In implementing the fund during the pandemic, the Department’s need to act quickly to provide funding to applicants while also protecting taxpayers’ money meant some applicants’ experiences could have been better. The Department announced the fund in July 2020, with the intention to pay successful applicants by the end of September 2020. While officials should be credited for working at speed and delivering a programme with low fraud levels, mistakes were made, particularly in relation to the fund’s accessibility. For example, the language used on the grant forms were not well geared to commercial organisations; the Department had intended that the money would be distributed more quickly, unsuccessful applicants did not receive clear feedback to understand why their bids were rejected, and recipients faced continuing requests for information such as proof of bank details for each instalment of a grant, resulting in unnecessary duplication of documents. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Department should set out what more it is doing to communicate with those who were unsuccessful in 6 COVID 19: Culture Recovery Fund securing funding and streamline its funding processes to cut out any unnecessary demands on recipients that slow down funding, consistent with protecting taxpayers’ money from fraud.