Gareth Jones asks whether the suggestion of a £5m government grant for the Church Urban Fund is a portent of things to come.

It seems to have gone under the radar a little bit, possibly because the news has come from an unverified source, but this story a week or so ago gives an interesting hint at the new government’s funding priorities.

If the Church Urban Fund does receive a £5m government grant (the Department for Communities and Local Government is unwilling to confirm until the spending review), it will mean a massive amount for a charity which normally has an income around the £2.7m mark.

Indeed, it has almost become unusual for church organisations to receive large sums of government money, but CLG’s press office is happy to release a statement from secretary of state Eric Pickles praising the role of faith groups in the community and making a dig at his predecessors.

He says: “Some see religion as a problem that needs to be solved. The new government sees it as part of the solution.

“I want to send an important signal that we value the role of religion and faith in public life. The days of the state trying to suppress Christianity and other faiths are over."

Pretty strong stuff, and it will be interesting to see what level of funding church groups do receive when the spending review is revealed.

Larger slice?

The other interesting aspect is that there does appear to be funding available to back the Big Society initiative.

With the stern rhetoric around cuts, it would be no surprise if any savings from cuts to the likes of Labour’s Preventing Violent Extremism programme are used in order to service the national debt, but it appears there will be new money available to civil society organisations.

Organisations could have been forgiven for a touch of scepticism at Nick Hurd’s pre-election promise that the sector will receive a larger slice of a smaller pie, but could this still be borne out?