Recommendation 9

We also asked about the decision-making process around awards for the Community Match Challenge scheme, where the Department match funded the amounts raised by philanthropic groups, foundations and grant-making organisations. Ministers selected twenty organisations to receive funding, including seven out of the ten highest scoring applications. All four of the proposals that were assessed as having the lowest score by the Department’s officials, however, also went on to receive funding, including three instances where officials were unsure if they were eligible.30 The Department said that after initial bids were scored it presented initial ideas to Ministers about how the funding could be distributed, and there was a “set of discussions with Ministers about their views and preferences” which led to further information being sought from bidders. This subsequently confirmed that those organisations were eligible for funding and resulted in funding being approved for those proposals. The Department asserted that the processes followed were appropriate, with advice being iterated as new information became available.31 It was, however, unable to elaborate further on what new information came to light that led to the lowest scoring applications receiving funding.32