The Cabinet Office has launched a digital service for organisations to apply for government grants.
It has indicated that Find a Grant could save up to £270 million over the next two years for government through efficiencies and preventing fraud.
Four departments – Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Culture, Media and Sport, Business and Trade and the Ministry of Justice – have run pilots of the service, which automates and standardises processes and is said to help organisations quickly find the grants they need. The pilots are reported to have reduced the time spent by officials on managing the process by 72%, saved applicants 34% of their time, and produced a 17% increase in customer satisfaction.
Currently most departments that provide grant funding have their own services, but it will be mandatory for them to use the new service to advertise grants.
The Cabinet Office said it will soon ensure that all eligible grants are advertised in one place, and will offer the devolved administrations and local authorities the option of using the service.
Each year government awards over £50 billion in general grant funding for a wide range of purposes. So far over 200 schemes worth over £5.3 billion have been advertised on Find a Grant and accessed by 93,000 people.
Saving time and money
Alex Burghart MP, parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office, said: “This great new service will help organisations find the grants they need at speed - saving everyone time and money.
“That will allow us to focus more money and resources on things that matter to people’s lives, families and communities.
“This will increase accessibility and fairness, making sure that different regions of the UK get their fair share.”
