National Lottery Forum response to the Culture, Media and Sport

Transcription

1 National Lottery Forum response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into Society Lotteries Executive summary(full response below) Any changes to r e g u l a t i o n s a ff e c ting Society Lotteries should in our view maintain the balance of ro les played by The National Lotter y and Society Lotteries The National Lottery and Society Lotteries provide a vital source of income fo r many local, g r a s s - r o o t s o rganisations. This income needs to be pr o tect e d National Lottery good-cause fu nding enables a uniquely broad and diverse range of c h a r i t a b l e and community activity to f l o u r i s h, f r o m v o l u n t e e r - l e d community projects, to s t r a t e g i c initiatives. These are causes that might not call on government expenditure, and t h e r e f o r e need a r e a l i s t i c income stream to su rvive. Any changes to r e g u l a t i o n s should ensure that the largest amount of money possible is channelled into good causes via the National Lottery D i s t r i b u t o r s, as set out in statute. This w i l l pr o tect and support the D i s t r i b u t o r s ' a b ility to deliver maximum benefit to citizens and communities We recommend that the Culture, Media and Sport Committee consider how any changes to r e g u l a t i o n s, and their likely consequences, might affect the ro le, i n t e g r i t y of and public t r u s t in The National L o t t e r y. 2. Background The National Lottery D i s t r i b u t o r s are responsible for d i s t r i b u t i n g money raised by the National Lotter y for good causes. National Lottery good cause d i s t r i b u t o r s exist to provide support to their sectors/ good cause area (s). Funding is d i s t r i b u t e d across the UK by the National Lottery D i s t r i b u t o r s, making a d i ff e re n c e to the lives of m i l l i o n s of people and improving places across the UK. Since the National

2 Lotter y began in 1994, 32 b i l l i o n has been raised and more than 430,000 g ra n t s awarded. There are c u r r e n t l y 13 Lottery d i s t r i b u t i o n bodies and this is a joint submission f r o m members of the National Lotter y Forum, c o l l e c t i v e l y responsible fo r d i s t r i b u t i n g nearly 94 per cent of the Lotter y fu nding fo r good causes. These are: the British Film Institute, the Big Lotter y Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Sport England, UK Sport and Arts Council England. The National Lottery Forum br ings together Chief Executives f r o m each of the a forementioned d i s t r i b u t o r s and provides an o p p o r t u n i t y for them to discuss joint w o r k i n g and share best practice. The i n f o r m a t i o n below gives an o u t l i n e of each d i s t r i b u t o r. 3. About The National Lottery funding distributors: Arts Council England Arts Council England is championing, developing and investing in a r t i s t i c and c u l t u r a l experiences that enrich people's lives. We support a range of activities across the a rts, museums and l i b r a r i e s - f r o m theatre to digita l a r t, reading to dance, music to l i t e r a t u r e, and c r a f t s to collections. The BFI (British Film Institute) The BFI d i s t r i b u t e s 2.7% of the money raised by the National Lottery fo r good causes. All BFI investments go to support a v i b r a n t f i l m c u l t u r e for everyone in the UK, n u r t u r i n g the next generation of f i l m m a k e r s and audiences, connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema, increasing public access to archiv e c o llections across the UK and preserving and r e s t o r i n g the national c o llection for today and f u t u r e generations. As the lead body for film, the BFI has made a central commitment to diversit y both in its

3 own activities as wel l as t h r o u g h o u t the f i l m sector and is using Lotter y investment to help change happen. BFI fundin g supports a wide range of people, o rganisations, p r o g r a m m e s and initiatives with the support of c u l t u r a l and industry p a r t n e r s across the UK. The funds are d i s t r i b u t e d both s t r a t e g i c a l l y t h r o u g h p a r t n e r o rg a n i s a t ions and d i r e c t l y t h r o u g h open access schemes. C u r r e n t l y 80% of the BFI s fu nding benefit is outside of London and the main fu nding c r i t e r i a for open schemes include geographic reach, breadth of provision and d iversity. Key p a r t n e r s such as Creative Skillset, Creative England, Film Agency fo r Wales, N o r t h e r n Ireland Screen, Film London, Into Film (the f i l m education c h a r ity), and the BFI Film Audience Ne twork help d i s t r i b u t e and t a r g e t funds at local and regional levels. Funding for the British Film Commission along with other ta r g e t e d BFI i n t e r n a t i o n a l funds help to promote British film, ta lent, skills, f a c i l i t i e s and services to the w o r l d. Big Lottery Fund Big Lotter y Fund d i s t r i b u t e s 40 per cent of the money raised by the National Lottery fo r good causes and is a n o n - d e p a r t m e n t a l public body sponsored by the Cabinet Office. We award around 700 m i l l i o n fu nding a year to p rojects across the UK that cover Health, Education, Environment, and c h a r i t a b l e purposes - helping people to develop skills, improve their wellbeing, r e v i t a l i s e local areas and fa c i l i t i e s, and become more active in their communities. Our fu nding is available f r o m 300 upwards, and we also w o r k with p a r t n e r s to ru n more focused, l o n g - t e r m investments t a c k l i n g major issues, such as ensuring babies and young c h i ldren have a good st a r t in life and meeting the challenges of an ageing population. Some 92 per cent of our a ward s last year went to v o l u n t a r y and community o rganisations, and the m a j o r i t y (88 per cent) of a ward s were fo r less than 10,000 most of them to small local groups. Around 80 per cent of our fundin g in England goes to o rg a n i s a t ions based outside London.

4 Heritage Lottery Fund The Heritage Lottery Fund gives g r a n t s to sustain and t r a n s f o r m our heritage, making a lasting d i ff e r e n c e fo r heritage and people. From museums, parks and h isto ric places to ar chaeology, n a t u r a l environment and c u l t u r a l t r a d i t i o n s we invest in every part of our diverse heritage, fo r f u t u r e generations to learn f r o m and enjoy. Sport England Sport England is focused on helping people and communities across the countr y create a sporting habit for life. We invest around 230 m i l l i o n of National Lottery money per year in o rg a n i s a t ions and p rojects that w i l l : Help more people have a sporting habit for life Create more o p p o r t u n i t i e s fo r young people to play sport N u r t u r e and develop talent Provide the r i g h t f a c i l i t i e s in the r i g h t places Support local a u t h o r i t i e s and unlock local fundin g Ensure real o p p o r t u n i t i e s fo r communities UK Sport UK Sport is responsible for investing more than 100 m i l l i o n of National L o t t e r y, Exchequer and p r i v a t e sector fundin g into high p e r f o r m a n c e sport every year in or d e r to underpin and unlock the nation s Olympic and Paralympic p e r f o r m a n c e potential. UK Sport w o r k s with Olympic and Par a lym pi c sports to pro vid e the best possible support fo r athletes, f r o m w o r l d - c l a s s coaches to cutting edge in novatio n, talent identification and l i f e s t y l e support. It is also responsible fo r other activities best delivered at a UK level, such as: bidding for and staging major sporting events in this country; increasing our sporting activity and influence overseas; and p r o m o t i n g sporting conduct, ethics and diversit y in society. 4. Full response to inquiry The National Lottery has raised over 32 b i l l i o n for good causes in the twenty years since its inception and aw ar d e d more than 430,000 g rants. We are very proud of the l i f e - c h a n g i n g w o r k that o rganisations c a r r y out with our funding.

5 On the wh ole we believe that The National Lotter y and Society Lotter ies occupy d i ff e r e n t and complementary r o l e s in generating fu nding for good causes p a r t i c u l a r l y in terms of size and scale. The small and l o c a l / t a r g e t e d n a ture of Society Lotteries means that players often take part as a means to donate money to the p a r t i c u l a r good cause they are benefiting. The links between players of The National Lottery and the good causes funded are a r g u a b l y less direct, but the level of income generated for good causes is s ignificantly greater because of The National L o t t e r y s scale and p o p u l a r i t y, driven by the significant prize funds it is able to o ffer. Any changes to r e g u l a t i o n s a ff e c ting Society Lotteries should in our view maintain this balance of roles. National Lottery good-cause fu nding enables a uniquely broad and diverse range of c h a r i t a b l e and community activity to f l o u r i s h, f r o m v o l u n t e e r - l e d community pr o ject s, to s t r a t e g i c a r t s initiatives. We believe that there is great value in p r o t e c t i n g and supporting the d i s t r i b u t o r s ' a b ility to do this by maximising the amount of fu nding generated t h r o u g h the National L o t t e r y. Both the National Lottery and Society Lotteries c u r r e n t l y provide a vital source of income for many local, g r a s s - r o o t s o rganisations, which in p a r t i c u l a r needs to be protected. If h i g h e r - i n c o m e t h r e s h o l d s fo r Society Lotteries were introduced, this could w o r k to the advantage of l a r g e r o rg a n i s a t ions that do not have this local focus but which have greater resources to ma rket and promote such schemes. This should be fa c t o r e d in to any consideratio n about how a change to r e g u l a t i o n fo r society l o t t e r i e s is applied. F u r t h e r m o r e, the Committee might wish consider if there is a case fo r a d i ff e r e n t set of r e g u l a t i o n s fo r c o n g l o m e r a t ions of Society Lotteries that operate at a national scale similar to The National L o t t e r y. This too could help to pr o tect the core and successful r o l e that the National Lottery and we d i s t r i b u t o r s play in ra is in g and d i s t r i b u t i n g money f o r good causes. It is also extremely i m p o r t a n t to al l of the good causes we support that the i n t e g r i t y and public t r u s t of The National Lottery is sustained. This needs to be a key consideratio n in any changes to r e g u l a t i o n s for example, changes to governance and sta ndards should be monitored, and steps taken when setting r e g u l a t i o n s to mitigate any potentia l r e p u t a t i o n a l risks for the wider Lottery sector. We oppose any moves which could lead to a b l u r r i n g of the lines between the playin g of The National Lotter y and other fo r m s of

6 gambling such as betting, given the negative effect this could have on the r e p u t a t i o n of The National Lotter y and t h e r e f o r e the good causes we support. A lack of distinction may deter some o rg a n i s a t ions and communities f r o m applying fo r National Lotter y funding.