Government review says £100,000 grant awarded to Jennifer Arcuri's business was 'appropriate'

A£100,000 grant awarded to a business run by Jennifer Arcuri has been described “appropriate" by a Government review.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) found Hacker House, Ms Arcuri’s company, did not meet “at least one of the requirements” of the grant - including that its value should not exceed half of the company’s annual income.

However, it said it was correct to reduce the amount from the £273,000 Ms Arcuri initially applied for in October 2018.

It also concluded the work which Hacker House proposed was in line with the grant’s objectives.

The government review followed a report in the Sunday Times that Ms Arcuri - who knew Mr Johnson when he was London mayor - joined trade missions he led and received thousands of pounds in sponsorship grants.

The newspaper said it had found the registered address on the grant application form was a rented house in the UK and no longer connected to Ms Arcuri.

The newspaper's report also prompted an investigation by the police watchdog, which is ongoing.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct is deciding whether to investigate the prime minister for a potential criminal offence of misconduct in public office while he was London mayor, between 2008 and 2016, when he also had oversight of the Metropolitan Police.

A separate inquiry by the London Assembly into alleged conflicts of interest has been paused until the watchdog's probe is concluded.

'Due diligence'
The Government Internal Audit Agency review found that Hacker House had not met one of the initial requirements that the amount of funding sought should "not exceed 50% of the lead applicant organisation's annual collective income".

The review also found that criminal record checks had not been carried out.

But because of the low number of applications, these initial requirements were waived.

The review concluded that "the assessment of eligibility and subsequent reduced grant award to Hacker House Ltd was appropriate".

In an accompanying letter to DCMS select committee chairman Damian Collins, Ms Morgan pointed out that the grant decision did not involve ministers, and was made at a time when Mr Johnson was a backbench MP.


"I would like to emphasise again that any notion that the prime minister or his advisers influenced - whether directly or indirectly - any aspect of the due diligence, assessment or award of any grant funding made through the CSIIF (Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund) is simply not true," 

She wrote.

"The grant application in October 2018 and grant decision in February 2019 were, of course, at a time when the current prime minister was neither a member of the government nor the Mayor of London."


On the question of Hacker House's address, Ms Morgan said the company was UK registered, but that this was "not a requirement of the grant".

Source:Telegraph.co.uk 
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