asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what length of period it is considered that local projects funded by the Voluntary Services Unit should run before valid conclusions are drawn about their national significance.
Each project is different, but a three-year period would normally be considered sufficient to provide conclusions of use to others with similar interests.
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the local projects that have been grant aided by the Voluntary Services Unit in the current financial year, stating how much each project received.
The amounts allocated to organisations or projects engaging in non-national activities are as follows:
| £ | |
| Westminster Pastoral Foundation | 26,000 |
| Check Rights Centre | 2,400 |
| Outset | 14,050 |
| NACRO Hammersmith project | 47,000 |
| The Cresset | 30,000 |
| Elfrida Rathbone, Liverpool | 9,000 |
| Wandsworth Council for Community Relations | 4,000 |
| Community Transport | 20,300 |
| Brixton Neighbourhood Community Association | 24,500 |
| Melting Pot | 24,000 |
| Handicapped Adventure Playground Association | 7,000 |
| Family First | 5,000 |
| Onward Industries | 37,000 |
| Newham Community Renewal | 21,000 |
| Scoutreach (Nottingham) | 3,500 |
| Lambeth Community Trust | 50,000 |
| Swindon Viewpoint | 3,750 |
| LCSS Community Work Service | 29,575 |
| Family Day Centres Project | 99,707 |
| South Wales Anti Poverty Committee | 35,950 |
| Gulbenkian Area Resource Centre | 35,000 |
| Metropolitan County Councils of Voluntary Service | 46,600 |
| Girls Alone in London Service | 10,000 |
| West End Co-ordinated Voluntary Services | 56,200 |
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money during the current financial year the Voluntary Services Unit have committed to organisations with national activities, giving a breakdown for each project.
The amounts committed for this financial year are as follows:
| £ | |
| Women's Royal Voluntary Service | 2,190,000 |
| Young Volunteer Force Foundation | 323,205 |
| National Council of Social Service | 243,000 |
| Volunteer Centre | 182,000 |
| Community Service Volunteers | 155,000 |
| Pre-Retirement Association | 11,000 |
| National Youth Bureau—Voluntary Opportunities Digest | 2,100 |
| Cruse Clubs Limited | 23,000 |
| Child Poverty Action Group | 10,000 |
| Young Volunteer Resource Module | 24,000 |
| Romany Guild | 2,187 |
| British Council for Aid to Refugees | 45,000 |
| Fair Play for Children Campaign | 26,000 |
| SHAC | 21,250 |
| Albany Trust | 12,000 |
| National Playing Fields Association | 42,750 |
| Action Resource Centre | 10,000 |
| Release | 21,000 |
| Gingerbread | 17,400 |
| Contact | 8,500 |
| British Association of Settlements | 15,500 |
| BAS Adult Literacy Organiser | 11,200 |
| After Six Housing Advisory Trust | 12,000 |
| National Association of Widows | 4,300 |
| National Association of Community Relations Councils | 6,000 |
| Central Council for the Disabled | 9,000 |
| British Council of Churches | 10,800 |
| National Association of Indian Youth | 12,000 |
| Runnymede Trust | 14,000 |
| National Association of Youth Clubs | 30,000 |
| Advisory Committee for the Education of Romany and other Travellers | 5,500 |
| After Six Leaflet | 50 |
| Task Force | 22,055 |
| Board of Social Responsibility | 4,000 |
| Returned Volunteer Action | 6,250 |
| Welsh Council of Social Service | 2,702 |
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total amount of funds available from the Voluntary Services Unit during the period 1976–77; and what proportion of these funds is for national and local projects.
The total sum available to the Voluntary Services Unit for 1976–77 is £4,592,000. Although this is intended primarily to help national organisations, no specific proportion is allocated either to national or to local work.
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are employed by the Voluntary Services Unit, other than that projects should be innovatory and a venture into a previously untried field, when decisions are taken concerning the funding of local projects.
As with all VSU funding, the work concerned must span the interests of several Government Departments or fall within the responsibility of none of them. Where this is the case, each application is judged on its merits after consultation with other interested departments and, where appropriate, the relevant local authority.