XN000022-1972-03-29 — Page 20

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Wednesday, March 29, 1972

Explaining the different bases upon which subventions were made, the

were made either in the form

Financial Secretary said recurrent subventions

of a deficiency grant; or in the form of a discretionary grant.

A deficiency grant is a subvention designed to meet the difference

between a subvented organisation's approved expenditure for a programme

of activities approved by Government and its income from other sources.

These grants are normally made available to organisations providing necessary

services that Government does not itself provide, or does not provide in

full, for historical, accidental and other reasons.

Discretionary Grant

A discretionary grant, on the other hand, is a lump sum grant designed

to assist towards activities which Government considers to be no more than

desirable and worthy of support. Organisations receiving discretionary grants

are independent bodies over whose operations Government exercises little or

no control and, unlike deficiency grant organisations, these agencies do

not have to refund unspent balances in their subventions.

The Financial Secretary said nearly all subvented voluntary welfare

organisations are assisted on the discretionary grant basis.

"The reason for this is that Government's policy for many years has

been that voluntary welfare organisations are, with some special exceptions,

not the agencies of Government unlike aided schools and large medical

organisations," Mr. Haddon-Cave said.

By

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