asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations the Department of Health's Voluntary and Community Sector Partnership Team have received from the chair of the National Information Forum on Section 64 core funding; and whether the partnership team is now in consultation with the forum about the misunderstanding implicit in their statement that its application appeared “not to be cross-cutting and focused on a specific client group”.[HL752]

We have received a single representation from the National Information Forum appealing the department's rejection of its Section 64 grant application. Under the rules of the Section 64 grant scheme, we are unable to consider individual appeals and have invited the forum to apply again to future grant programmes.

We are responding directly to the National Information Forum to offer it detailed feedback on the reasons for our decision.