§ LORD MOLSONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what payments were made in the year 1972 out of the £3½ million promised by the Prime Minister on December 8, 1971, to help the voluntary bodies to operate more effectively; to what voluntary bodies and for what purposes and through what channel they were made; and what plans have been made for payments in 1973.
THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSS)My Lords, the sum referred to by the noble Lord has been apportioned among the Government Departments concerned, which decide how their share is distributed. The assistance given is not limited to any particular type of activity, and I think that the best way in which I can help the noble Lord is to circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the provision made in 1972–73 and proposed in 1973–74. The intention is that the full £3½ million will be disbursed by 1975–76. There then follows an extremely long and detailed list of sums of money, the Departments concerned, and the purposes for which the money has been granted, and I hope that I may circulate that in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ LORD MOLSONMy Lords, I should like to thank my noble friend for the full Answer which will be forthcoming when we obtain the OFFICIAL REPORT. It is most important that we should have these particulars. Does my noble friend realise that I did not quite expect a 1140 Home Office Minister to be replying, but had thought that it would be a Minister for the Environment. It is because of this slight complication in the distribution of funds as allocated between the Home Office and the Department of the Environment that I shall read the full report with great interest, and perhaps ask a subsequent Question in order to obtain further elucidation.
VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSSMy Lords, I am glad to be able to clear up at least one point. Although the Home Office are now the co-ordinating authority, they are not a major grant-giving authority. Apart from ourselves, grants are made by a number of other Departments—the Department of Health and Social Security, the Department of Education and Science, the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office, and of course the Department of the Environment. All this will appear in the list to be published. It is a widescale operation.
§ LORD MOLSONMy Lords, I hope the Government realise that when the full Answer is available we may want to raise this matter again and obtain further elucidation.
§ LORD WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, with regard to the last part of the noble Lords Question which reads,
and what plans have been made for payments in 1973",would I be right in assuming that many of the grants made in 1972 would have been for a period of three years and therefore will be repeated?
VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSSMy Lords, the Departments concerned make their own arrangements with the bodies to receive the grants. I do not know what arrangements they have made, but it looks to me as though there are recurrent payments in some cases and increased payments in the coming year in others. I think that would have to be dealt with in detail by asking the Departments concerned.
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that one effective channel through which the Government could help voluntary bodies would be to review the arrangements of V.A.T. as it affects them?
| Payments made in 1972–73 £ | Estimated amounts for allocation in 1973–74 £ | |
| GRANTS THROUGH THE URBAN PROGRAMME TO VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS' PROJECTS IN AREAS OF SPECIAL NEED | 180,000 | 219,000 |
| GRANTS FROM THE HOME OFFICE FOR NEW CENTRAL SERVICES | 13,275 | 65,000 |
| Grants made to: Volunteer Centre; National Council of Social Service for volunteer bureaux organiser and officer to advise charities on taxation problems. | ||
| INCLUDED IN GRANT FROM THE HOME OFFICE TO THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| GRANTS FROM THE HOME OFFICE TO MARRIAGE GUIDANCE ORGANISATIONS IN ENGLAND AND WALES FOR ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| Grants made to: National Marriage Guidance Council; Family Welfare Association; Catholic Marriage Advisory Council; Jewish Marriage Education Council; Institute of Marital Studies. | ||
| GRANTS FROM THE HOME OFFICE TO PRISON AND BORSTAL AFTER-CARE ORGANISATIONS IN ENGLAND AND WALES | 100,500 | 135,500 |
| Grants made to: The Church Army for hostel running expenses; The Salvation Army for hostel running expenses; The Dashiki Project for hostel running expenses; Cambridge Cyrenians Ltd. for hostel running expenses; Langley House Trust for workshops at Norwich and House of St. Martin; Royal London Aid Society for epileptics hostel; Margery Fry Memorial Fund, Stoke Prior; Bath Advice and Care Unit; Bristol after-care and support effort; Catholic Fund for Homeless and Destitute Men for vehicle; The North West Trust for administrative expenses; Surrey Community Development Trust for publicity; Winson Green Wives and Families Centre; Wives and Families Centres, Brixton and Pentonville; Dartmoor Overnight Stay Project; Surrey Community Development Trust for advice centre at Farnham; National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders for documentary film. | ||
| GRANTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT TO VOLUNTARY BODIES CONCERNED WITH IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT | 16,000 | 36,000 |
| Grant made to: British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. | ||
| GRANTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE TO ORGANISATIONS PROVIDING VOLUNTARY SERVICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE | 18,000 | 25,000 |
| Grants made to: Community Service Volunteers for headquarters expenses; Young Volunteer Force Foundation, increased general grant. | ||
| GRANTS FROM THE WELSH OFFICE TO THE COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE FOR WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE TO FURTHER VOLUNTARY EFFORT IN WALES. | Nil | 18,000 |
| GRANTS FROM SCOTTISH OFFICE TO VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICE (INCLUDING URBAN PROGRAMME) IN SCOTLAND | 18,000 | 80,000 |
| Grants made to: Enterprise Youth; The Conservation Corps Community Service Volunteers; Regional Hospital Boards for allocation for voluntary service in hospitals. | ||
| TOTALS | 395,775 | 628,000 |