16 March 2007
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £3.8bn to 24,000 projects and is a success story, according to the National Audit Office.
In a report published on March 16, the NAO says most projects had been delivered to cost and produced a range of benefits, such as restoring heritage assets and providing new facilities for learning.
But 17% of projects had gone over budget by an average of £293,000, and 6% had received an average of £176,000 of additional grant to meet cost increases.
Auditor general Sir John Bourn said: 'The fund has done valuable work in preserving the UK's heritage and promoting access to it.'
But he added: 'It needs to do more to simplify its procedures to provide better support to applicants and grant recipients.'
Edward Leigh, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, warned against complacency. 'From 2009, the fund will have to deal with its money being cut by a third each year largely as a consequence of funding the Olympic Games. The fund will have to work hard to manage this reduced budget.'
PFmar2007
