§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funds have been(a) committed, and (b) spent by the National Heritage Memorial Fund in each of the past four years, together with corresponding figures at the end of each of the last four financial years. [148861]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthThe figures supplied by the National Heritage Memorial Fund for the last four financial years are given in the tables. They cover both the Memorial Fund—which disburses Government grant in aid as a fund of last resort for the heritage—and the Heritage Lottery Fund—which distributes the Lottery proceeds allocated to the heritage. Figures relating to calendar years are not available.
541W
Heritage Memorial Fund £ million Financial year Committed Spent 1999–2000 0.7 2.7 1998–99 5.5 4.7 1997–98 2.6 3.1 1996–97 3 6.4
Heritage lottery fund commitments £ Financial year Allocated in response to applications2 Awarded Spent 1999–2000 270.5 151 265 1998–99 297.5 305 186 1997–98 459.1 358 130 1996–97 463 463 79 1 Under HLF's two-stage process, sums are earmarked as Stage One passes in response to specific applications (the 'allocated' figure) but are not guaranteed until full applications are approved for an award at a later date (the 'awarded' figure). This explains the two different figures shown for commitments. HLF's practice is to account for the totality of a commitment in the year in which it is entered. Allowance has to be made for time to raise matching funding and to complete capital works, leading to an average drawdown period for projects over £500,000 of four years. The average drawdown for projects under £500,000 is 18 months.