The £500,000 allocated by the Cabinet Office to Big Society Network and Society Network Foundation since April last year was for the Big Society Awards, Nick Hurd has confirmed.
The minister for civil society provided the information in response to a Parliamentary question from his shadow, Gareth Thomas MP. Thomas has previously accused the government of wasting money on “Big Society vanity projects”, and has been tabling a series of questions to determine the extent of the government’s support for Big Society Network.
Today he said: "The Big Society Network appears to be the coalition's favourite 'charity', able to access public money more easily than most and not subject to the same level of competition or scrutiny.
“At a time when many charities are struggling to survive it is surprising that so much public money has gone to this one organisation, albeit one with considerable Conservative Party links.”
Hurd had already admitted in response to an earlier question by Thomas, that the Cabinet Office had funded Big Society Network to the tune of £350,000 in the financial year 2012/13 and given its “charitable arm” Society Network Foundation £150,000 for 2013/14.
But Hurd did not state what the money was for, and when civilsociety.co.uk asked the Cabinet Office and Big Society Network, both refused to say.
£500,000 to support Big Society Awards
Then today, in a response to a question from Thomas about funding and delivery of the Big Society Awards, Hurd said:
“In 2010/11 and 2011/12 the Big Society Awards were delivered in-house by Cabinet Office staff. In addition to staff costs, the Cabinet Office allocated £2,014 to delivering the awards in 2010/11 and £8,700 in 2011/12. In addition, the Young Foundation hosted a reception for the awards in 2011/12.
“In 2012/13, £3,643 was allocated to spend internally on the awards, in addition to staff costs. In addition £350,000 was allocated to Big Society Network to support the Cabinet Office on the awards.
“Big Society Network was asked to design and develop the website www.bigsocietyawards.org to raise the profile of the awards and to increase the number of awards announced, as well as to promote social action more widely and to support and accelerate social entrepreneurs and social innovators to deliver Big Society solutions.”
For the financial year just begun, a further £152,145 is to be spent on the Big Society Awards, and £150,000 of that will be allocated to Society Network Foundation, Hurd said, supplementing £2,145 of internal staff costs.
The Big Society Awards were set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in November 2010 to recognise people and groups doing great work in their communities. Some 75 organisations have received an award to date.
Winners attend a reception at No.10 Downing Street and receive a plaque and signed certificate from the Prime Minister. Winning organisations also appear on the No. 10 website, and press releases are sent to the winner’s local and regional press.
Two Social Action Fund recipients benefitted from expanded criteria
Thomas also tabled a question asking how many organisations benefited from the Cabinet Office’s decision to widen the criteria for the Social Action Fund, a decision which was not publicised and enabled Society Network Foundation/Big Society Network to win nearly £200,000 from the Fund, ahead of more than 1,400 other applicants.
Hurd replied that two organisations won Social Action Fund grants as a result of the expanded criteria – Big Society Network and City Year, the youth volunteering charity (pictured at 10 Downing Street).
Last month, City Year also won a Big Society Award.
Big Society Network and Society Network Foundation have received or been awarded more than £3m of statutory and National Lottery funding since they launched in early 2010. None of this funding has yet appeared in any published accounts. Society Network Foundation has only ever filed dormant accounts and BSN’s latest balance sheet shows a deficit of £180,000.
Responses to further questions from Thomas showed that no funding has been awarded to Big Society Network or Society Network Foundation from the Departments of Health, Business, Innovation and Skills, Communities and Local Government, or Education.
Cabinet Office: We are rigorous in selecting grantees
Invited to respond to Thomas' comments, a Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The Cabinet Office works with a number of charities and intermediaries to ensure meaningful funding reaches frontline organisations in the voluntary sector for maximum community value.
"We are rigorous in selecting the partners that will help us build a stronger economy and fairer society through their work in communities. On an ongoing basis, we review and assess all our partners to ensure funds are having the greatest possible impact.”
