HC Deb 04 March 1996 vol 273 cc88-9W
20. Mr. Jacques Arnold

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many charities which assist young people have been awarded funds from the national lottery. [16373]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Over 1,000 awards, to a value of £75 million, have been made to organisations directly concerned with young people, 114 of which, worth more than £16 million, have been made directly to schools.

Helping the nation's young people is an investment in our future. That is why I have recently announced plans to widen the distribution of lottery proceeds—with a particular emphasis on youth. My proposals will give the lottery distributors the ability to provide revenue support for initiatives to help develop sporting and artistic excellence in our country's young people.

21. Mr. Robert Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the conclusions of monitoring the distribution of national lottery funds in relation to charities. [16374]

Mrs. Bottomley

Monitoring of the distribution of lottery proceeds is on going. To date 4,394 awards worth £556.2 million have been made to charities and voluntary organisations.

23. Mr. Timms

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps she is taking to overcome the difficulties for lottery funds applications in inner city areas arising from the need to identify partnership funding. [16376]

Mrs. Bottomley

I recently met the chairmen of the lottery distributing bodies and encouraged them, within the existing directions issued under section 26 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993, to take a flexible approach on partnership funding requirements, particularly when considering applications from areas in need of regeneration and in remote rural areas. The Sports Council has recently announced that it would be setting a lower limit for applicants based in any of 70 areas throughout England of economic and sporting deprivation. The partnership requirement can also be met by contributions in kind, such as voluntary labour, or the donation of land or equipment.

Mrs. Anne Campbell

To asks the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will provide a breakdown of ticket sales for the national lottery on the same regional basis as the breakdown of value of all awards published in the December 1995 report on the distribution of national lottery proceeds; and if she will include such a breakdown of ticket sales in future monthly lottery reports. [16972]

Mr. Sproat

The breakdown of national lottery ticket sales is an operational matter for Camelot Group plc. The Director General of the National Lottery has licensed Camelot to run the national lottery and he regulates its operations. I have therefore asked the director general to write to the hon. Member, placing copies of his response in the Libraries of the House.