Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing national funding for charities.

This Government recognises the vital role that charities play up and down the country, including in Sheffield, by providing crucial support to different groups and communities. This Government is committed to resetting the relationship with civil society and treating them as an equal, expert partner who are integral to delivery of the Government’s vision for national renewal.

DCMS is currently supporting charities in several ways. This includes delivery of a number of grant schemes, such as the £25.5m VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is supporting frontline organisations across England to improve their sustainability. This scheme is part of a wider £101.5 million package to support organisations struggling with cost of living pressures, along with the £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund; a full list of recipients of that Fund is available online, with recipients from Sheffield listed under Yorkshire and the Humber.

DCMS is supporting voluntary youth services in the Sheffield Central area through the Million Hours and Youth Investment fund. The Million Hours Fund is investing £22 million into youth organisations up to March 2026, to deliver more than a million extra hours of youth work in areas across England where young people may be at risk of anti-social behaviour. The Youth Investment Fund enables local, not for profit youth providers to invest in capital projects that expand the reach, number and range of services they currently offer. A list of recipients of this funding is available online for phase one and phase two, with a range of recipients based in Sheffield.

DCMS is also supporting organisations with other forms of funding, including through growing the social investment market (which provides access to grants, repayable finance and a blend of the two) and providing advice on competing for public sector contracts through the £900,000 Contract Readiness Fund.