About the Grants Office

The Grants Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network administers the Grant Fund on behalf of the Velocity Interoperability Network. It sets the terms on which grants are offered, assesses applications against published criteria, makes and pays awards, monitors the work those awards fund, and publishes a register of every grant it makes.

Grants are made to member organisations, to research bodies working on the standards and measurement of the Network, to education bodies and to community bodies providing public access to Network services. Provision for the transitional period ending 31 December 2026 is 1.86m credits across six programmes, which open to application between 14 September and 5 October 2026. The terms of each programme are set out on the Programmes page.

The Office was established on 6 September 2026 and took over the awards made under the interim arrangements that preceded it: thirty-seven awards totalling 412,500 credits, all of which are now administered under the conditions of grant published at establishment. They are recorded in the Register of Awards.

Decisions on applications are made by the Director of the Grants Office on the recommendation of the Grants Panel, which considers the assessments of assessors drawn from the member organisations; no assessor takes part in the assessment of an application from their own organisation. The procedure and the periods allowed for each stage are set out on the How to Apply page.

Responsibilities. The Office's work falls into five areas.

Grant programmes

Setting the purpose, award range, provision and closing date of each programme, opening programmes to application and managing the provision set aside for them.

Assessment and award

Issuing application papers, checking eligibility, arranging technical assessment by assessors drawn from the member organisations, and putting applications before the Grants Panel.

Conditions, payment and monitoring

Setting the conditions attached to every award, paying grants against claims, monitoring the work a grant funds and recovering money that is not properly spent.

The register of awards

Entering every award in a public register recording its reference, programme, class of recipient, purpose, amount and date, and publishing the register quarterly.

Statistics and reporting

Publishing quarterly statistics on applications received, awards made, provision committed and money paid, so that the Grant Fund can be scrutinised.

For the Office's origins and the milestones since its establishment, see History; for its reporting on applications, awards and provision, see Statistics. General enquiries may be sent to contact@grants.gov.vin.