Big Lottery Fund strategic review

The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is embarking on a strategic review that will underpin its direction and priorities for the next three to six years.

BIG will consult with the sector over the next four to five months and publish its conclusions around the beginning of next year, with the strategic plan will kick in from the end of March 2015. It will last until 2021 with a review in 2018.

The review is separate from the triennial review just conducted by the government into BIG’s functions, form, effectiveness, efficiency and governance. The government is currently analysing the feedback to this consultation and will publish its report soon.

The consultation will begin with a series of roundtable meetings and a digital platform will be built incorporating software that will help to analyse responses.

The review will explore how the funder could better connect its two types of grant-making, its responsive, demand-led grants programmes including Reaching Communities and Awards for All, and its strategic, programmatic funding where BIG identifies issues and attempts to tackle them.

During 2012/13, BIG awarded funding totalling £778millon.  92 percent of this went to the VCS, well above the 80 percent self-imposed minimum threshold. 

BIG distributes 40 percent of lottery money, with the remaining 60 percent divided equally between arts, sports and heritage.