Recommendation 6

The elongated time taken by the Department and UKRI to provide funding to successful bidders risks putting off businesses from applying for the programme. It took UKRI, the Department and HM Treasury 72 weeks to select and approve the challenges that were given funding in 2019–20. It took UKRI on average a further 31 weeks to assess applications for project funding and approve individual projects. The lengthy time taken to agree challenges and approve projects leads to delays in funding projects. For example, we heard from one organisation that meaningful work has yet to start on some projects for which those responsible had started to bid for funding as early as 2018. Taking too long to approve challenges and then select projects to fund risks delaying the impact from the projects which are supported. This prolonged process may also potentially deter some organisations from applying for funding and delay the impact of UKRI’s investments. We are concerned that this could particularly affect smaller businesses which may not have the financial and staffing resources to wait for funding. Recommendation: The Department, HM Treasury and UKRI should set out by October 2021 how they intend to speed up the time taken to approve challenges and projects.