National Lottery (Hansard, 19 May 1997)

§ 1. Mr. Ian Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans he has to reduce the level of national lottery funds allocated to the present good causes. [360]

§ The Secretary of State for National Heritage (Mr. Chris Smith)
I am delighted to respond to the hon. Gentleman's question as the first Labour Cabinet Minister to answer a departmental question in this House in 18 years.
The national lottery is the people's lottery, it is the people's money and the new Government believe that we should address the people's priorities. That is why our proposals in the Queen's Speech will bring the benefits of the lottery to more people in more imaginative ways. The financial success of the lottery, particularly the introduction of the midweek draw, means that we can implement our plans without any significant effect on the existing good causes.

§ Mr. Bruce
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman and his team to the Front Bench. In particular, I warmly welcome the Minister for Sport, who will encourage Back Benchers to feel that perhaps we can all make it. Perhaps the Minister will take time to look back at the honourable record of the previous Minister for Sport, who for many years wanted a national lottery, even when the Labour party was against it, and who on every occasion—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. I think that we ought to get off to a good start for the first Question Time. Therefore, I would like a question now, please.

§ Mr. Bruce
The previous Minister for Sport said that that there should be no replacement of Government spending with lottery spending. Will the present Minister for Sport have to say "We was robbed" on behalf of the good causes, which may lose up to £1 billion?

§ Mr. Smith
First, many hon. Members from all parties have long supported the principle of a national lottery. 360 Secondly, as a Government we hold fast to the principle of additionality—that money from the lottery should not replace the essential projects which are rightly funded by the Exchequer. The lottery is there to add value to projects which would not otherwise be possible. That is precisely what our proposals for using some of the midweek lottery proceeds are all about.

§ Mr. Pike
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his appointment as Secretary of State and on being the first Labour Cabinet Minister to answer questions at the Dispatch Box for so many years. I hope that he will continue to do so for as many years as we were in opposition. Does he realise that one thing that we could do to help more good causes to benefit from the lottery is to ensure that Camelot does not make excessive profits, far greater than were originally intended? Should not more money go to the good causes that we all want the lottery to support?

§ Mr. Smith
I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words and his welcome. We shall be looking to create a "not for profit" operation of the lottery once the present contract for its operation comes to an end in 2001.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
I, too, congratulate the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues on their appointments. The past five years have seen unprecedented investment in arts, sports and heritage and I commend to him the Department, the excellent officials who work there and the many independent bodies with which he will need to co-operate. Let there be no doubt, however, that the midweek draw was part of the original licence and the proceeds of that draw are part of the anticipated return on which the arts, sports and heritage are depending. If the right hon. Gentleman now rolls over to the Treasury and allows it to fund mainstream public spending from the lottery, he will have thrown away the greatest opportunity we have ever known to invest in sports, arts, heritage and the caring charities.

§ Mr. Smith
I thank the right hon. Lady for her welcome and I concur entirely with the first part of her remarks about the extremely fine servants who serve us at the Department. However, the second part of her remarks is based on a complete misunderstanding. There is no question of our replacing mainstream Exchequer funding with proceeds from the lottery. Through our proposals for the use of some of the midweek lottery proceeds, we want to fund projects related to health and education which would not otherwise be possible. I had hoped that the right hon. Lady would give a rather warmer welcome to the idea of having healthy living centres in the high streets of this country and after-school clubs for the school children of this country, which are some of the things that we want to fund with lottery money.