Karl Wilding, CEO of the NCVO, has said the Governments process for allocating the £750m of government support is 'bedevilled by delay and a lack of transparency'

Chief Exec of the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) has warned that the speed at which emergency funding is being provided to the sector during the COVID-19 crisis isn’t “good enough”.

In a recent blog post discussing the issue Karl Wilding stated he had “increasing concerns” at the pace the Governments £750m of aid, announced on the 08th April, was being made available to the organisations that desperately needed it.

He continued that the entire process was “bedevilled by delay and a lack of transparency” and needed urgent scrutiny.

Of the £750m package, it remains unclear how roughly half of the £160m allocated for distribution via central government departments is to be spent. I know that some charities in some areas have been asked by departments to bid for funding, while their counterparts have heard nothing. This does nothing for confidence in how decisions are being made. The process needs to be simple and open.

Reassurances that funding will be made available soon are starting to wear thin. I have told the government and the NLCF that this pace isn’t good enough.

Karl Wilding – CEO, NCVO

Wilding is now calling for Government Ministers to set out exactly how the £160m in departmental funding had been allocated, along with how it planned to allocate the remaining funding.

The government should also set out the process and criteria each department will use to allocate the funding, said Wilding, and this should include an explanation of how they are taking equality considerations into account.

He also called for “immediate clarity” on how the £370m of funds being handled by the NLCF would be made available.