§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what her Department is doing to ensure a more equitable regional distribution of Lottery grants; [27282]
(2) what her Department is doing to encourage applications for Lottery grants from economically deprived areas; [27283]
(3) what action her Department will take to improve Lottery funding allocations in constituencies, in the bottom 25 constituencies in terms of value of awards. [27284]
§ Mr. CabornThe Government were keen to see all areas receive a fair share of funding. Reforms introduced under the National Lottery Act 1998, the revised policy directions issued to Lottery distributors in the same year, and targeted programmes introduced by distributors are designed to reduce disparities between the regions and there has been some improvement.
We recognise, however, that there is still more to be done and that is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 27 June 2001 a new £150 million initiative to target funds at some 50 areas which are both deprived and have received less Lottery funding than other parts of the country. The scheme, which is UK wide, will begin later this year.