Public consultation will help determine priorities for Lottery funding from 2009.
The Government has launched a major public consultation on the way in which Lottery funding should be divided between the arts, film, sport and heritage from January 2009. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched a dedicated website (www.lottery2009.culture.gov.uk) for members of the public to register their views on funding priorities. Opinions will be gathered over the next two months before the final decision on allocations to funding areas is announced next June.
Fifty per cent of the money currently raised through the National Lottery goes to charities, education, the environment and health, and this figure is not set to change. At present, the remaining 50% is equally divided between arts and film (combined), heritage and sport. The Government has committed to continuing to support these areas, alongside the additional funding priority of the 2012 London Olympic Games, although proportions may change. To launch the consultation, the first of its kind in the UK, the DCMS has issued a paper which highlights the projects that Lottery funding has supported in the past. In terms of arts funding, major new arts complexes such as the Lowry and Sage Gateshead are listed alongside more general themes such as the accessibility of arts venues for disabled people, community and youth arts activity and the development of arts projects in rural areas. The consultation paper also offers suggestions of how funding could be concentrated in future years. These include major national festivals, arts and health, children and young people, community-based mural and public arts projects, and international projects. The consultation paper also clearly indicates that there will be a reduction in income to the Lottery distributors as participation in the Lottery stabilises or falls and as funds are diverted to support the 2012 Olympics.
Arts Council England (ACE) has been quick to issue an appeal to arts organisations to respond to the consultation, publishing a 16-page leaflet entitled Why the Lottery is good for the arts. The leaflet sets out the achievements ACE has wrought from Lottery funding and lists future targets including investing in facilities, supporting large scale celebratory national arts events, and meeting the needs of elderly people and culturally diverse audiences and artists. Anticipating a tough fight to limit the reduction in funding to the arts, ACE advocates that arts supporters write to their MPs as well as contributing to the consultation. ACE Chair, Sir Christopher Frayling, concludes the document with a plea: The lottery represents a significant amount of funding for the arts in this country. I would like to encourage you to speak on our behalf and to be our champion. That way, we will all reap the benefits of the arts for the long-term.