HC Deb 12 June 2000 vol 351 cc496-7W
16. Mr. Steen

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement about additionality in respect of the national lottery awards for health and education projects. [123685]

Mr. Chris Smith

The Government remain committed to the principle of additionality and established the NOF, after extensive public consultation, to support innovative health, education and environment projects which are additional to programmes funded from taxation. The National Lottery through the New Opportunities Fund has so far committed £1.5 billion to specific, time limited health and education initiatives.

20. Mr. David Heath

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support has been given by the National Lottery Charities Board to youth work in support of policy against social exclusion in(a) urban and (b) rural areas in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999 and (iii) 2000 to date. [123689]

Kate Hoey

The majority of grants awarded by the National Lottery Charities Board (NLCB) help to promote social inclusion, although they are not separately categorised. During 1998, 1999 and 2000 to date, the NLCB awarded the following grants to projects in urban and rural areas specifically targeted at young people aged 25 or under.

  • Urban areas
  • 1998: 785 grants worth £32.8 million
  • 1999: 2,448 grants worth £87 million
  • 2000: 1,212 grants worth £22.3 million
  • Rural areas
  • 1998: 933 grants worth £8.8 million
  • 1999: 1,864 grants worth £20.9 million
  • 2000: 780 grants worth £6.3 million

22. Mr. Bill O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to ensure that former coalfield areas receive an increased share of the proceeds from the national lottery. [123691]

Mr. Chris Smith

Following the publication on 5 June of research into the impact of the National Lottery on coalfield areas, I announced a package of measures intended to ensure that coalfield and former coalfield areas receive more benefit from National Lottery money. My Department and Lottery distributors, who jointly commissioned the research, have set up an action team to consider the recommendations made in the report and to identify ways of actively encouraging applications from coalfields and other areas of low take up.

Mr. Alasdair Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the average cost to organisations of making National Lottery funding applications. [124724]

Kate Hoey

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has directed the independent Quality Efficiency and Standards Team (QUEST), which he established last year to examine issues of standards and good practice across the range of this Department's responsibilities, to look at the costs of making applications for Lottery grants and consider how these costs could be contained without compromising the demands of proper accountability in decisions about how to spend public money. QUEST plans to publish the first phase of its report, which focuses on applications for Lottery grants of up to £100,000, shortly. The second phase, dealing with applications for grants of £100,000 plus, will be published later in the year.