Government Publishes Lottery Bill
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The Lottery will become more responsive to public priorities and streamlining will save between £6-12m a year in administration costs, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Tessa Jowell said as the Lottery Bill was published today.
The Bill will formalise the merger of the New Opportunities Fund, the Community Fund and the Millennium Commission into a single distributor – the Big Lottery Fund, saving between £6-12m a year. Set up in June the Big Lottery fund will give out half of all Lottery money.
Simpler rules will also ensure that Lottery money will reach good cause projects faster and make it easier for groups to apply for Lottery cash.
New powers will for the first time allow Lottery distributors to take account of public consultation in making decisions on where Lottery good cause money will go.
The Bill also includes measures to ensure that the licensing and regulation of the Lottery continues to maximise the returns to good causes.
Tessa Jowell said:
"Over the last 10 years the National Lottery has become part of the fabric of life in this country. It has raised over £16bn for good causes and funded around 180,000 projects, changing the face of the UK forever.
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"But success should not breed complacency. The Lottery is venture capital for communities. So communities need to feel a sense of ownership of the money and see the evidence that is spent on their behalf and in their interest.
"We need to get grants out more quickly and easily and make a clearer connection between playing the Lottery and investment in the good causes. The Bill does this by allowing Lottery distributors to seek and take account of public consultation in making decisions on the distribution of Lottery money.
"This could mean people getting involved via public opinion polls, citizens' juries, focus groups, Internet surveys, telephone, Internet or television voting for individual projects or by joining a local or regional awards panel.
"The Lottery also needed streamlining. By creating a single distributor we have created a single point of contact for half of all lottery grants, making it easier for people to apply for grants and freeing up between £6m and £12m a year for good causes.
"All of this designed to give the Lottery back to the people. Lottery money is not Government money. Its not distributors' money. It belongs to the people of Britain who play the Lottery."
The Big Lottery Fund have already begun to work on furthering public involvement, starting off by consulting people on exactly how they would like to get involved.
A front-runner at the moment is a proposal to build on recent experiences, such as the BBC 2 programme 'Restoration' to allow the public to vote on major capital projects.
Notes to Editors
1. A copy of the Lottery Bill is available from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmbills/007/2005007.htm
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