§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
On what grounds the applications by the Bowland and Pennine Mountain Rescue Team to the large grants programme of the community fund and by the Severn Area Rescue Association to the Grants for All lottery scheme were rejected. [HL994]
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§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe distributing bodies for lottery grants make their funding decisions independently of the Government and consider each application on its own merits and against published criteria.
I understand that Bowland and Pennine Mountain Rescue Association's application for lottery funding in 2002 was unsuccessful because mountain rescue work did not fit the aim of the particular programme they applied to—the community fund's large grants. The aim of this particular programme was to address deep—seated, long-term problems which cause poverty, joblessness and low-quality of life.
I understand that Severn Area Rescue Association's application for an award for all lottery grant was unsuccessful in part because its annual income exceeds the guidelines Awards for All have developed and in part because the association has already received two grants totalling over £8,600.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of the decision to reject the grant applications of the Bowland and Pennine Mountain Rescue Team and the Severn Area Rescue Association, they have any plans to review the grounds by which lottery grants are awarded. [HL995]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe distributing bodies for lottery grants make their funding decisions independently of the Government and consider each application on its own merits and against their published criteria.
The National Lottery has a good record of supporting mountain rescue activities. Distributors have given nearly £1.8 million to ambulance services, mountain rescue groups and rescue groups for missing and injured people, including £272,884 awarded over four years to the Mountain Rescue Council of England and Wales.
The National Lottery is a huge success story—over £16 billion has been raised for good causes. Current reforms proposed by the Government will ensure the public are more closely involved in decision-making, and that it will be easier to apply for and use lottery funding.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many applications to the large grants programme of the community fund or the Grants for All lottery scheme have been rejected on similar grounds to those of the Bowland and Pennine Mountain Rescue Team and the Severn Area Rescue Association. [HL996]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe demand for lottery funding greatly exceeds supply and overall around 64 per cent of applications to the Big Lottery Fund are unsuccessful.
By way of comparison 61 per cent of applications from mountain rescue bodies and rescue associations have been unsuccessful. There are various reasons why applications are not successful. In the case of the 64WA community fund's Large Grants Programme around 5 per cent of applications fall outside the programme aims. In the case of Awards for All around 23 per cent of unsuccessful applications fail because other applications are given a higher priority for the limited funds available. Reasons for having a lower priority include a higher than average annual income or the applicant having already received one or more Awards for All grants.