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Conservatives propose Lottery reform to benefit charities 2

Fundraising | Ian Allsop | 7 Feb 2008

The Conservatives have published proposals to reform the National Lottery that they claim would increase its independence from government.

The National Lottery Independence Bill, launched by Conservative leader David Cameron (pictured) and shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt last week, would return the lottery to the four original good causes of sport, the arts, heritage and the voluntary and community sectors.

The voluntary sector component would be named the Voluntary Action Fund to reflect the emphasis of its activities. It would have a guarantee of at least the current level of funding that currently goes from the Big Lottery Fund to voluntary sector organisations.

The bill, which the Conservatives say they will introduce into Parliament if they are elected to power, would also introduce a gross profits tax regime for the Lottery and cap the administration costs of lottery distributor bodies. It estimates that these measures could see returns of up to £182m being ploughed back into grassroots sports, arts projects and the voluntary sector.

Cameron said: “By funding grassroots initiatives that have nothing to do with politicians the National Lottery puts power into the hands of communities and allows them to transform their quality of life. Our bill will end political interference, stop ministers grabbing lottery cash and potentially generate extra cash for good causes.”

Hunt (pictured) added: “Labour has never understood that the point of lottery funds is that they should be independent of government. These reforms will cut the bloated bureaucracy of Lottery distributors and mean more money is used to back the initiative and enthusiasm of arts, sport, heritage and voluntary organisations – the very groups the Lottery was always meant to support.”

A spokeswoman for the NCVO said the proposals sounded interesting. “We would like to find out more. We hope to meet with the Conservatives soon to discuss their ideas in more detail.”

Meanwhile, Hunt and shadow charities minister, Greg Clark, have made an official complaint against the Big Lottery Fund’s chair, Sir Clive Booth. Booth, who has publicly admitted that he is a Labour supporter and canvassed for the party during the 2001 General Election, is alleged to have abused his impartial role as chair of the Fund after he accused the Conservative Party of being “hostile to the voluntary and community sector” and made claims that the Conservatives would cut money from the voluntary sector.

Official complaint 

In response, Hunt and Clark have written to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, to make an official complaint. The letter, dated 7 February, accused Booth of an “unsubstantiated and partisan attack on the Conservative Party”.

It continued: “We of course respect the right of people working for public bodies to make comments on policy proposals that are in the public domain. However, we are concerned about Sir Clive’s remarks because he made the comments about a policy which had not been announced, made no effort to check the accuracy of his comments before going to press, and the tone of his comments was wholly inappropriate for a public servant who is supposed to be politically neutral.

“There are no grounds whatsoever to justify these remarks, either in terms of their accuracy or their tone. It also has serious constitutional implications if a supposedly neutral figure is prepared to enter the political fray in this way.”

The Big Lottery Fund declined to comment.

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