We are committed to providing high-quality customer service. As custodians of money raised by National Lottery players and other public money, we will always take your concerns seriously and we have processes to ensure that they can be investigated. 

This guidance explains how to raise a concern about projects that we have funded.  

What can we consider through this process?

You can raise a concern about: 

• a current application for funding 
• a project funded by us  
• fraud, bribery and corruption 

However, please note: 

• If you are raising a concern about an application for funding, we will review the information that you provide. If we consider that the information you have provided is relevant to our decision, we will consider it within the assessment process.
• We cannot comment on planning permission matters. You should raise these directly with the relevant planning authority and organisation concerned.
• We cannot become involved in any personal disagreement you may have with a particular grant recipient. If your concern is a personal disagreement you should raise with the organisation concerned in line with their processes.
• If you are raising a concern about a project that we have funded, we will consider the information that you provide and take steps to address this with the grant recipient if we consider there has been a breach of the terms and conditions of our grant.
• While we can take action to investigate breaches of a funding agreement, we cannot enforce the law. If your concern involves an alleged breach of the law, you should consider raising the matter with the relevant regulatory body or, in criminal matters, the police.
• We can consider fraud, bribery and corruption allegations if they refer to a project funded by us or a current application for funding. Perpetrators will be reported to the police.

How to raise a concern

If you wish to raise a concern, please contact the Customer Services team by: 

Email: enquire@heritagefund.org.uk

Phone: 020 7591 6044

If you have a hearing or speech impairment you can contact us through Relay UK using your text phone or Relay UK app. Please insert 18001 plus 020 7591 6044.

We are committed to being open and accessible and want to make sure that our services are accessible to all. If you experience or anticipate any barriers to raising a concern, please contact our Customer Services team.
The Heritage Fund is committed to providing a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all colleagues. Treating others with respect underpins all our work. 

We do not expect any colleagues to ever tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment or bullying from our applicants, grantees and members of the public. Our Managing Unacceptable Behaviour from Customers policy sets out how we deal with this behaviour consistently and fairly. 

Responding to your concerns

We will acknowledge receipt of your concern and aim to provide a full response within 10 working days. We will let you know if we require more time to review your concern and provide you with a revised timeline.  

Please note, we do not make information about our investigative procedures public as doing so might allow organisations to circumvent our checks and jeopardise our ability to protect public funding. Therefore, we might only be able to give you limited information about the progress or outcome of any investigation that we conduct. 
There is no right to review our response under this procedure.

Right to confidentiality

As part of a review of your concern we may need to contact the organisation that we have funded or applied for funding. If we do this, we will respect your anonymity and will honour any specific requests that you make regarding confidentiality. 

Similarly, if you work for the organisation that you are raising a concern about or are a named contact on a grant application to us, and you would like us to keep your details confidential, please advise us of this at the time you tell us your concerns. Your request will be respected. 

If we receive information that suggests people may be at risk, we may need to share this information with the police or other appropriate authorities. In these cases, we would still take steps to preserve your confidentiality.