The National Council of Voluntary Organisations has contacted the Cabinet Office minister to express concern that the proposed new policy guidelines for the Big Lottery Fund could leave charities out in the cold.

Chief executive of the NCVO Sir Stuart Etherington has written to Francis Maude alongside the consultation into the proposed new Big Lottery Fund policy directions, arguing that the 400-word limit on contributions to the consultation does not allow enough space to highlight all the issues involved.

In his letter, Sir Stuart highlighted a number of concerns with the proposed policy guidelines around to which types of organisations BIG money will be distributed under the new system.

The proposal that BIG should fund “a reasonably wide spread of projects, primarily those delivered by the voluntary and community sector and social enterprises” has Sir Stuart worried.

While welcoming the emphasis on social enterprise, “the use of the word ‘primarily’ in the guidance leaves room for uncertainty,” he wrote to the minister.

He also identified the section which outlines a goal to strengthen and increase the capacity of the social investment market as a concern. Sir Stuart writes that the money should be used to boost the market, not fund it. “The guidance must ensure that Lottery funds are the catalyst for innovative social investment and not the capital of the social investment market,” he writes.

Among other things, the proposed new structure of BIG will see the funder move from being the responsibility of the Cabinet Office to reporting to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Cabinet Office opened the consultation into BIG earlier this year, and the deadline for responses is this Friday, 18 November.