Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the light of the offer by the Pools Promoters' Association of further funds for the Football Grounds Improvement Trust recorded in section 11.68 of the final report of the Royal Commission on Gambling, if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Denis HowellYes. The offer was contained in evidence submitted to the Royal Commission by the PPA in June 1977, but no further action was taken pending publication of the Royal Commission's final report. I am told that the PPA itself has now decided to implement its offer, since it may be sometime before action is taken on the Royal Commission's recommendations.
I understand that this will mean an increase of about £1.2 million per year in the contribution to football from the PPA Spotting-the-Ball competition. As the present contribution is running at the rate of £1.8 million annually, the PPA expects the new total contribution to exceed £3 million per year.
I also understand that it is hoped to allocate some of this extra money to areas of football which have not benefited from the previous arrangements, but that the details have still to be settled.