LDA's communication with cultural organisations could be better

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Apr 2007

Some voluntary and cultural organisations across London may be missing out on their share of millions of pounds worth of funding from the London Development Agency (LDA) because the availability of grants is not communicated effectively enough.

Manny Lewis, Chief Executive of the London Development Agency (LDA) today admitted that communicating with the diverse range of organisations that are eligible to apply for funding for cultural projects is challenging - and appealed for ideas as to how to improve the situation.

Mr Lewis told the London Assembly Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee that the LDA publicises available funding on its website and keeps a register of interested groups. However he added that "hard to reach groups are hard to reach", and the LDA had "done everything it can".

Mr Lewis was called to appear before the Committee to answer questions about the £70 million worth of grants to cultural projects the LDA has made since 2001, including how grants are made, how grant applications are evaluated, and how the effectiveness of projects is assessed.

Committee Chair, Dee Doocey expressed her disappointment with the LDA's attempts to publicise the grant funding available, saying:

"There is no doubt that communicating with diverse communities is challenging, but for the LDA to say 'we've done all we can' is completely unacceptable and means that Londoners are missing out on the opportunities these unfunded projects have the potential to create."