HC Deb 19 December 2003 vol 416 cc134-7W
Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has had from charities about(a) the funding they are able to generate and (b) the impact of the National Lottery on donations. [145564]

Estelle Morris

We have received no such representations. Charities have been significant beneficiaries of Lottery funding. Since 1995, the Community Fund has given £2.6 billion to more than 56,000 charities and community groups. This is in addition to the many charities which have benefited from grants from the other Lottery distributors.

Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much National Lottery funding has been distributed(a) in each constituency, (b) in each region and (c) to each good cause since 1997. [145565]

Estelle Morris

I am arranging for copies of the answer to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much revenue was generated by the National Lottery in each year since its launch; and what the projected figures are for the next five years. [145566]

Estelle Morris

Total revenue generated by the National Lottery in each year since its launch is as follows:

£ million
1994–95 1,191
1995–96 5,217
1996–97 4,723
1997–98 5,514
1998–99 5,228
1999–2000 5,094
2000–01 4,983
2001–02 4,834
2002–03 4,574.5

For the current year and next five years we have advised distributing bodies to plan on an assumption of annual sales of £4.5 billion. But if London's bid for the 2012 Olympic games proves successful, Camelot plans to launch new Olympic Lottery games during 2005–6, which could raise the total value of ticket sales to about £4.7 billion per year, as an average for the five year period covered by the question.

Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been distributed to good causes in each year since the launch of the National Lottery. [145567]

Estelle Morris

The information is shown in the following table.

The figures include income both from the operator and from investments.

£Thousand
Year Total
2002–03 1,591,781
2001–02 1,842,233
2000–01 1,772,839
1999–2000 1,766,394
1998–99 1,918,906
1997–98 1,952,219
1996–97 1,587,759
1995–96 1,535,966
1994–95 298,580

Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will set out her plans to give Lottery players more choice in determining where the money to good causes goes. [145568]

Estelle Morris

The Government made a commitment in the National Lottery Funding Decision Document to increase the public's involvement in decisions on Lottery spending. The Lottery distributors, in partnership with the National Lottery Promotions Unit and this Department, are already looking at ways to do this—for example, in relation to setting lottery funding themes and making local Lottery awards. The New Opportunities Fund and Community Fund are also developing new ways to consult people about local decisions which the new merged distributor will pioneer.

Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her plans to merge the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund. [145569]

Estelle Morris

The National Lottery Funding Decision Document, published in July, outlined our plans to merge the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and the Community Fund to create a new Lottery distributor, to be responsible for distributing 50 per cent. of Lottery money to good causes.

There is significant overlap between NOF and the Community Fund and an opportunity in merging them to create a new, dynamic Lottery distributor, more responsive, more streamlined and better able to exploit opportunities for joining up funding streams. We want the new body to be more than sum of its parts, and we believe it will successfully be able to set the pace for modernising delivery of Lottery funding, making a real difference to the lives of disadvantaged people and communities.

The new body will continue funding for charities and the voluntary sector, and health, education and the environment, and will also assume the Millennium Commission's ability to fund large scale regenerative projects.

Establishing the new body will require primary legislation. We are encouraging NOF and the Community Fund to work as closely together as possible in the meantime to begin to exploit the synergies between the two bodies and to ensure that full merger can happen quickly when the legislation is in place.

Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to reform the National Lottery; and if she will make a statement on the timetable for the reforms. [145570]

Estelle Morris

The National Lottery Funding Decision Document, published July 2003, outlined our proposals for reforming the National Lottery. We intend to publish a summary of the consultation responses early in the New Year. The Department is working closely with the National Lottery Distributing Bodies and implementation of some of the reforms has already begun. Others will require legislation, which we would hope to bring forward over the next two years, subject to the availability of Parliamentary time.

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