Investigation into grants from the Big Lottery Fund and the Cabinet Office to the Big Society Network and the Society Network Foundation

22 Jul 2014 11:40 AM

Full report: Investigation into grants from the Big Lottery Fund and the Cabinet Office to the Big Society Network and the Society Network Foundation

The National Audit Office has published an investigation of two grants awarded by the Big Lottery Fund and one awarded by the Cabinet Office to three related organizations.

The investigation is in response to questions raised by Gareth Thomas MP, the former shadow Minister for Civil Society.

These grants were:

The Big Lottery Fund’s grant of £830,000 in February 2011 to the Big Society Network for the Your Square Mile project.
The Big Lottery Fund’s grant of £997,960 in April 2013 to the Society Network Foundation for theBritain’s Personal Best project.
The Cabinet Office’s grant of £299,800 in April 2012 to the Society Network Foundation for the Get Inproject.

This investigation focused on whether the Big Lottery Fund and the Cabinet Office followed their own procedures in soliciting and assessing the initial bid applications, monitoring project progress and making payments to the projects.

July 2014

Notes for Editors

Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website, which is atwww.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained by using the relevant links on our website.
The National Audit Office scrutinises public spending for Parliament and is independent of government. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Amyas Morse, is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO, which employs some 820 employees. The C&AG certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other public sector bodies. He has statutory authority to examine and report to Parliament on whether departments and the bodies they fund have used their resources efficiently, effectively, and with economy. Our studies evaluate the value for money of public spending, nationally and locally. Our recommendations and reports on good practice help government improve public services, and our work led to audited savings of £1.1 billion in 2013.