21 June 2006
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's keynote address to the 10th Annual Lottery Monitor conference at the British Museum
(As delivered)
Introduction
I’m delighted to be able to join you all today. I see the Lottery Monitor conference as key in the calendar for reviewing progress on the Lottery.
We are on the brink of an exciting new chapter in the story of the National Lottery. With the Bill that we hope will shortly receive Royal Assent, the Lottery will be revitalised in its 12th year.
And today, what I’d like to do is to set out for you my vision for how the Lottery can further develop and grow over the coming decade by bringing it closer both to its players and the communities of Britain.
I’d like to address the periodic debate about the way grants are awarded and the money is spent, including the argument that somehow the Lottery will be undermined by the call the Olympics will make.
And finally I want to talk about how everyone involved in the planning and distribution of Lottery funds must, and can, play a crucial role in determining the future success of the Lottery’s directions and purposes if it is to become far closer to players and to its wider public.
Over the past twelve years the Lottery has transformed culture and sport in our country. With over £18.5 billion raised for the good causes, Lottery funding has in that way helped create iconic institutions like The Eden Project in Cornwall, the Baltic in Gateshead, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and of course, the wonderful Great Court here at the British Museum, which astounds over four million visitors every year.
But perhaps the greatest transformation has been the everyday. Over 240,000 projects large and small have received Lottery funding.
And a well kept secret is the fact that every constituency across the United Kingdom has benefited from at least ninety lottery funded projects. I asked my officials to go back and check that figure several times, but what I will say is that I don’t think we would see ninety little crossed fingers marking out each of these projects.
For instance, my own constituency boasts the newly refurbished Brockwell Lido; the new eco-friendly gardens in Dulwich park; and the Dulwich Helpline, which has forged friendships between older people and younger volunteers, and many many more.
2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games
Now let me turn to the Olympics. Last year London won the right to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. And just like the Lottery, these Games will transform the sporting and cultural life of the nation.
We’ve hit the ground running since last July. According to the International Olympic Committee we are further ahead in planning than any other Olympic city at this stage. Something to be proud of but we are not allowed a grain of complacency.
The Games will not only see the world’s best sport in Britain but also a major international cultural festival so in every respect this is a wonderful opportunity for our country.
We made clear from the outset, and discussed fully with distributors, our intention that the Lottery should make a major financial contribution to the Games and that we would also establish a dedicated Olympic Lottery Game. So against that background, let me deal with the argument that says we should not fund the Games from the Lottery.
A fundamental principle behind the Lottery is that it should provide additional funding for transformative cultural and sporting projects. And I say to you, what could be more additional, more innovative, more transformational than the Olympic & Paralympic Games?
We didn’t fight tooth and nail to win the right to host the Games just because we thought it would provide an exciting sporting opportunity for a few weeks in the summer of 2012.
It is much broader and deeper than that – it is because it creates the potential for a lasting legacy of improvement. Investing in the physical infrastructure and social fabric of five of Britain’s poorest boroughs. Nurturing talent and ambition through world class sports and cultural facilities. Creating the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years.
That is what Lottery money is paying for – for the long-term benefit and enjoyment of everyone now but also for future generations.
And people are showing their support through the runaway success of the first ‘Go for Gold’ scratchcard. It has sold faster than any other £1 scratchcard launched since November 2002 and has surpassed Camelot’s initial targets.
Public Value
So the common link between the Olympics and the National Lottery is the way in which it touches public life and can capture our collective imagination.
The Lottery has exceptional reach and range in its appeal. Almost all of us play it at some time. And that is why it is so successful, and 70% of us play it regularly.
So because such a range of people play the Lottery they not only have their individual views but want – and must have – their own say in how it works. So, they must be more like shareholders in our National Lottery. For the first time ever, the lottery shares consultation asked you to tell us about what projects you value, and how Lottery money can be best spent.
The fact that we received over 11,000 responses shows the appetite for involvement. This may not sound much compared to the number of people who play, but believe me it’s a lot for a Government consultation.
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Plurality
We must always also recognise that the diversity of players, and the very welcome plurality of views among the public, some awards will always cause controversy. It is very hard to imagine that at any stage there will be universal agreement on all but a tiny minority of projects. This means that there will not be total agreement all of the time about which projects should or shouldn’t be supported.
Take the tricky decision to fell trees when restoring historic park landscapes – balancing legitimate environmental concern with heritage value. Or the value of a sculpture like Anish Kapoor’s sky mirror outside the Nottingham Playhouse. A striking feature by an internationally renowned artist but also a challenging and controversial work.
The best way to manage this healthy tension is to open up the decision making process. To acknowledge that everyone has a legitimate point of view and that we should not shy away from debate.
People don’t want decisions that affect their local area taken by those who don’t understand where they live. And who is better qualified to understand the needs, to know what’s cherished and valued in communities than the people who are that community?
Some respondents to the consultation expressed concern that professional expertise would be marginalised or ignored. That’s simply not true. Of course we must blend the legitimate democratic desire to have a choice and voice in funding decisions with respect and recognition for professional expertise and knowledge.
There is an apparent tension here. Of course expertise is important. But so too are the views and opinions of players and the public are also experts in the life and needs of their community.
ITV and the Big Lottery Fund’s interactive programme, the People’s Millions, shows there is a real desire to be involved in decisions directly. 24 million viewers. 178,000 votes cast. And 55% of applicants had never applied for funding before. So it does open up new ways of engaging people and we must look at further ways of building this engagement.
Tick box trial
Camelot and the Big Lottery Fund will be trialling point of sale ‘tick boxes’ where Lottery players can be directly involved in deciding which local Lottery projects will be successful in receiving grants.
The trial, under the slogan “Your Pound, Your Choice”, will run in two regions, yet to be determined, this August.
Players will have a menu of options and will vote for a local project to receive a Lottery grant of up to £50,000 with between 1 and 3 winning projects in each area. So a small start but a start on which I’m sure we will be able to build.
Awards for All
Increasing the number of small grants available will enable new groups to benefit from the Lottery. So in direct response to public demand the ceiling for Awards for All in England has been raised from £5,000 to £10,000.
And today I’m pleased to announce the first Awards for All grants under the new arrangement. 58 groups will receive Lottery funding worth over £268,000.
From £9,850 for Castle Cary and Ansford District Museum to organise an interactive quiz at the museum to £515 for Langtree Re-Unites Netball Club for a netball section for small children.
So small grants create huge value.
Common Brand
Building public support for the Lottery also means helping everyone see just how much they benefit.
How many people know “Bend it Like Beckham” was part funded by the Lottery?
How many see their park renewed, local cultural festival or charity with new computers and don’t know it is down to a contribution from the Lottery?
That’s why we have developed the Common Brand based on the Lottery cross-fingers logo. I expect the distributing bodies and the beneficiaries of Lottery grants to use the logo to show people how Lottery money benefits them and their community.
Considered and sustained public engagement isn’t “lowest common denominator” populism. It means rooting distributors in public life giving them the confidence and indeed legitimacy to innovate, take risks and be creative.
Sustainability
But risks do not mean recklessness. If a project fails because of poor planning it’s not just a loss for the public but it undermines confidence in the Lottery itself.
I want, and I think I have said this before, Lottery funding to be venture capital for new ideas. Of course funds are finite and Lottery money can’t be a source of long term funding or indeed a replacement for Government funding.
For example, NESTA was set up precisely to marry the very best of Britain’s undoubted creative talent with entrepreneurial enterprise.
Or there’s All Saints Basketball Club in Bedford that received £5,000 in Lottery funding from Awards for All. From small beginnings the project is now sustainable; working with 100 basketball players and former players who have gone on to form their own clubs and volunteer as coaches elsewhere. So a small example of an enormous success story.
Projects need to account clearly for how they’re going to spend their grant and be 100% clear where other sources of funding are coming from when that runs out.
That’s why I asked the distributors to work together and learn from the lessons of the past; learning what worked and what didn’t.
This approach is paying dividends. It was learning those lessons that gave us the confidence in a very large part to bid for the Olympics and gave the IOC in turn the confidence to award them to London.
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Fair share
Because the Lottery belongs to everyone distributors’ decisions have to be seen to be fair.
And I think it is important to underline that the Lottery’s primary purpose isn’t to tackle deprivation but it is essential to tackle unfairness in distribution if it occurs.
Distributors need to be ready to stand up and correct imbalances where they do occur. There is a danger that the local communities who need Lottery investment the most are those who lack the network of local voluntary and community groups that make up a healthy civic society, and as a consequence these communities somehow fall through the cracks. We must be vigilant and guard against this.
Innovative programmes, like the Coalfields scheme that made a real effort to reach previously underserved coal field communities saw the number of awards in coalfield areas increase by over 10%, with the total value of awards increasing by over 300%.
Additionality
Let me just say a few words about the vexed question of additionality.
Lottery money should add value to, and not substitute, Government spending.
Against that broad definition of purpose there will always be arguments about what Government could, should and does fund. It’s these kind of perennial questions that lie at the heart of policy debate.
There can be no perfect, up-front definition of what distributors or central Government should be funding. There will always be projects that sit in the grey area.
Take the example of the New Opportunity Fund’s £89 million programme to supply diagnostic equipment that tackles the burden of heart disease, stroke and cancer.
We were criticised by the traditionalists for taking the Lottery into this area. Frankly I am happy to take on anyone who challenges the good sense of that programme. Just think how people eagerly rally around their local hospital helping raise money for extra services for friends and family and how empowering that extra investment can be.
But it is right to be open and accountable for what is done and to monitor publicly how this boarder is trodden. The new Act will place responsibility on distributors to review and assure their performance in following the “additionality” principle.
Distributors will report each year, in their annual accounts, how they have interpreted the principle. So everyone can see, and understand why, the distributors have reached their decisions.
The success of the National Lottery has been that it continues to evolve and respond to the changes and challenges of our society.
It needs to remains as vital and as relevant to the people who play, and as uplifting and challenging as possible to inspire new projects. The best way to keep the Lottery relevant is to engage, listen and talk to the people who play the Lottery – the people out there.
In short, to create public value.
2009 Lottery Shares Consultation
That’s why I wanted to put the public’s voice at the heart of the next phase of the Lottery from 2009 to 2019.
I wanted to know people’s priorities, aspirations and future vision for Lottery spending. And I wanted the consultation to be as open and as wide as possible.
The public overwhelmingly told us that the current good causes are both popular and that they want the Lottery to continue to invest in nation’s fantastic arts, film, heritage and sport.
And that the impact of the Olympic & Paralympic Games meant that it was important in my judgement that there should be stability elsewhere.
So I am pleased to announce today:
- I will retain the current Lottery shares for arts and film, sport and heritage for 2009-2019.
- I can confirm the Olympic funding package: £750m of Olympic funding from new Lottery games and £410m from existing causes after 2009.
- We have concluded that there is no case for changing the current, population based, arrangement for Lottery funding for arts and sport between the home countries.
- And the UK Film Council will take on all film funding from Arts Council England with the same budget (£3 million a year).
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Distributors Priorities
We also consulted the public on priorities for the future. This means the main priorities from 2009 to 2019 will include:
- Firstly, increasing participation in sport and culture for those who don’t currently benefit.
What that might mean in practice, for example, is a nationwide Open Culture weekend. Distributors could build on the success of the London Open House and Heritage Open Days where cultural institutions throw open their doors and allow everyone to participate.
- Secondly, inspiring young people. Awakening their interest and involvement with an emphasis on activity and health
For me it is enormously important that we get young people involved and creating opportunities for them to develop their artistic skills, perhaps through workshops with profession artists and arts organisations. As I am sure you know, where these are offered as small pilots they are enormously popular.
- Thirdly, involving local communities. Fostering local community initiatives which bring people together and enrich the public realm.
This could mean making small grants available for local communities to hold neighbourhood or other small festivals.
- Supporting volunteers who do so much to support the good causes;
I want to see the distributors backing volunteers and clubs who make a big difference locally in activities across the range of arts, sports and heritage.
- Encouraging new talent, creativity and developing new skills.
We must break down the barriers that prevent people from going as far as their talent and ambition can take them. I want the Lottery to reach out to those who have creative talent and sporting gifts who might otherwise not develop them to the full. Enriching not only their lives but the life of the nation.
Following wide consultation, these are now our priorities and I will develop specific policy directions for distributors in discussion with them. Over the coming months I would like you to be engaged in that process by suggesting ideas to them about how they can give life and form to these priorities.
Conclusion: A Lottery fit for the future
I would like to finish by asking you to pause, reflect, and imagine what the cultural and sporting landscape of the UK would have looked like without the National Lottery.
- No Angel of the North
- No Portsmouth Harbour transformed
- No first every lyric theatre for Wales
- No St George’s Market in Belfast restored to its former glory
- No programme to bring Britain’s parks back to life
- No new curtains in Churchover Village Hall in Rugby and no new drainage system for Scawthorpe Scorpions, in Doncaster
The National Lottery has indeed spearheaded a revolution across Britain. It has provided massive investment in people and places right across the country; from iconic new buildings to helping solve the small problems that might otherwise have gone neglected.
Our challenge however, as we look forward is to make a great Lottery better.
People want to know that different views are being listened to. They don’t want it to be about someone else making their decisions in a way over which they have no control.
So that meant bringing it closer to players and the public.
The National Lottery Act is now entering its final stages in Parliament and the competition to award the next ten year licence for running the Lottery after 2009 is already underway.
The scene is set with all its tantalising and exciting challenges – so now it’s over to you.
Thank you.
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