The Veterans Challenge Fund was established on 1 April 2003. Since then it has provided funding to prime projects that support the three pillars of the Veterans Programme (Transition, Support, and Recognition) that are identified in the Veterans Strategy.
Initially a budget of £2 million was set aside to cover a three-year period (2003-06). However, on 28 October 2005, Official Report, column 19WS, we announced the extension of the Veterans Challenge Fund past its initial three-year period with an annual allocation of up to £750,000.
Administration of the Veterans Challenge Fund with the MOD is an internal departmental cost with the duties being part of wider responsibilities. These costs are not taken from the budget for the fund.
The following table provides information on expenditure relating to Veterans Challenge Fund grants for each year since 2003.
Expenditure on grants1 (£) 2003-04 42,000 2004-05 190,000 2005-06 476,000 2006-07 606,000 2007-08 431,000 2008-09 661,000 Total 2,046,000 1 Figures have been rounded to nearest thousand.
The information is not held in the format requested.
Since its launch in July 2003 the Veterans Challenge Fund has provided funding to a total of 98 projects in a number of areas including homelessness, prison in-reach and research into suicide among veterans. Projects that have benefited from our contributions have gone to make a significant difference to the veterans community.
The following table provides information relating to the number of projects undertaken for each year.
Number of projects 2003-04 24 2004-05 13 2005-06 29 2006-07 17 2007-08 11 2008-09 4 Total 98
Costs relating to a specific project may span a financial year and may be complex through their reliance on a number of other funding factors reaching maturity at the same time. Determining the amounts for each project would require a manual search of records and incur disproportionate cost.