Aerial view of cyclist crossing baitings dam

How grant administrators can get the best outcome from their funds

In this second episode of the Granting the Future podcast, Michael Cooper, UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, discusses how to achieve maximum impact in a complex granting environment. 

Successful grants programs demand a relentless focus on outcomes. Grants administrators require evidence-based eligibility and swift reporting of results. Grant recipients, on the other hand, want to enjoy a smooth customer journey, where it’s easy to apply and where they’re paid promptly and accurately.

In the second episode of the series, host Tim Smith talks outcomes with Michael Cooper, Senior Civil Servant and Head of Defra’s (UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Group Grants Hub, and Matt Wilson, EY EMEIA Grants and Relief Funds Management Leader.

With over 120 grants schemes and highly complex policy objectives, Defra is determined to achieve a positive impact and give the UK taxpayer value for money, by allocating funds efficiently and tracking their performance.

Defra is looking to leverage exciting areas of innovation to increase the coverage and responsiveness of monitoring controls, and enable holistic data-led decision-making, while ensuring customer experience remains at the heart of their grant making approach.

The podcast is also available to listen to on SpotifyApple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Podbean.

Key takeaways: 

  • A central grants hub can rapidly drive benefits in large-scale departments, through driving consistency across a diverse set of grant programs, producing central management information and conducting Second Line of Defense assurance.
  • Innovative remote monitoring techniques can increase the coverage of controls and reduce the feedback loop, while improving customer experience.
  • A single source of the truth database is essential to making insight-led decisions that will maximize grant outcomes. 

For your convenience, full text transcript of this podcast is also available. Read the transcript.

Presenters

Matt Wilson
EY EMEIA Grants and Relief Funds Management Leader
Photographic portrait of Tim Smith
Tim Smith
Host and presenter BBC Radio and UK Commercial Radio

Podcast

Episode 2

Duration 14m 55s

In this series

Series overview
(Event List - Manual)

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In this fourth episode Andrea Sampanis, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, shares how to harness technology to improve access to grant funding and measure impact.
Podcast

Episode 4

Duration
19m 02s

Presenters

Amy Fenstermacher

EY Americas Grant and Relief Funds Management Leader

How grants can deliver impact in complex and changing environments

In this third episode of the Granting the Future podcast, the UN’s Pradeep Kurukulasuriya discusses how to manage nearly US$5 billion worth of complex grant programs to achieve maximum impact.
Podcast

Episode 3

Duration
16m 15s

Presenters

Maryam Hussain

EY Global Fraud & Corruption Investigator

Simon Inglis

Partner, Managed Services, Ernst & Young LLP

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In this first episode of the Granting the Future podcast, Steve Fussell, previously Chief Administrator at Seminole County Government in Florida, discusses the challenge of reaching those most in need.
Podcast

Episode 1

Duration
14m 58s

Presenters

Amy Fenstermacher

EY Americas Grant and Relief Funds Management Leader