1
Conclusion
Fifth Report - COVID-19: Government Sup…
Not Addressed
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (the Department), The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) and The Charity Commission on the government’s £750 million funding to charities during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 We also …
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On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (the Department), The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) and The Charity Commission on the government’s £750 million funding to charities during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 We also took written evidence from several charities, membership bodies and organisations representing the charity sector and think-tanks.
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Government response AI summary
The government response provides background information on its £750 million financial support package for charities during the COVID-19 pandemic, detailing allocated and paid-out amounts across various schemes, rather than addressing the committee's procedural statement.
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HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Fifth Report - COVID-19: Government Sup…
Not Addressed
The Department provided £30 million of funding to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), with £7 million allocated to the Zoo Support Fund.27 We asked the Department why the allocation to DEFRA to support zoos came from funding designed to support charities helping the vulnerable during the …
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The Department provided £30 million of funding to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), with £7 million allocated to the Zoo Support Fund.27 We asked the Department why the allocation to DEFRA to support zoos came from funding designed to support charities helping the vulnerable during the pandemic. We remarked that this seemed at odds with the fact that many zoos operate as businesses rather than charities. The Department explained that the design was the result of officials being “extremely concerned about the welfare of animals in zoos and what was going to happen as a result of zoos being closed during the period.”28 We asked whether this was an appropriate mechanism to support zoos, considering that a fund to support zoos was already in place through DEFRA. The Department stated that “Ministers took a view that they wanted to allocate funds to zoos” but was not able to provide any further detail.29
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Government response AI summary
The government provides a general defense of its funding allocation processes and adherence to civil service codes but does not address the committee's specific concern regarding the appropriateness of allocating funds from a charity support package to zoos.
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HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Fifth Report - COVID-19: Government Sup…
Not Addressed
The National Audit Office found that the information available on the geographical distribution of funding was at times inconsistent or missing, making it difficult to determine the geographical spread of funding awarded. At 19 February 2021, the Department held no information on where funds were being used for 18% of …
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The National Audit Office found that the information available on the geographical distribution of funding was at times inconsistent or missing, making it difficult to determine the geographical spread of funding awarded. At 19 February 2021, the Department held no information on where funds were being used for 18% of awards. This accounted for £101 million of taxpayer’s money and 2,882 funding awards. To the extent that information is available, analysis showed that London had received the most funding (£47 million) and the North East the least (£14 million).51 The Department told us that it wanted the funding to be demand led “rather than a predetermined equal regional distribution”.52 It explained that for some funds, such as TNLCF, it offered indicative regional allocations, but that it did not make these formal because it did not think it would be appropriate. Additionally, it told us that while it asked all those receiving grants to tell it about the location of beneficiaries, it said that “sometimes that does not give us all the information 49 Qq 93, 99; C&AG’s Report, figure 4 50 Qq 54–55, 93 51 C&AG’s Report, para 3.2, figure 10 52 Q 52 COVID-19: Government Support for Charities 15 we would like about regional distribution” because a charity’s headquarters might be located in a different place to where the funds are actually spent. It committed to using its upcoming evaluation to determine the regional distribution of funding.53 The financial health of the charity sector going forwards
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Government response AI summary
The government states that CCSF grant funding was distributed to every region and almost every local authority in England, with indicative regional funding allocations identified from the outset. It does not address the committee's finding regarding missing or inconsistent data on geographical distribution.
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HM Treasury