Frequently Asked Questions

Getting to know POLICYfinder

»  What is POLICYfinder?
»  What type of information does it report on?
»  How will POLICYfinder help me keep colleagues and third parties informed?
»  How often is it updated?
»  How can I keep up-to-date with current policy news?
»  How can I find definitions for common/complicated policy terms?
»  Can I use POLICYfinder to keep track of upcoming consultation deadlines?
»  What is the difference between the ‘What’s Hot’ and ‘Bulletin’ features on the homepage?
»  Can I search for local and regional policy?

Membership of POLICYfinder

»  How do I subscribe to POLICYfinder?
»  Will my Account Manager provide me with an awareness session in order for me to learn how to use POLICYfinder?

Searching POLICYfinder

»  What types of searches can I run on POLICYfinder?
»  How do I search each section?
»  How are the search results presented?
»  Is there a detailed description of the policy document?
»  Which order are the search results displayed in?
»  Can I contact the GRANTfinder Help Desk for help with using POLICYfinder?

Getting to know POLICYfinder

POLICYfinder is a new information service from GRANTfinder, which provides a one-stop-shop for policy information from European to local level.

The term 'policy' may be described as a plan or course of action to guide decision-making and achieve an intended outcome/goal. The term applies to organisations and individuals but is invariably associated with Government and official written documents such as White Papers and Bills. POLICYfinder includes a search facility that enables you to search across over two thousand policy documents published by Government and other major funders in the public, private and voluntary and community sectors. The service also includes an online Bulletin section; a ‘What’s Hot’ feature that showcases popular/high-profile policy documents and breaking policy news; a dedicated section for open and closed consultations – and many more useful features!

In addition, POLICYfinder's Glossary of Policy Terms has been created to provide definitions of common words and phrases (accessed via the ‘Glossary’ link on the Policy Menu).

POLICYfinder reports on any policy that may be of interest/use to GRANTfinder clients.

Knowing about policy can help your organisation become more competitive:

• Grant schemes are designed to fit sponsors' policy objectives and programme outcomes, therefore, successful bids are those that are 'policy relevant' (if a project fails to meet the direction of the fund or funder, it will not gain support);
• As an indicator of future trends, policy can help with the planning/financing of future projects and the overall sustainability of an organisation;
• Policy changes are constantly being introduced, revised or withdrawn. POLICYfinder provides a convenient way to keep informed about which policies impact on your project/community.

In addition, consultations can provide an important vehicle for stakeholders to understand, inform and influence the development of local, regional and national policy. They also enable organisations such as local authorities to develop policies and provide services that reflect people’s needs and wishes.

Information on POLICYfinder may be printed off or emailed to other interested parties.

Subscribing to POLICYfinder's email alert service will also enable you to forward policy news emailed to you as a weekly, fortnightly or monthly digest.

POLICYfinder is updated on a daily basis by a dedicated in-house Policy Team within GRANTfinder’s Research Department.

You can register for our email alert service, which allows you to receive current policy news on topics of your choice on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. There is also the option to filter the information you receive according to location and type of policy documents that you are particularly interested in. You can also choose to receive alerts for upcoming consultation deadlines.

To subscribe to the service, follow the link 'Email Alerts' on the Main Menu and complete the registration form. You will then receive a digest of policy news according to the selections you have entered. You can make changes to the selections you have made at any time and can unsubscribe via the 'unsubscribe' option located in the email options box on the registration screen.

For your information, the location filter works as follows:

Selecting England will generate policy news for England, England and Wales, Great Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe.

Selecting Scotland will generate policy news for Scotland, Great Britain, United Kingdom and Europe.

Selecting Wales will generate policy news for Wales, England and Wales, Great Britain, United Kingdom and Europe.

Selecting Northern Ireland will generate information for Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and Europe.

Selecting one of the English regions will generate information for that particular region only.

If no new policy releases matching your options have been added to the database, you will still receive an email alert but it will contain the message: There has been no new policy matching your criteria added to the database.

If you chose to receive Consultation Deadline Reminders, alongside your other selections, the alert will not contain the above statement and you will receive the reminders as normal.

Definitions of common/complicated words and phrases can be found in the Glossary of Policy Terms that can be accessed via the link on the Policy Menu.

Yes, there are three ways in which to do this: via upcoming deadlines posted on the homepage; through clicking on the Current Consultations link on the Policy Menu; or subscribing to POLICYfinder's email alert service via the link on the homepage.

The ‘What’s Hot’ feature tracks announcements on a daily basis and reports on breaking policy news and also high profile/popular policy documents such as the Budget report, or a long-awaited paper or review such as the Leitch Review of Skills.

Information in the ‘Bulletin’ includes all policy news reported during the last 30 days, in line with GRANTfinder’s Interactive Update Bulletin.

You can search for all documents relating to a particular region in England by selecting the appropriate area from the Location drop down box and clicking Apply. This search tab can also be used in conjunction with the other search functions, eg to find policy documents relating to the environment (category) in the South West (location), or to find documents relating to economic development (key word search) in the North East (location).

To search for local policy documents specific to a particular area:

• select the appropriate region from the Location drop down box;
• type in an area (eg Sheffield) into the search box; and
• click Apply.

Membership of POLICYfinder

Access to POLICYfinder is by subscription only. Please call our Sales Team on tel: (01909) 501200 or fill our our contact request form to receive further information on POLICYfinder and full details of available subscription options.

Yes, your Account Manager will show you how to use POLICYfinder as part of your GRANTfinder Awareness Session.

Searching POLICYfinder

POLICYfinder has two sections: Publications and Consultations.

The Publications section includes documents such as Bills, White Papers, Strategies and Reviews, each of which can be searched separately by clicking on the relevant link. This section also contains an archive which houses any documents that are either more than a year old (exceptions to this rule apply, eg policy documents that apply to a particular time-frame), or which have been superseded by another policy document (eg a Bill that gains Royal Assent). Clicking on "All Publications" will run a search of all current documents within the Publications section. Consultations are searched separately.

The Consultations section is divided into: Current; and Closed, each of which can be searched separately by clicking on the relevant link.

Searches can be run according to Title/Key Words, Category and/or Location:

Title: If you wish to search for a document you already know the title of, eg The Learning Revolution, type the word Revolution into the search box and click Apply. This will locate the specific document you are searching for.

Key Words: You can also use the search box to search for key words or phrases relating to a document eg:

• entering the key word environment will retrieve all those policy documents with environment in the short and/or long description;
• entering the keywords climate and environment will retrieve all those policy documents that include the words climate and environment in the short and/or long description (the words do not have to be connected by ‘and’, ie climate environment will generate exactly the same results); and
• entering the phrase “climate change” will retrieve all policy documents that include this phrase in the short and/or long descriptions. Not using the speech marks will look for any of the two words in isolation.

The key words box may also be used to search across the ID number of a policy document. (All policy documents are assigned a unique reference number, which is displayed in the right-hand corner of the long description screen.)

Note: words and phrases located in the short description will be highlighted. However, they will not be highlighted in the long description.

Category: All publications and consultations on POLICYfinder are divided into subject area. To find all documents relating to a particular topic, simply select the appropriate category and click Apply.

Location: You can search for all documents relating to a particular region by selecting the appropriate area from the Location drop down box and clicking Apply. This search tab can also be used in conjunction with the other search functions eg to find policy documents relating to the environment (category) in Scotland (location), or to find documents relating to skills (key word search) and Education, Employment and Training (category).

The results of the search will show the category the document falls into, the title of the document, a short description, a location and a closing/publication date.

Clicking on the title of the document will take you to a more detailed description and a weblink to the publisher’s original document.

Search results appear in alphabetical title order but can be arranged by category, location or date by clicking on the relevant arrows at the top of the results page.

Yes. Help Desk operators provide an e-mail service for any operational queries relating to POLICYfinder. E-mail queries may be submitted via the feedback form in the Contact Section of POLICYfinder.