Details have been released of the amendments to Lottery administration in the new National Lottery Bill. The proposed legislation bolsters Government control of Lottery administration while attempting to ensure swifter distribution of Lottery funds.
Much of the new Bill was contained in a draft, which was published last year but didn?t reach parliament as a result of the timing of the general election. Previously published provisions in the Bill include the formal establishment of the Big Lottery Fund and the creation of a new good cause to cover health, education and the environment. More controversial is likely to be the creation of a new system to manage the money held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund. This allocation fund was criticised last year by a National Audit Office report for failing to distribute money quickly enough and stockpiling reserves of over £2.5bn (AP Issue 79, 26 July 2004). Under the proposed system, if a funder is slow to distribute grants, the Culture Secretary will be able to reallocate funds to other distributors, although funds would not be able to move from one good cause to another. The new Bill also enables distributing bodies to consult with the public and interested parties on the distribution of Lottery funds, a move that was welcomed by the Big Lottery Fund as having the potential to reinforce public support for the Lottery. However, concern has been voiced by some in the arts world that consultation may lead to arts initiatives to be overshadowed by major community projects. In a recent poll to determine the public?s favourite Lottery-funded initiatives, no arts projects were selected in the top six (AP Issue 86, 15 November 2004). The Big Lottery Fund has this week announced the launch of the People?s Millions, a joint venture with ITV in which the public will vote for their favourite projects in a televised competition.
Published: 06-06-2005