6/1/3
To
Dear Ms Jowell
We at Skill are very interested as well as concerned to hear of a proposal to merge the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund.
We responded to the consultation earlier in the year on the future of the Community Fund. We received reassurance in response to our email to you of 31 October, from James Bird, that “There is long-established cross-party support for the principle that lottery funding decisions are taken at arms length from government, out of reach of meddling by politicians”.
Skill has been/is in receipt of several grants from the Community Fund, and also has a grant from the New Opportunities Fund.
The NOF has very restricted funding criteria. Once our project ends, we will not be able to apply again under current criteria. The Community Fund, by its more general nature, and based on much research and consultation, has proved its worth over many years. Skill believes its own successful Community Fund projects have been successful because they too were based on well researched and timely advice.
We also welcome the recent recognition by the CF of the importance to any project of supporting underpinning core costs - yet another example of the responsiveness of the CF to trends and issues in the Third Sector. Skill would not be reaching out to thousands of disabled people without substantial CF support, because our mission clearly fits the CF’s disadvantage categories. We have recently been advised that a future application in support of our policy work might also find favour.
We are aware that the NOF receives twice the funding of the CF. We would naturally support a merger of the two funding bodies if the more general approach of the CF were to be bolstered by the addition of NOF funds, but would not be happy to see CF money restricted by NOF’s narrower pre-prescribed interests. In view of your policy that lottery funding decisions should be taken at arms length from politicians, we would welcome reassurance that the heavily over-subscribed Community Fund would benefit through any merger, from both the NOF funds and increased operating efficiency without any loss of autonomy.
Yours sincerely
Barbara Waters
Chief Executive