Most public sector service delivery happens in local areas and this is where the sector accesses the most funding. There is no easy way to get information on the range of public agencies and voluntary sector activity locally and to develop this funding source will take a lot of research. Your local authority may run a grant aid programme for the voluntary and community sector or there may be neighbourhood based small grant schemes you can access.
Local authorities have their own policies and procedures for funding voluntary and community organisations and local partnership bodies increasingly play a role in agreeing priorities for local areas.

There are nine Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) that were set up by Government to act as strategic drivers of regional economic development in each region.

The Government Office Network consists of the nine Government Offices for the English regions that distribute public funding for specific initiatives.

A key development recently has been a move toward channelling multiple funding streams from central government through local plans called Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and Local Public Service Agreements (LPSAs).
These agreements focus on a collection of goals across a range of services and which relate to either national or local priorities. Government wants to see local authorities and agencies working together to deliver these agreements - particularly around resident-based measures such as health and education.
Standard themes that are common to many LAAs are:

• Healthy communities and older people
• Children and young people
• Stronger and safer communities
• Economic development

Local health funding is mainly through Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) who may fund community health services and activities in local areas.