Following an extensive consultation exercise to investigate possible ways forward for the distribution of Lottery funding, the Government has rejected the idea of establishing a single grant distributor to serve all the good causes.
However, it is to press forward with the creation of a new distributor to take on the functions of the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund, and to assume the role currently played by the Millennium Commission in supporting large-scale projects. This new structure for Lottery distribution is to apply to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but they are to be given more influence in setting specific priorities and strategies to take account of the needs of their local communities.
The new distributor will control 50% of the Lottery money intended for good causes, and its primary remit will be as a community distributor, funding projects to revitalise and regenerate communities. It will, however, also assume a number of other roles, many of which will have implications for the arts. For example, it will provide a single point of entry for new grant applicants unsure of where to seek advice and guidance and will identify the most suitable grants programme for grant applicants, including grants programmes provided by other Lottery distributors. Furthermore, when Lottery projects meet the criteria for more than one funder ? such as an arts venue being developed in a historic building being renovated with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund ? the new distributor will co-ordinate such cross-sector projects and promote joint working across distributors to ensure that best practice is shared and more effective ways of working are implemented quickly.
The new distributor will take a lead on developing a pre-application support process for all applicants, and common standards of service across Lottery distributors, including a common customer care charter, an independent external complaints process and a common applications process. To simplify procedures for applicants who need to apply to more than one distributor for the same project, distributors will implement a cross-distributor applications protocol.
A clear commitment has been given by the Government to upholding the principle of ?additionality? and to protect Lottery funding from becoming a substitute for funding that would normally fall to mainstream Government spending. The arts, heritage and sport will all continue to be supported, and six new funding programmes will replace other existing schemes. Open grants for voluntary and community organisations, similar to grants currently offered by the Community Fund, will continue, and the proportion of funding under this programme will be no lower than is presently guaranteed. National programme funding, along the same lines as the New Opportunities Fund programmes, will be used to meet specific outcomes which are defined in conjunction with Government; and Transformation grants will go towards funding major projects of national significance. Awards for All will continue, though the current upper limit of the programme will double to £10,000, and a pilot programme of Micro-grants will be introduced for awards of £500 or less. A Young People?s Fund is to established with an initial budget of £200m; and a funding scheme to generate a dedicated stream of funding specifically related to staging the Olympic Games will also be set up.