§ 10. Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)What plans he has to review the criteria relating to the eligibility of good causes to receive lottery funding. [37414]
§ The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Chris Smith)The National Lottery Bill creates a new, sixth good cause encompassing health, education and the environment. I am consulting on a new package of draft policy directions governing the distribution of lottery funds for the existing good causes, and expect to issue the formal directions shortly.
§ Mr. SkinnerDoes my right hon. Friend agree that one of the things which characterised the lottery when it was 470 run by the Tory Government was that they favoured their own people and their own marginal seats? As evidence of that, the three seats in north Derbyshire—Bolsover, North-East Derbyshire and Chesterfield—finished in the lowest 10 per cent. of all constituencies in Britain in terms of receiving grant. It is clear that somebody was making a serious attempt to ensure that we did not get much of a return. Since the Labour Government are in charge, will my right hon. Friend remedy that and help those areas of social deprivation? It is not a matter of favouring anybody—it is about favouring those people who have not had a fair crack of the whip hitherto.
§ Mr. SmithMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. This should not be a matter of favouring particular parts of the country because of their political affiliation. It should be about ensuring that there is a fair geographical spread across the country and that issues of social deprivation are properly taken into account. Both will result from the changes in direction and legislation that we are proposing.
§ Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East)Is the Secretary of State aware of the concern expressed by the chief executive of the mental health charity Sane about the fact that her helpline, which deals with many thousands of people who are contemplating suicide, has had its applications for lottery grants turned down three times, whereas a helpline for owners bereaved after the death of a pet, which deals with a much smaller number of people, has received a grant of £180,000? Does he not think that a strange set of priorities? Does he agree that the lottery of the lottery should be in the choosing of numbers and the winning of prizes, not in the awarding of grants?
§ Mr. SmithCertainly the awarding of grants should not be a lottery, but the hon. Gentleman will know—as, indeed, the Conservative Front-Bench spokesman has just pointed out—that those decisions are strictly a matter for the National Lottery Charities Board, not for me.