Departmental capacity for grant design
Initial lack of departmental capacity and insufficient local engagement in the design and delivery of grant schemes.
735 items
11 sources
2 inquiries
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
94match
#2 - Twenty-Seventh Report - Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme
Despite clear warning signs, the Department proceeded with an unrealistic implementation timescale for the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme. The Department had twelve weeks to set up the Scheme from announcement to launch. It was confident this was possible based on previous schemes, and felt the pace was necessary due to the need to boost jobs at a...
Matched on
terms: capacity, design, grant
Committee recommendation
70match
#18 - Social housing providers lack capacity to deliver improvements due to supply chain issues
The steps the Government is taking to rebuild the sector’s financial capacity to invest in new and existing homes will help providers to meet new regulatory standards. However, we are concerned that supply chain constraints, workforce shortages and the limited uptake of technologies will mean that providers may not have the necessary capacity and capability to deliver the...
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
65match
#17 - Twenty-Seventh Report - Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme
In 2016 our predecessors on the Committee identified similar problems when they examined the Green Deal; in that case the former Department for Energy and Climate did not undertake enough work to understand consumer needs, and how to make it easier for them to apply. This resulted in an overly complex scheme with many process steps and excessive...
Matched on
terms: grant
Committee recommendation
64match
#8 - Fourth Report - COVID-19: Local government finance
In addition to the March and April unringfenced funding, the Department provided two further tranches of unringfenced funding in 2020–21, bringing the total value of these grants to £4.55 billion. The Department took us through the ways in which its approach to allocating unringfenced funding changed. It used three different approaches (existing funding formulas, population, and a new...
Matched on
terms: departmental, grant
Committee recommendation
64match
#4 - Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensation Scheme
The Department launched the scheme without the caseworkers it required to deliver the complex scheme it designed and has never had the operational capacity it needs, leaving people waiting for decisions. When it launched the scheme, the Department had only six caseworkers to deal with processing claims, compared to the 125 it considered it would need. It has...
Matched on
terms: capacity, design
Committee recommendation
64match
#11 - First Report - Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21
Although the Department set eligibility criteria for grant schemes administered by local authorities, it delegated most grant decisions to them. The Department told us that it provided clear guidance to local authorities on recordkeeping requirements and the need to be able to reconcile payments for the purposes of audit.43 However, it also told us that administering these grants...
Matched on
terms: grant
Committee recommendation
64match
#2 - Forty-Second Report - The Restart Scheme for long-term unemployed people
The Department has ended up paying more per Restart participant than for previous similar schemes, because it had to pay providers to rapidly build up capacity from a standing start and then did not need all that capacity. From 2010–11, when it was responding to the last economic crash, to 2020–21, the Department reduced expenditure on employment support...
Matched on
terms: capacity, design
Committee recommendation
62match
#38 - Government resource capacity to deliver SPS agreement by 2027 deadline remains uncertain.
There is uncertainty regarding the Government’s resource capacity to deliver the extensive regulatory changes required to establish a common SPS area with the EU by the ambitious June 2027 deadline. This work is a substantial legislative and operational undertaking, which must be achieved while simultaneously fulfilling commitments under major policy 39 plans and strategies. Without clear prioritisation, resourcing...
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
61match
#10 - Twenty-Seventh Report - Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme
Industry associations stated that the short lead up time, and the Scheme’s six-month window was a challenge for many installers, providing a very short timeframe for them to identify the resources they needed to engage with the scheme, as well as for the installation of measures.26 The Department acknowledged that delivering the intended £1.5 billion of funding was...
Matched on
terms: grant
NAO recommendation
61match
Government's general grant schemes
To simplify the grant landscape: (c) DLUHC, working with departments, should build upon its ongoing work to consolidate grants schemes for local government, and the Grants Management Function should work with departments to consolidate grant schemes across government where appropriate to deliver better outcomes.
Matched on
terms: grant
Committee recommendation
60match
#3 - First Report - Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21
The Department does not know whether grants distributed by local authorities on its behalf have benefited businesses, including those most in need of that funding. Although the Department set the eligibility criteria for grant schemes administered by local authorities, it delegated most grant decisions to them. The Department told us that pre-payment checks did not apply to all...
Matched on
terms: grant
Committee recommendation
60match
#5 - Fourth Report - Implementation of the National Bus Strategy
The bidding process for BSIP funding has appeared slightly chaotic at times, with periods of delay, confusion about the terms of trade and concerns about Departmental capacity. While we understand the short-term impulse to prioritise communication with winning bidders, it makes little sense in the long term if the aim is to improve bus services across the country....
Matched on
terms: capacity, departmental
Committee recommendation
60match
#42 - Third report - A plan for an adult skills and lifelong learning revolution
The new UK Shared Prosperity Fund offers an opportunity to improve on the design and administration of European Structural Investment Funds in relation to the funding of adult skills. Cross-government working will be critical to delivering the cross-cutting agenda this funding supports. We expect the Department to take a far more proactive stance in inter-Departmental discussions on the...
Matched on
terms: departmental, design
Committee recommendation
57match
#38 - Commission rapid capacity assessment and recruit specialists to support overworked FCDO Programme Managers.
The FCDO must make every effort to ensure that its staff feel valued and appreciated within the organisation, particularly amidst budget insecurity. The Committee recommend that the FCDO commissions a rapid capacity assessment, and recruit or offer secondments to additional specialists to relieve overworked Programme Managers, rebalance workloads and bring better value to the taxpayer. (Recommendation, Paragraph 111)...
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
57match
#18 - Vital FGM grassroots organisations face limited funding due to complex and competitive application processes.
Grassroots organisations, often run by FGM survivors from the affected communities, perform vital work in supporting FGM survivors and combatting FGM. However, they receive limited funding, must compete against one another, and can lack the capacity or expertise necessary to secure funding in complex application processes. (Conclusion, Paragraph 59)
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
56match
#12 - First Report - Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21
Having sampled only 476 grants distributed by local authorities out of circa one million grants made, the Department therefore has very little visibility of which businesses have benefited from these schemes.45 It cannot say whether many businesses in receipt of grants were eligible, and whether those that were both eligible and received grant funding received the right amount....
Matched on
terms: grant
Inquiry recommendation
53match
RHI-19 - Business Case Approval Redesign
The processes within a Department for approving new expenditure and business cases including, where it forms part of that process, the role of Casework Committees, should be thoroughly re-designed to be more rigorous, testing and independent. Such processes should be less bureaucratic and pay greater attention to examining the unique features of the project proposed.
Matched on
terms: design
Committee recommendation
52match
#5 - Ninth Report - Fraud and Error
HM Treasury and Cabinet Office do not know whether departments are adequately resourced to tackle fraud and error. There are currently 16,000 members of the Counter Fraud Function within the public sector, with 77% of counter fraud professionals working in DWP or HMRC. Although Cabinet Office understands where counter fraud resources are deployed across the rest of government,...
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
52match
#12 - Government lacks infrastructure for effective gender mainstreaming, reducing UK programming impact.
The policy of gender mainstreaming refers to a strategic approach to achieving gender equality through integrating women’s experiences and concerns in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes. However, while gender mainstreaming is part of the correct goal, the Government does not have the appropriate infrastructure in place to make it work. This gender mainstreaming...
Matched on
terms: design
NAO recommendation
52match
UK Research and Innovation: providing support through grants
To help improve visibility of the government?s R&I needs and ensure they are communicated effectively, by December 2025, DSIT with UKRI should streamline the mechanisms through which the government communicates its priorities to UKRI. By the same date, they should map out government priorities and objectives whose delivery UKRI is expected to support.
Matched on
terms: grant
Committee recommendation
52match
#16 - Fourth Report - Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes
We recommend that, following an evaluation of Phase Two, the scheme is expanded with a larger budget, over a multi-year period, and a greater role for BEIS’s local energy hubs to supplement local authority capacity.
Matched on
terms: capacity
LGO / SPSO decision
52match
21-008-400 - North Northamptonshire Council
Summary: There was no fault in how the Council considered the complainant’s application for a discretionary COVID-19 business restart grant. The Council was at fault because it did not explore the complainant’s requests for reasonable adjustments, but this did not cause him an injustice. It is not the Council’s fault that the various COVID-19 support schemes can be...
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
52match
22-000-812 - St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a grant funding scheme. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council assessed the grant applications, and the...
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
52match
201403458 - Glasgow City Council
Mr C complained about the service he received from Business Gateway in relation to applications for grants for his new business. He said that he was encouraged to apply for grants but, when his applications were unsuccessful, staff did not respond reasonably to his requests for further information and assistance. When he complained about the service, he said...
Matched on
terms: grant
PFD report
49match
Gustavo Da Cruz, Mohit Dupar, Inthushan Sriskantharasa, Gurushanth Srithavarajah, Kenugen Saththiyanathan, Kobikanthan Saththiyanathan and Nitharsan Ravi
There is a lack of formal governance and risk management for beach safety. A national review of safety regimes and potential government powers to restrict beach access is needed.
Matched on
classifier match
PFD report
49match
Ryan Campbell
The hospital's lack of a full suite of cardiac diagnostic imaging equipment, specifically CT or MR angiograms, causes diagnostic delays and necessitates risky patient transfers.
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
49match
#20 - Provide sustainable and accessible funding to small grassroots FGM prevention organisations.
The Government and local authorities should actively engage with and provide sustainable funding to small and grassroots organisations working on FGM to ensure they are able to carry out their work. The Government should ensure that applications for funding are accessible and inclusive for organisations that lack the resources to navigate complex tendering processes. (Recommendation, Paragraph 61)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
48match
#6 - Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care
The Department believes the impact of the Innovation Programme on the sector has been ‘transformational’. It describes the demand stimulated by the programme, having received over 200 applications for the first funding round of a programme where evaluation was a condition of funding.15 The Department also described issues caused by the limited capacity and expertise in the market...
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
48match
#10 - Require Treasury to provide guidance on building investment cases for NI funding bids.
Northern Ireland would benefit from being more entrepreneurial in how it bids for funding for public service reform - for example, by linking its bids into wider Government agendas and aims including cross-Departmental working, partnership with the business community and third sector. We recommend that the Treasury work with the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland...
Matched on
terms: departmental
NAO recommendation
48match
Reforming adult social care in England
As it turns its attention to charging reform alongside system reform, DHSC should ensure it has the resources it will require within the Department, in terms of both capacity and capability to deliver the next stage of reform
Matched on
terms: capacity
Inquiry recommendation
48match
RHI-29 - Departmental Finance Functions
The finance function within a Department should exert the necessary authority and capability to fulfil the requirements of 'Managing Public Money Northern Ireland', namely to retain a firm grasp of the organisation's financial position and performance. The Inquiry recommends that the Department of Finance take action to review and, if necessary, strengthen the leadership of and support for...
Matched on
terms: departmental
Inquiry recommendation
48match
RHI-11 - Project Management Disciplines
Best practice project and risk management disciplines should be the default practice within the Northern Ireland Civil Service when developing novel and complex policies and managing their implementation. These disciplines can be widely applied and should not be confined only to major or capital projects. They can be tailored to the specific circumstances of an initiative and are...
Matched on
terms: design
Committee recommendation
48match
#5 - Thirty-second Report - Specialist Skills in the civil service
Seven years on from their introduction, functions still have not developed clear plans to help maximise their impact, and lack strategic direction. The Department requires all functions to put in place their own ‘capability blueprint’. Blueprints should include a clear operating model and set out the organisational capacity for each function. They are also an important tool in...
Matched on
terms: capacity
Committee recommendation
48match
#43 - Third report - A plan for an adult skills and lifelong learning revolution
Funding for the education and skills and employability strands of the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund must at least match those of their predecessor funds, and no region A plan for an adult skills and lifelong learning revolution 53 should be worse off. Government must involve local and combined authorities on the design of the UKSPF. Funding must...
Matched on
terms: design
Committee recommendation
48match
#14 - Fourth Report - Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes
We recommend that BEIS and the Treasury undertake a joint review of the preparation, launch, funding and delivery of the Green Homes Grant programme, and that the recommendations of that review be applied to all cross-Government working on programmes to deliver net zero objectives.
Matched on
terms: grant
Committee recommendation
48match
#15 - Fourth Report - COVID-19: Local government finance
The Department told us that during the early months of the pandemic it developed greater structure and a stronger framework around exceptional financial support for individual authorities. Exceptional financial support is used where the Department accepts authorities face unmanageable financial pressures despite other government support measures.36 The Department asserted that it had been transparent in relation to cases...
Matched on
terms: departmental
NAO recommendation
48match
Regulation of private renting
e) Do more to identify and promote good practice among local authorities and support them to use it. To achieve this, the Department should work to understand the barriers local authorities face in regulating, and evaluate which tools are most effective in which circumstances. It should also ensure it has enough capacity to achieve this, as well as...
Matched on
terms: capacity
LGO / SPSO decision
48match
21-004-809 - Cheshire East Council
Summary: Although the complainant missed out on a COVID-19 business support grant it appears he was eligible for, this was not due to fault by the Council. We have therefore completed our investigation.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
48match
21-003-574 - Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly refused his business a grant, causing financial difficulties. We find no fault in the Council’s decision making.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
48match
21-008-940 - Harlow District Council
Summary: Mrs X complained the Council refused her businesses grants, did not address her complaint properly and reported inaccurately on finances. We did not investigate the Council’s reporting as there is a more appropriate body. We found fault in the Council’s communications with Mrs X that did not affect its decision making. We recommended the Council provide Mrs...
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
48match
21-007-544 - Cannock Chase District Council
Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his request for an Additional Restrictions Grant, causing him financial loss, distress and wasted time. We found fault in the Council’s communications causing injustice. We recommended the Council apologise to Mr X, consider a late grant application and take action to improve its services.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
48match
21-014-448 - Ipswich Borough Council
Summary: Mr X complained the Council was wrong to refuse Mrs Y a business grant, causing her financial difficulties and distress. We found the Council at fault in its communications with Mrs Y.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
48match
25-003-069 - Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Summary: We found fault with the Council taking 18 months too long to complete the works for Ms X’s Disability Facilities Grant application. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £3,750 for the avoidable distress, difficulty and uncertainty it caused.
Matched on
terms: grant
PHSO casework decision
47match
P-001916 - Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Ms E complains DBEIS did not act quickly when she asked it to change her Green Homes Grant Scheme vouchers on 24 August 2021. She also complains DBEIS rejected her changes because it wrongly believed she had applied after the 31 August deadline.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
47match
21-010-238 - City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Summary: We have discontinued our investigation about the Council’s decision to refuse the complainant’s business rates relief under the expanded retail discount scheme, and a grant under the retail, hospitality and leisure scheme, because his complaint is late. There was no fault in the Council’s decision the business is not eligible for partial rates relief.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
47match
21-007-499 - Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council
Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly refused COVID-19 business grants and gave him incorrect advice. The Council initially refused a Restart grant for an incorrect reason but this fault did not cause Mr X an injustice because it reconsidered the application when he challenged its original decision.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
47match
23-013-959 - Transport for London
Summary: Mr X complained about the way Transport for London (TfL) dealt with his application for a grant under its car scrappage scheme. We have not found fault by TfL in the way it decided to reject Mr X’s application. But we have found fault by TfL in failing to communicate properly with Mr X about his application,...
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
47match
24-018-264 - Nottinghamshire County Council
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the installation of external insulation under a government grant scheme. This complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
47match
24-016-943 - Norwich City Council
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision in relation to her request for major adaptations to her home via a Disabled Facilities Grant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.
Matched on
terms: grant
LGO / SPSO decision
47match
25-004-960 - City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mrs X’s disagreement with the Council over adaptations to her home under the Disabled Facilities Grant scheme. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Matched on
terms: grant