This document invites applications from higher education institutions in England to apply for special funding to support activities that will increase their capability to respond to the needs of business (including companies of all sizes and sectors and a range of bodies within the wider community), where this will lead to identifiable economic benefits. The new Higher Education Innovation Fund, from which these resources will be drawn, builds on the third stream of funding initiated by the Higher Education Reach-out to Business and Community Fund. It is designed to sit alongside institutions' teaching and research activities. Applications for funding should be based on the criteria for allocations and distribution arrangements that are set out in appendixes 1 of this document and the applications guidelines in Appendix 2. A list of acronyms is given in Appendix 3. Appendix 4 contains a summary of responses received from English higher education institutions that were consulted about the fund earlier in the year. (SLD)