Will the Minister provide a full breakdown for the cost of the democratic engagement grant since its inception and its anticipated future costs over the next decade?
The Democratic Engagement Grant has set aside £300,000 per year, across 3 years (2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25), for a total of £900,000.
2022-23: Due to the time constraints – the grant was launched in January 2022 - only one bid was successful. The total expenditure was £19,891.
2023-24: There were 16 successful applications and £298,622.38 was awarded to organisations in 2023-24 financial year. As of 13 November 2023, a total of £69,195.06 had been released to organisations delivering projects funded by the grant.
2024-25: Four multi-year projects will be funded through the Democratic Engagement Grant in 2024-25. A total of £168,213.43 has been committed to date, leaving £131,786.57 available for new projects.
We are anticipating opening the application window for 2024-25 funding proposals in December 2023. More information about the grant, including the guidance for organisations, application forms and timelines for future application windows can be found here.