Public votes and a £200m Youth Fund will breathe new life into World's most successful lottery
Different companies will have the chance to run different games and the public will have far more say in where good cause money is spent. These are two of the big changes to the way the lottery will be operated in the future, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell announced today.
Setting out the main points in the new Lottery decision document published today, Tessa Jowell also stressed the importance of widening public support for the lottery. She announced that there will be a National Lottery Day and a single brand on all lottery funded projects to make people more aware of where the money they have spent on tickets has been allocated.
Tessa Jowell said:
"The lottery has made has made Britain a better place. In fact, it is hard to imagine what it would be like without the lottery's influence. No Eden Project. No Baltic Mill and no Angel of the North. No Commonwealth Games. And for thousands of voluntary and community groups - little opportunity to realise their ambitions.
"But we don't get better just by celebrating what we have achieved, we need to move on. Seven years from when the Lottery started was a good time to take stock, to analyse what was working well and what were not. The review I announced in July last year was set up to do just that.
"Because a public which can't see how the lottery has benefited them, and don't understand how or why grant decisions are made, is a public that won't buy tickets.
"If they don't buy tickets we are limited in the good causes we benefit. That simple, vicious cycle is the absolute nub of the problem we face. And it makes clear what the solution must be. Only reconnect. That in a nutshell is the conclusion of the Review.
"There are two great principles that should never change about the Lottery. The first is that it should have the flexibility to lead not to follow trends: to act as the venture capital for communities, giving people and communities who cannot access the more orthodox financial routes a chance.
"The second principle is, simply, remember who we work for. The public's confidence in the lottery will only be rebuilt if they know that their money is spent in a way they understand, in real consultation with them.
"All in all, and just in time for its 10th birthday, this is the biggest overhaul of the Lottery since its inception. But I believe that permanent revolution is essential to the Lottery's survival. Society is changing at such a pace, there are so many other outlets for people's marginal income, that we can't ever stop the fight to explain how the Lottery works to the public, to ask them what they want the money to be spent on, and to make sure it's spent wisely. In short, it's time to give the Lottery back to the people. "
Other major changes proposed in the decision documents include:
- Local referendums will be used by the new distributor to consult communities about particular decisions;
- Each lottery distributor will involve the public in decisions about funding themes and local lottery spending by a number of mean including citizens' juries;
- The new Joint Promotional Unit will look at ways to increase local involvement in decisions on funding major capital projects;
- Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund to merge, creating biggest distributor – controlling 50% of money intended for good causes. The body will also act as a first point of call for new applicants who do not fit neatly distributors' priorities;
- Setting up a Young People's Fund, worth an initial £200m, which will concentrate solely on distributing money to children's groups and young people;
- A new micro-grants scheme – a simplified procedure of applying for awards of less than £500 which can be decided upon quickly and easily;
- An expansion of the Awards for All programme, increasing the maximum small grant available from £5,000 to £10,000;
- Set up a National Lottery Day – an annual event when lottery-funded organisations will open their doors for free to show people the work they do, people who have received lottery funded training – sports stars and musicians for example – will pass on free coaching to the public. There will also be one-off big jackpots for players;
- Make people more aware of where their 28p in every pound ticket goes by creating a common logo that would be displayed by all recipients of lottery cash.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Lottery Decision Documents are both available on the DCMS website under Publications or from the following links:
