We queried whether the Department ought to have set its value for money criteria for the evaluation earlier in the process. The Department told us that it had been assured of the value for money of its spending at all times, and never doubted that the funding had been value for money. Sir Damon considered the fund “has achieved its goal”. The Department said its evaluation would assess the extent of value for money, rather than whether or not the fund was value for money.60 Its firm contention was that the fund’s fundamental impact was to offer at least some assistance to all the organisations that met its financial and cultural significance criteria and that it had been critical to the survival of “many thousands” of organisations. It believed that no organisation that was approved for funding had subsequently become insolvent.61 Support and advocacy for the sector