AQW 12282/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 18/12/2020
Answered On Date: 23/12/2020
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities why the Health and Safety capital grant scheme requires arts organisations, that have not been able to generate income during the pandemic, to purchase all items in advance when they do not have the cash flow; and why there is not an option for direct payment to suppliers imbedded in the grant.

Answer:

The Health & Safety Capital Programme is administered by the Arts Council on behalf of my Department.

The conditions attached to the grant offers are in line with the Arts Council’s established good practice in the distribution of capital equipment grants.

Applicants are made aware in the published guidance notes for the programme that payments will be made retrospectively. Every effort is made to pay organisations promptly as per the conditions in Letters of Offer (within 10 working days of receipt of proof of payment) as it is recognised that timely payment is important to organisations’ cashflows and that delays can cause problems, which we seek to avoid.

The Arts Council’s relationship is with the funded client (the grant recipient), not with any supplier to the grant-aided organisation. It would not be practical for the Arts Council to enter into contractual relationships with suppliers on behalf of clients in order to make direct payments or take responsibility for supplied goods.