§ 22. Mr. TimmsHow many representations he has received from organisations concerned with drug abuse in response to the national lottery White Paper.[27606]
§ Mr. Tom ClarkeOf the 496 organisations that responded to the proposals in the White Paper, three were concerned with drug abuse: the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse; Liverpool drug action team; and Adfam National. A copy of the analysis of the responses to the White Paper is available in the Library.
§ Mr. TimmsI thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. He will be aware that the submission of the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse made the case for a larger share of lottery funding to be directed at organisations tackling the problems of drug misuse, such as the excellent Newham drugs advice project in my area. Is my right hon. Friend sympathetic to such arguments?
§ Mr. ClarkeI congratulate my hon. Friend on the activities in his constituency, and I assure him that we are sympathetic to such projects. Indeed, the Bill will confirm the Government's commitment to combat drug abuse through measures such as new opportunities, after-school clubs and our approach to young people in the healthy living centres. I hope that by working together we can deal with an extremely serious problem.