Health Lottery takes shot at National Lottery and Bubb 5

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 18 Jan 2012

The Health Lottery has fought back against criticisms made of it by Sir Stephen Bubb and claimed that the National Lottery in effect gives only 10p in the pound to charities – and most of that in London.

At a press conference in London yesterday the Health Lottery celebrated having raised £8m for charities in the three months since launching. But the organisation also released a statement taking aim at criticisms lobbed at it, in particular by Acevo chief executive Sir Stephen.

A statement released in the name of Jeremy Muller, director of the 51 community interest companies (CICs) which make up the Health Lottery, repeatedly labelled Sir Stephen – who has called for the new lottery to increase the proportion of ticket sales it gives to charity – “out of touch”.

“[Bubb] is critical of the fact that the 51 CICs currently have a similar structure. However looking at the curriculum vitae alongside Sir Stephen’s blog it would appear he had never been in business, having built his career through unions… Had he been in the for-profit sector he might appreciate that you cannot build a national network of businesses overnight.”

Muller told the group assembled at the Savoy Hotel that the Lottery is not “owned” by Richard Desmond and that the media mogul should be “commended” for his investment in an enterprise that will deliver additional funds for health charities.

Criticism of National Lottery

While Health Lottery chief executive Martin Hall re-asserted his position that the lottery is concerned about how much it gives to charity, rather than what proportion, Muller’s statement featured a breakdown of how much the National Lottery gives to charity. Excluding money awarded to heritage, sports, the Olympics and the arts, the Health Lottery claimed that in effect the National Lottery only gives 10p in the pound to “good causes”.

More controversially, the statement went on to claim that 60 per cent of National Lottery money was distributed within the M25, the motorway which encircles the capital.

“Many Britons, especially those living any distance from the M25, may well not consider some of these investments to be particularly ‘good causes’.

“The conclusion most British people would draw here is that while it is called ‘the National Lottery’ its impact in supporting good causes is anything but national.”

DCMS response

This claim was refuted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which regulates the National Lottery. A DCMS spokeswoman told civilsociety.co.uk:

“This misunderstands how lottery money is distributed and recorded. There is no way of working out how much money has been awarded inside the M25 as the boundaries in our lottery grants database do not follow the M25.

“Since the start of the (National) Lottery, just over 20 per cent of awards made had London postal addresses. In most cases lottery funding is recorded according to the address of the organisation that has made the application so it is not possible to make meaningful geographical funding comparisons. Many national charities have head offices in London, but bid for money to do work in other regions of the UK.”

Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
Who's Who: Sir Stephen Bubb

Place a comment

Peter Wanless
Chair
Lottery Forum
20 Jan 2012

Jeremy Muller, a spokesperson for the Health Lottery, claims that only 10p in the National Lottery pound goes to Good Causes.

This figure appears to have been plucked from thin air. 28p in every pound spent on the National Lottery goes to Good Causes. This investment is determined by parliament, governed by law and independently regulated by The National Lottery Commission.

In the article, it is suggested that Mr Muller believes heritage, arts and sport are not worthy of investment. Does he really think that National Trust properties, community sports clubs and disability arts groups do not deserve financial support?

Furthermore, Mr Muller’s claim that sixty percent of National Lottery funding stays within the M25 is complete nonsense. A glance at the stats suggests it is more like twenty percent. However, these stats only tell part of the story. Most national charities have headquarters in London, which means many grants awarded to them are recorded to London even though their work undoubtedly benefits other areas.

National Lottery players raise £30 million every week for Good Causes. We actively encourage public debate about how that money should be distributed. That debate, however, should be based on facts rather than misunderstandings and inaccuracies.

[Reply]

Stolen
20 Jan 2012
Response to [Peter Wanless]

Not a convincing statement from Wanless.

[Reply]

Anonymous
Trusts Manager

19 Jan 2012

I hope that's irony?

[Reply]

Carl Allen
19 Jan 2012
Response to [Anonymous]

Often startling is meaning versus assumed meaning of easy but oft used terms.

But it does look like a healthy competition.

[Reply]

Carl Allen
18 Jan 2012

A healthy competition for public support of good causes.

And very encouraging that 51 CIC's can come together to compete.

[Reply]

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