§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans the Department has to ensure that unused Lottery money is allocated in the next six months. [40633]
§ Mr. CabornAll the income received by the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) is allocated to the distributing bodies. At the end of December 2001, commitments by the distributing bodies to projects totalled approximately £3.82 billion, some £290 million more than the NLDF balance at the same date.
The Government are working with the distributing bodies to ensure not only that Lottery funds are committed to projects, but that this money is paid over to project operators as quickly as reasonably possible so that good causes derive the greatest possible benefit from the funds raised by the Lottery. We will set out our proposals in more detail in due course.