We asked the Department what it had learned about setting and communicating realistic deadlines. It considered that what mattered to organisations was knowing that they were going to get funding. It acknowledged that it had given advance notice about when allocations would be announced and then had not been able to meet that date. It said it had learned it was better not to inform organisations about when allocations were announced before it was certain what it would be able to do, which required it to have completed all due diligence.30 However, we have received evidence of organisations receiving funding almost 12 months after they had closed.31