§ Ms HoeyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he expects the start up costs for the National Lottery to be repaid.
§ Mr. SproatThe national lottery distribution fund—NLDF—will receive its first payment from proceeds of the national lottery on Tuesday 22 November 1994. The setting up and administration costs of the Office of the National Lottery, and any administrative costs incurred by the distributing bodies in preparing to process applications for national lottery grants, including sums to be repaid to the Treasury in respect of set up costs already paid for from public funds, will be drawn down from the NLDF as required after that date.
The setting up costs of Camelot Group plc are a commercial operations matter. I have asked the director-general of the national lottery to write to the hon. Member on this point and to place copies of his response in the Library of the House.