§ Mr. CongdonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total amount she expects to award in grants to voluntary organisations in 1994–95 under the section 64 general scheme; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. BowisWe expect to make grants totalling £19,525 million, an increase of £765,000 over the corresponding figure for 1993–94. This increase, despite current financial pressures, underlines the Government's commitment to the212W important role of the voluntary sector. It represents a rise of £1.675 million—or well above 9 per cent. between 1992–93 and 1994–95.
General scheme grants go to voluntary organisations working with a wide range of people and coinciding with involving the policy responsibilities of several Department of Health Ministers. These include children, elderly people, carers, and people from ethnic minorities, as well as those having to cope with mental illness, physical disabilities, learning difficulties, or the effects of HIV/AIDS or of the misuse of alcohol or drugs.
To provide some stability in funding and to help voluntary organisations to plan ahead, most departmental grants are for three years. So for many, 1994–95 will be the second or third year of their grant. Others will be having their grant renewed for a further term. But there will be new grants, too.
We are determined to provide room for core and project grants for organisations which have not previously benefited from departmental funding. Among the new grants beginning in April will be £15,000 a year to Changing Faces, a project at Frenchay hospital, Bristol, concerned with remedying facial disfigurement; a core grant of £15,000 a year to invalid children aid network; and a core grant of £25,000 a year to action on elder abuse.