§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will show for each month since money started to flow from the national lottery how much has been(a) disbursed to charities and voluntary organisations, (b) spent on the establishment, administration and running costs of the National Lottery Charities Board and (c) spent, disbursed or deducted for any other purpose. [37485]
§ Mr. Nicholas BakerThe information is not immediately available in the form requested; I will write to the hon. Member. To date, £493 million has been awarded to good causes by 10 of the 11 distributing bodies. Over 70 per cent. of those organisations which have been awarded funds are charities or voluntary organisations working in the fields of national heritage, sports and the arts. I understand that the National Lottery Charities Board will be announcing its first grant awards on 23 October.
By then, the board will have spent some £6.5 million—less than 3 per cent. of the money currently available to it—on one-off start-up costs and on administration. This compares favourably with other major grant-giving operations. The board expects to have some £300 million to distribute to the voluntary sector next year and subsequent years.
The National Lottery etc. Act 1993 provides for expenses incurred by the Secretary of State for National Heritage, the Home Secretary, the Office of the National Lottery and the distributing bodies to be recouped from the National lottery distribution fund. To date these have amounted to £18.9 million out of the £1 billion income from the lottery.