Memorandum by the Community Fund and the
New Opportunities Fund (COA 58)
Note:—This memorandum explains
the work of the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund
in coalfield areas. The two Funds have started the process of
administrative merger ahead of the creation of a new lottery distributor.
INTRODUCTION
1. The coalfields in the UK stretch from
Scotland through the North East, the North West, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire,
the Midlands, South Wales and Kent. They have a total population
of about five million people. Of those about 3.5 million live
in the English coalfields.
2. Though the industry has shrunk drastically
in recent decades, it has left its mark on landscapes and communities.
The decline of coalmining has left a social and economic gap in
many communities. The lottery investment through the Community
Fund and the New Opportunities Fund, when linked with other initiatives,
makes a significant contribution to broader social and economic
objectives. It can transform communities, regenerate neighbourhoods,
and help draw investment into local, regional and national economies.
BACKGROUND—THE
COMMUNITY FUND
3. The Community Fund distributes money
from the National Lottery to projects across the United Kingdom
to help meet the needs of those at greatest disadvantage in society
and also to improve the quality of life in the community. The
Community Fund receives 16.67%—or 4.7p from every lottery
ticket. To date, the Community Fund has distributed £2.6
billion to 56,000 charities and community groups across the United
Kingdom.
4. Under the National Lottery etc Act 1993
the Community Fund can only make grants to charitable, benevolent
or philanthropic organisations. This means that even if the project
is charitable, it will not be eligible for a grant unless the
organisation applying for it is established for charitable, benevolent
or philanthropic purposes.
5. The Community Fund gives grants mainly
to help the needs of those at greatest disadvantage in society
and also to improve the quality of life in the community. The
Community Fund is a non-departmental public body and therefore
operates under policy directions issued by its sponsor department,
the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The policy directions
set out the principles with which the Community Fund must comply.
6. Amongst other considerations, under these
directions Community Fund must have regard to the interests of
the UK as a whole, the interests of the different parts of the
UK, and the relative population size of, and appropriate socio-economic
factors applicable to, the different parts of the UK.
7. To achieve this the Community Fund allocates
its budget for grant making between the UK countries and the nine
regions within England on the basis of population weighted by
socio-economic factors that take account of need in the different
countries and regions. Its grant-making is decentralised and operates
through Country Committees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
and Regional Committees in the nine England regions. There is
also a Strategic Grants Committee to decide on grants which benefit
England and the UK as a whole (or a large part thereof) as well
as specialist International and Research Grants Programmes.
8. The Community Fund Strategic Plan 2002-07
was laid in Parliament in April 2002. It has three key elements:
— Community Fund intends to allocate
a significant proportion of our resources to projects targeting
specified beneficiary groups and to identified geographical areas.
— Funding to achieve long term change:
— Community Fund will put greater emphasis
on outcomes. This means that organisations and groups that are
funded will have to demonstrate that they will make both a short
term and long term difference to the lives of people they seek
to help.
— Working more closely with others:
— Community Fund will work more closely
with other agencies including other funders in order to use the
available funds more effectively."
9. The Strategic Plan also identifies six
beneficiary groups in the population where particular needs have
been identified corporately as well as locally in the four countries
and nine English regions. These priorities are (in no order of
importance):
— children and young people;
— older people and their carers;
— disabled people and their carers;
— black and minority ethnic communities;
— refugees and asylum seekers; and
— people living in communities (whether
urban or rural) disadvantaged by economic and social change.
10. Applications from organisations in coalfield
areas are likely to be able to submit applications meeting more
than one of these priority groups, but the last of those listed
is likely to be of significance to them. The Community Fund also
makes grants outside these priorities where projects may meet
clearly defined needs and outcomes. About 20% of funding is allocated
outside priorities (although the amount will vary from one part
of the UK to another).
BACKGROUND—THE
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
FUND
11. The New Opportunities Fund was established
as a lottery distributor by the National Lottery Act 1998, to
make grants to education, health and environment projects under
initiatives specified by the Government. It is the largest of
the lottery distributors and has received policy directions to
deliver programmes worth almost £3.5 billion since its launch
in 1998. It has already committed over £2 billion of this
money to communities.
12. The Fund receives 33.3% of all lottery
good causes money, or just over 9p for every lottery ticket sold.
13. In establishing the New Opportunities
Fund, the government aimed to make the lottery more accessible
and more responsive to people's needs. The Fund's focus on health,
education and the environment reflects those areas which the public
expressed an interest in funding. But it also seeks to address
the problems of geographical disparities in lottery funding, by
making a difference to the way in which funding is delivered.
14. The Fund's core values are reflected
across all of its programmes. It is committed to working strategically
and working in partnership. This means that funding can complement
and enhance other funding available and that programmes strengthen
local, regional and national strategies. The Fund also puts a
high value on partnership working with other agencies at a local,
regional and national level.
15. The New Opportunities Fund's powers
afford it the opportunity to allocate funding to those areas that
have historically done less well from lottery funding. This has
meant that coalfield areas, along with other disadvantaged areas,
have sometimes been specifically targeted, or benefited from funding
weighted towards areas of disadvantage.
16. Five years into its funding, some of
our the New Opportunities Fund's achievements include:
— nearly half a million new childcare
places and out-of-school-hours learning activities in 13,000 schools;
— a national network of 350 healthy
living centres;
— over 485,000 teachers trained in
using ICT in classrooms across the country; and
— new equipment to detect cancer in
hundreds of hospitals.
COMMUNITY FUND
GRANT PROGRAMMES
17. The Community Fund runs a number of
grant programmes at any one time. All are "open" in
that there are no closing dates and organisations can apply when
they are ready to. The programmes are:
— Large Grants (over £60,000).
— Medium Grants (up to £60,000).
— Strategic Grants (for England/UK-wide
projects).
18. The Community Fund is also part of Awards
For All, the grant-making programme which involves all the lottery
distribution bodies in making grants of up to £5,000 generally
to smaller charities and voluntary organisations.
COMMUNITY FUND
INITIATIVES IN
COALFIELD AREAS
19. In coalfield areas, over £270 million
has been awarded to 2,500 projects since 1995 (a summary of award
numbers is attached as Table 1). Some examples of projects which
have been funded are set out in Annex 1. The Community Fund has
also pursued a number of specific initiatives which have benefited
coalfield areas.
BRASS FOR
BARNSLEY
19. Brass for Barnsley (BfB) was the working
name for the first fully targeted area initiative carried out
by the Community Fund in Barnsley. The initiative was launched
in April 1999, and achieved its key target of distributing £3.4
million to voluntary and community organisations in Barnsley in
one year, a target that had been set for attainment over three
years.
20. Part of the thinking that informed the
development of the BfB initiative was the Community Fund's recognition
that while Barnsley was an area experiencing considerable economic
and social deprivation, it was also failing to secure an appropriate
share of Community Fund resources. In April 1999 Barnsley was
ranked 12 out of 21 authorities for funding per head of population
by the Community Fund's Yorkshire & Humber Region, with a
per capita spend of £12.56. In March 2000, the end of the
initiative, Barnsley had risen to 8 in the region's funding index
with a per capita spend of £21.54.
21. Key activities undertaken by the Community
Fund during this period included:
— Partnership working with a range
of agencies.
— Outreach work including surgeries
and briefing sessions in the centre of Barnsley and outlying communities.
— Encouraging existing grant holders
to share their experiences with potential applicants.
— Supporting the development of voluntary
sector infrastructure in Barnsley.
22. Fifteen grants in the Large Grants Programme
were awarded during the 12 months of the BfB initiative, compared
with six in the previous 12 months. This compared favourably with
near neighbours Doncaster (six awards) and Rotherham (seven awards).
In Barnsley, 56% of applications were successful, a much higher
rate than for both Rotherham (33%), and Doncaster (38%) during
the same period.
LESSONS LEARNT
FROM BFB
23. The Community Fund has taken the lessons
learnt from BfB and adapted them to enable the organisation to
identify and work with particular communities in local authority
areas which have not accessed CF funding as much as they would
have been expected to. In particular, learning from BfB resulted
in the launch of the fair share programme in April 2002. (see
paragraphs 24 to 34 below)
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
FUND INITIATIVES
IN COALFIELD
AREAS
24. In total through its many funding programmes,
NOF has distributed £382,125,878 to coalfield areas since
1998 (see table 2).
25. Several of the New Opportunities Fund's
programmes operate through an allocation process, which ensures
that funding gets to those areas most in need and communities
are given the support they need to put together applications.
Coalfield areas have particularly benefited from this method of
distributing funding.
26. For example, by December 2002, we had
made grants of £3,807,143 to projects within the Easington
local authority area. This amounted to an average of £42.16
per head of population. The average amount of funding from the
New Opportunities Fund per head of population is £26.32.
27. The Fund's PE & Sport Programme
allocates funding based on levels of disadvantage as well as levels
of population, ensuring that coalfield areas receive their fair
share of lottery funding.
28. The PE & Sport Programme is NOF's
largest ever programme, offering a £750 million investment
in sports facilities in schools, which are also open to the community.
In England, funding has been allocated to all local authority
areas, of which half is based on population and half based on
need. For example the allocation to Barnsley LEA is £3,993,000,
which is significantly more than they would have received had
the allocation been based solely on population. The local authority
has been given a guaranteed level of funding, and has been able
to spend time consulting with schools and the local community
on what facilities were needed, and where they were needed most.
FAIR SHARE
29. This is a joint scheme designed by the
Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund to make lottery
funding more readily available to disadvantaged communities in
77 local authority areas across the UK that are high up in the
deprivation indices and have received less than average lottery
funding from all the lottery distributors. Fair Share is investing
£180 million over three years in local neighbourhoods through
a mix of new schemes and tried and tested programmes.
The initiative consists of three strands:
— New Opportunities Fund fair share
trust—a £50 million expendable endowment fund being
delivered by Community Foundation Network on behalf of the New
Opportunities Fund (10 year programme).
— Fair share: transforming your space—£38.75
million for locally-identified "liveability" projects
to improve local environment and amenities in fair share areas
in England (three year NOF programme).
— Community Fund—£92 million
from the Community Fund delivered through its current grants programmes
and targeted at designated fair share areas.
Annex 2 sets out the fair share areas and which
programmes are operating in each.
METHODOLOGY
30. The methodology used to identify Fair
Share areas combines data on disadvantage (using the IMD 2000)
and lottery funding (from all distributors) to identify local
authority districts that have received less than their fair share
of lottery money. Using the IMD 2000 it was possible to identify
those local authority districts which contained the 10% most deprived
wards in England. A similar method was applied in Scotland and
Wales (although a slightly different approach is used in Northern
Ireland to reflect local conditions).
31. The Community Fund prioritised the 37
areas below the Community Fund median (26 in England, five in
Wales and six in Scotland), while the New Opportunities Fund has
prioritised the areas that fall below the median for all other
distributors. A few of these areas overlap.
32. Eleven coalfield areas are included
in Fair Share. The reason not every coalfield area is included
in Fair Share is that they were already receiving above both medians
for awards (ie the Community Fund alone or the other distributors
together). Those included are: Doncaster, St Helens, Rotherham,
Wigan, Bolsover, Ashfield, Wakefield and Kirklees, where the Community
Fund has prioritised work. The others are Blyth Valley, Wansbeck
and Barnsley, where NOF leads.
33. Barnsley is not included because, as
a result of BfB, Barnsley does not fall below the Community Fund
median in terms of grants. However the Community Fund maintains
its presence in Barnsley through its continued involvement in
funding events, information sessions etc and grant making in the
area. However, because Barnsley is below the median level of grant
awards for all the other lottery distributors, it is one of the
New Opportunities Fund Fair Share Trust areas (see paragraphs
25-27 below).
COMMUNITY FUND
FAIR SHARE
FUNDING
34. Since the initial Fair Share launch
in April 2002, in the first year over £31 million has been
delivered to the 37 areas which are those the Community Fund concentrates
on in Fair Share. This represents 91% of the target set for the
first year. Halfway through Fair Share the Community Fund is on
target to spend up to the £92 million set to be achieved
by April 2005.
THE NEW
OPPORTUNITIES FUND
FAIR SHARE
TRUST
35. The £50 million Fair Share Trust
is providing a guaranteed income for communities in 69 fair share
areas across the UK. The trust will provide this income over 10
years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and over five years
in Scotland.
36. In the 45 target areas in England, specific
neighbourhoods have been designated to receive the funding. Each
fair share area will receive £818,000 over the next 10 years,
which will be spent on projects in the designated neighbourhoods.
37. The Fair Share Trust gives communities
the chance to enjoy long term secure funding, and to influence
spending in their own neighbourhoods. The Community Foundation
Network, which is managing the Trust on behalf of the New Opportunities
Fund, has appointed a network of local agencies to deliver funding
at a local level. They are in the process of setting up panels
of local people who will decide on neighbourhood priorities and
be involved in assessing applications.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
FUND—FAIR
SHARE: TRANSFORMING
YOUR SPACE
38. A further £38.75 million of New
Opportunities Fund resources is being delivered through the fair
share: transforming your space programme.
39. Funding is being targeted at all 51
fair share areas in England, with varying allocations of between
£200,000 and £2.2 million. Allocations are based on
population but weighted to reflect levels of deprivation. Local
authorities have led area applications, but were asked to show
clear evidence of community consultation at every stage.
40. In all areas, the aim is that local
communities will be given the chance to explore the natural environment,
develop their knowledge and skills, gain a stake in their local
community and build links across it, and lead healthier lifestyles.
CONCLUSIONS
41. Since it began making grants in October
1995, the Community Fund has awarded more than £273 million
to over 2,500 separate projects in former coalfield areas in England
(see table 1). The New Opportunities Fund has committed over £382
million since its establishment in 1998 (see table 2).
42. The Government has set out a number
of proposals to reform and improve lottery distribution. The centrepiece
is to bring the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund together
to create a new lottery distributor. The proposed changes as detailed
in the National Lottery Fund Decision Document, published by the
Government in July 2003, should ensure that organisations in coalfields
continue to secure lottery funding in as straightforward a way
as possible. The Community Fund's stream of funding will continue
to be available to and accessible by charities and other eligible
voluntary and community based organisations during and after the
process of merger. The types of targeted national programmes run
by the New Opportunities Fund will also continue. The current
good causes and their proportionate share of the National Lottery
Distribution Fund will continue until early 2009 (the end of the
second National Lottery licence period).
Table 1
COMMUNITY FUND GRANTS TO COALFIELD AREAS
IN ENGLAND
|
| Year | Awards
| Amount awarded |
|
| 1995-96 | 264
| £14,643,340 |
| 1996-97 | 477
| £36,172,654 |
| 1997-98 | 376
| £38,060,516 |
| 1998-99 | 343
| £39,003,626 |
| 1999-2000 | 270
| £36,017,043 |
| 2000-01 | 232
| £31,904,169 |
| 2001-02 | 211
| £28,973,501 |
| 2002-03 | 247
| £31,219,258 |
| 2003 so far | 146
| £17,578,877 |
|
| Total | 2,566
| £273,572,984 |
|
Table 2
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FUND FUNDING TO COALFIELDS AREAS—NOVEMBER
2003
|
| All Areas
| Coalfields Areas
| Non-Coalfields Areas
|
| Total
funding
| Total
population
| Funding
per head
| Coalfield
funding
| Coalfields
population
| Funding
per head
| Non-coalfield
funding
| Non-coalfields
population
| Funding
per head
|
|
| England | 1,543,017,923
| 49,138,831 | £31.40
| 248,326,296 | 7,445,175
| £33.35 | 1,294,691,627
| 41,693,656 | £31.05
|
| Scotland | 242,128,884
| 5,062,011 | £47.83
| 71,746,059 | 1,962,032
| £36.57 | 170,382,825
| 3,099,979 | £54.96
|
| Wales | 112,018,483
| 2,903,085 | £38.59
| 62,053,523 | 1,681,139
| £36.91 | 49,964,960
| 1,221,946 | £40.89
|
|
| Totals | 1,897,165,290
| 57,103,927 | £33.22
| 382,125,878 | 11,088,346
| £34.46 | 1,515,039,412
| 46,015,581 | £32.92
|
|
|
