Statement on NLCF relief funding announcement
Below is a statement in response to the National Lottery Community Fund’s (NLCF) announcement on 22 May of applications opening for government relief funding. You can read their announcement here.
We welcome the clear public acknowledgement that BAME communities are being disproportionately impacted by the crisis and that funding will prioritise organisations supporting these communities. We are also pleased to see a public commitment to investment in specialist BAME infrastructure in the sector. This infrastructure is vital to a sustainable BAME VCS sector and we look forward to hearing further details.
Yet, although this is a positive first step, there is a lot more work to do. NLCF must build on this urgently by taking further steps in line with the recommendations in our open letter and providing information that will allow for proper accountability and transparency.
We remain deeply concerned that there is a lack of robust monitoring at the application stage to ascertain whether organisations are BAME-led. We have repeatedly outlined the importance of monitoring where funds are going through race equality data - specifically looking at leadership and governance – whether organisations are BAME-led, not just claiming to work with these communities. Without this information it is not clear how NLCF will monitor the successful distribution of their funds across their stated priorities.
There also remains a lack of detail on if and how NLCF is bringing race equality expertise and centring BAME communities at the decision-making table when it comes to the design and distribution of funds, particularly given the existing lack of representation across the organisation at a senior level.
Further, we are concerned about the potential ‘first come first serve’ approach of the fund. In our meetings with NLCF they have outlined that they are concerned about the extent of their reach and trust amongst BAME VCS groups. This approach will put these groups at an undue disadvantage unless funds are ring-fenced in recognition of this.
We call on NLCF to urgently:
Monitor and publicly report on the proportion of applications received and funds allocated to BAME-led organisations
Ringfence 20% of funding for BAME VCS groups, working in partnership with BAME infrastructure bodies as distribution partners
Release details of diversity and race equality expertise of those involved in design and distribution of the fund and share action plans to improve
In the absence of ring-fencing, share with the public what they believe successful equitable distribution of this funding looks like to enable accountability
Move away from a ‘first-come first-serve’ approach until there are ring-fenced funds available for BAME-led groups
