3.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 3.2 Firstly, on the point concerning streamlined funding processes and demands on applicants, the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), characteristic of all COVID-19 pandemic funding, was delivered at pace and at unprecedented scale to provide emergency relief to a sector in severe economic distress. However, the need to ensure that money was distributed quickly needed to be balanced with factors such as ensuring proper allocation of taxpayers’ money, reducing the risk of fraud, and the need to provide a high-quality service to people who interacted with the programme. 3.3 The funding process for CRF was made as streamlined as possible in order to fulfil the core policy aims of the fund, and the conditions on the funding determined by government ministers. In DCMS’s view, any further streamlining or reduction in the grant making process would have put at risk the propriety of the fund’s delivery.