Mr. Ivan Cooper:

This year.

We heard yesterday from a children's charity in the south east that its premium increased from €9,000 in 2015 to in excess of €16,000, or almost a fifth of its grant income, this year. This is the key to the issue. According to the email in question:

I received a telephone call from [a person] in our office on Friday afternoon informing me that you had sent on the premium for 2018. My first reaction was that I thought she was joking but when it emerged she was not, my sentiments turned to shock and anger. I have taken the weekend to reflect on this and discuss with my colleagues and directors, and we are all in agreement that this premium is an outrageous amount and cannot be justified in any way. Our board cannot and will not pay this. I have checked back on the premiums since 2015 and it has emerged that these have increased by almost 100% in just four years. The figure in 2015 was €8,900 and they are now seeking €16,300, which amounts to almost 17% of our total grant allocation from the funding authority.