asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will specify the criteria under which and the purposes for which grants as project aid to voluntary bodies are made by the Voluntary Services Unit.

Most of the Voluntary Services Unit's grants are made to national organisations whose work spans the interests of several different Government Departments or falls outside the responsibility of any individual Department. Grants may be made to individual projects if they are considered to be innovatory and of national significance. The puposes for which grants are made vary widely, but in all cases the VSU must be satisfied that the work concerned is of high social priority and that adequate arrangements have been made for it to be carried out.