The professional services network PwC has been awarded a contract worth almost £1m to provide administrative support to a £16m government fund.
According to the government’s Contracts Finder website, the company will provide “grant admin services” in the running of the Youth Covid-19 Support Fund.
The £950,000 contract, which was awarded last month, runs until the end of June.
The grants are aimed at reducing the risk of insolvency and a reduction in provision of organisations that would ordinarily continue to be financially viable, but have been affected by short-term challenges due to Covid-19.
In June 2020 PwC was also awarded a £1.4m contract “to provide strategic consultancy support” to the government’s £750m emergency coronavirus support package, which was being administered by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Delays in handing out emergency support drew criticism from many in the sector, including Andrew Purkis, a former member of the Charity Commission board, who questioned why the PwC was involved in the distribution of the grants when the NLCF already had the relevant expertise.
A spokesman for PwC said: “We’ve made the breadth of our capabilities and skills available to support the critical work of the public sector at a time of national crisis.
“Our people are proud of the positive contribution their work has made to tackling challenges created by the pandemic.”
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport did not respond to a request for comment.