§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when she will assume ministerial responsibility for volunteering, the voluntary sector and charity matters; and if she will make a statement. [28030]
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyMy right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 1 April,Official Report, column 1, that these responsibilities would be transferred to me from my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department as soon as the necessary financial and other arrangements could be made. I have agreed with my right hon. and learned Friend that I shall take over ministerial responsibility from 1 May 1996. At the same date, the staff who currently perform these functions in the Home Office will transfer to the Department of National Heritage.
I have decided that, following the transfer, my hon. Friend the Minister of State will become responsible for the work of the National Lottery Charities Board alongside his existing responsibility for lottery matters; and my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State will become responsible for work on the voluntary sector, volunteering, charities and community development.
My Department will be seeking parliamentary authority in the summer supplementary estimates to enable it to make payments of grants and for the transfer of resources currently in the Home Office. Until such time as approval is given, the Home Office will remain accountable for the actual physical payment of these grants.