§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the objective will be of the good cause to be helped by the new lottery fund which will supersede the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund; and what types of organisations are planned to be its principal beneficiaries. [127991]
§ Estelle MorrisThe Department's Decision Document on Lottery funding, published earlier this month, confirmed our intention to create a new community distributor, which will take on the functions of both the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund. It is proposed that the new distributor will act as a fund for transformation, supporting projects to revitalise and regenerate communities, particularly those at greatest disadvantage, across the UK. As with the two existing distributors, funding will be available to a wide range of organisations, with the focus being on projects which transform communities.
§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what interim arrangements she intends to put in place for the creation of the new lottery fund which will supersede the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund. [127992]
§ Estelle MorrisThe Department's decision Document on Lottery funding, published earlier this month, confirmed our intention to create a new community distributor, which will take on the functions of both the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund. 25W Legislation will be needed fully to establish the new distributor. The two bodies have welcomed the proposal, and in the interim period have agreed to work together to look at bringing together their administrative and operational functions over the coming months.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total balance held by each of the Lottery distributors was on 17 July; and if she will make a statement. [127997]
§ Estelle MorrisThe information requested is shown in the table.
Distributor Balance (£) Heritage Lottery Fund 982,700,272.70 Community Fund 256,374,661.71 Millennium Commission 198,814,261.94 New Opportunities Fund 851,399,441.55 Arts Council of England 234,702,785.11 Arts Council of Scotland 47,396,474.64 Arts Council of Wales 29,444,506.67 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 34,505,269.50 Film Council 71,454,508.56 Scottish Screen 914,754.59 Sport England 246,332,374.13 Sport Scotland 75,419,089.41 Sports Council of Wales 27,875,487.54 Sports Council of Northern Ireland 22,326,010.34 UK Sport 928,373.01 Total 3,080,588,271.40 The total balance as at the end of June 2003 was the lowest month end balance since August 1997. All of this money has been committed to projects by distributors.
This Department recently published the National Lottery Funding Decision Document, which sets out a number of proposals aimed at reducing further the balances held by distributors. These include issuing guidance on balance management to distributors and revising the Financial Directions distributors operate under in order to speed up the funding of smaller, low risk projects. There are also a number of other proposals which would require legislation. I have placed copies of the document in the Libraries of both Houses.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to review the system whereby projects can only be supported by the National Lottery for a set period of time. [127998]
§ Estelle MorrisThere are no plans at present to review the period of support for projects by the lottery. Funding is generally time-limited and usually for a maximum of three years. Following extensive consultations last year, however, the Heritage Lottery Fund extended the length of the maximum period of support for their revenue projects from three to five years. There is an opportunity for grants to be renewed to allow projects to continue in operation but such follow-on funding is unlikely to be repeated indefinitely.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her projected timescale for implementing common branding for National Lottery supported projects. [127999]
26W
§ Estelle MorrisThe Government recognise that the simplest way of establishing the necessary link between buying a Lottery ticket and funding a Lottery project is to use the same brand for both. The Lottery Distributors are currently working with Camelot to develop an appropriate design. It is expected that, from autumn 2004, this will be offered on a voluntary basis to projects which have received Lottery funding. The display of the logo will then become mandatory for most future Lottery awards. Over a longer timescale, other ways of using the crossed fingers logo throughout the whole distribution process will be explored.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff are employed on the Young People's Fund of the National Lottery. [128003]
§ Estelle MorrisThe Department announced that we were considering setting up a Young People's Fund, and the Decision Document published earlier this month confirmed that this will he fully established within a year, with an initial budget of £200 million. It is envisaged that the Fund will initially be managed by the New Opportunities Fund, but we have not yet reached the stage where staff have been allocated specifically to run the scheme.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the proportion of National Lottery ticket sales made to(a) the young and (b) low income groups. [128004]
§ Estelle MorrisThe available information is contained in an independent report on expenditure on the National Lottery (undertaken by Kerry Sproston) which was commissioned by the National Lottery Commission and published earlier this year. The report indicated that 17 per cent. of those aged 16–24 participated in the National Lottery, which was the lowest rate of participation for any age range. It also indicated that those on the lowest incomes (below £9,499 per annum) spent significantly less per week than those on incomes above this.
The report is available on the Commission's website www.natlotcom.gov.uk. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the extent of(a) overlap and (b) duplication in the work of the (i) Community Fund and (ii) New Opportunities Fund. [128005]
§ Estelle MorrisThe Department's Decision Document on Lottery funding, published earlier this month, confirmed our intention to create a new community distributor, which will take on the functions of both the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund. We believe there is significant overlap between the work of the two distributors, particularly in supporting local communities and the voluntary sector. The new distributor is intended to take advantage of these synergies to transform the lives of local people and communities across the UK.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her policy on designating a National Lottery Day. [128006]
27W
§ Estelle MorrisThe Government's proposal for a National Lottery Day is designed to provide an annual focus on the Lottery and its achievements, to let the public see what their lottery money goes to fund. It will be an opportunity for Lottery funded projects throughout the UK wherever possible to open their doors or otherwise celebrate the Lottery's contribution. The exact form the day will take is still to be finalised, but it will have a strong regional and local focus and major prizes will be available to players.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the options being considered for giving the devolved Administrations more influence over how National Lottery funding is allocated. [128008]
§ Estelle MorrisOur provisional view is that we should retain a UK structure for distribution but that the devolved Administrations should have more influence in setting specific priorities and strategies, taking account of the needs and wishes of local communities and service providers there. We will consider how this should be done, consulting with devolved Administrations before coming to a final decision.