsor for your bid
- What level of involvement you expect MOSL to have throughout the project. For example, is there an expectation of MOSL to help deliver the project or will resources from MOSL be required, or are you asking that MOSL sponsor but not have any other involvement?
- How your bid will adhere to the eligibility requirements - enhance market functioning and benefit non-household customers, not considered 'business as usual and does not confer any competitive advantage to any trading party or group of trading parties
- How far you are in the process of submitting your bid.
If all information is provided, we will endeavour to respond to your request within a week with an initial view. However, the time required to make a final decision on MOSL sponsorship will depend on the size and complexity of the bid and level of expected MOSL involvement. We therefore strongly advise you to engage with MOSL as early as possible.
Please note that if successful, your bid will still need to pass the outlined eligibility checks: an initial eligibility review by MOSL, review by the independent Selection Committee and if successful, final approval by the Panel.
MOSL is facilitating the Market Improvement Fund on behalf of the Panel.
As part of this responsiblity, MOSL will assist the independent Selection Panel by ensuring that all applications that are submitted meet the eligibility criteria. However, MOSL will present all applications, those who are both eligable and uneligable, to ensure that the Selection Committee has full visiblity of the applications.
As part of the eligbility criteria, MOSL is allowed to submit or sponsor a bid. These bids will undertake the same eligibility assessment as other bids, and the Selection Committee will be made aware that it is a MOSL bid.
The Market Improvement Fund (MIF) is a fund that will provide money to projects that benefit the non-household market. It has been designed to compliment Ofwat's Innovation Competitions. For the first year of the fund we will be awarding up to a total of £1million to the successful projects. It is owned by the Panel, but facilitated by MOSL.
In January 2020 an official code change was implemented to allow Market Performance Standard (MPS) and Operational Performance Standard (OPS) charges to be used to create the Market Improvement Fund - this will enable charges to be redirected to better benefit customers and the market. Due to COVID-19 the Market Improvement Fund launch was delayed until 2021. The money that will be distributed to the winning bids will be made up of MPS and OPS charges accumulated throughout 2021.
Applicants can bid for a minimum of £10k and a maximum of £150k. However, if your project requires funding outside of that criteria, it may be considered.
In order to apply to the Market Improvement Fund, the project must:
- Enhance market functioning and benefit non-household customers
- Could not be considered 'business as usual'
- Does not confer any particular competitive advantage to any trading party or group of trading parties
The fund must be sponsored by a trading party or the Market Operator, although third-party bids are encouraged.
For a full list of criteria, please see the governance document which will be available shortly.
Applications open for the first round of funding on Wednesday 1 September 2021. The deadline to submit applications is 6pm on Thursday 30 September 2021.
If the winning bids equate to less than £1m, all monies will be redistributed to trading parties as per the usual process.
All applicants will receive an email to say that their application has been received, as well as a notification of the result of their application. Unsuccessful applications will be given a brief summary as to why their application was rejected. Final award of funds will take place once the Funding Agreement has been signed by MOSL and all successful applicants.
A list of successful applicants and a brief summary of why they were successful will be published on the MOSL website at the end of each funding round.
Yes. The Market Improvement Fund has been designed to complement Ofwat's Innovation Competitions so that the application process and supporting information remains the same. However, you will need to provide sufficient information to prove that funding has been secured by Ofwat's fund.
Related pages
Market Improvement Fund code change
Information on CPM018: 'Treatment of Market Performance Standard charges and Operational Performance Standard charges'
View change