Between 1997 and 2001, total public funding to the charitable sector increased from £5.5 billion to £7.5 billion, and it increased to over £10 billion in 2003-04, the latest year for which figures are available. For central Government, there has been a 96 per cent. real terms increase in funding since 1997.
I welcome that response. Does my hon. Friend agree that the £80 million announced in this year’s Budget for small grants to community organisations is of particular importance to groups such as the Tame Valley Green committee in Dukinfield and the Friends of Reddish Baths, who will be able to continue to fight for improvements to their facilities locally, giving them a sense of ownership once those improvements are achieved?
I agree with my hon. Friend. In the consultations that we have been doing with small voluntary sector organisations around the country, one of the biggest things that has come through is the need to have small amounts of money, which the smallest community groups can access to allow them to undertake one-off events and create a series of activities in constituencies around the country. I am extremely pleased that the Chancellor was able to announce an £80 million fund in the Budget and I hope that the organisations that my hon. Friend mentioned will be able to take advantage of that.
A number of years ago, the Treasury set up the Goodison review to try to encourage more funding to be given to good causes. There were a number of excellent recommendations, but none of them has been implemented. Can the Minister tell us when some of the Goodison review recommendations will be implemented?
I vaguely recall the Goodison review and will endeavour to investigate the matter further and write to the hon. Gentleman about it.
For small community organisations in my constituency, access to grants for capital projects and other activities is very important. However, they are often put off by the complexity of applying for grants. Will my hon. Friend assure me that for the new funding that he has announced, the application process will be as straightforward as possible? May I invite him to visit my constituency to see the very good work being done by community organisations?
I certainly accept my hon. Friend’s offer to visit her constituency. She is completely right that the micro-grants scheme needs to be made to work as simply as possible. We are talking about small amounts of money that organisations will apply for, so there should be as little bureaucracy as possible, as too much bureaucracy puts off small organisations that rely on volunteers for their work. We will endeavour to achieve that.