Today the Government are announcing a major call for evidence on national lottery good causes funding: “National Lottery Good Causes: Fund What Matters To You”. When John Major launched the national lottery in 1994 he promised that the new lottery would give
“anyone who has ever burned with the desire to change the face of their town, their village or the whole country a chance to do so.”
Since then, our national lottery has provided more than £53 billion across arts and culture, sport, heritage, and charity. Around 70% of adults in the UK now play the lottery in one form or another, every single year. Funded by the millions of ordinary people who take part every week, the national lottery is not just public money, it is literally the public’s money.
However, not since the brilliant Tessa Jowell in 2002 has anyone asked if we are spending the public’s money the way they actually want it to be spent.
Today’s call for evidence asks precisely that question, and for the first time in decades, brings the public back into the conversation after two decades—and puts people in the driving seat. They will write the next chapter in the story of the national lottery and of our country.
The national lottery has delivered some incredible things. Without it the Lowry would not exist, the People’s History Museum would not be able to thrive and our country would not have won so many record-breaking Olympic gold medals.
Instead, it is about being honest that the model—which sits largely unchanged from its launch over 30 years ago—is showing its age. It is rooted in a different era. Too often decisions are top-down, remote and made in distant rooms hundreds of miles away from the communities who know their needs and ambitions best.
Funding is concentrated in London and the south-east and is weighted to reflect populations, rendering too many towns and villages invisible to decision makers.
The majority of funding is spent on large grants to the detriment of smaller, community-led organisations. Smaller organisations face significant barriers—administrative burdens, digital exclusion and capacity constraints. The system favours those who have the ability to write grants that meet the needs of the system, rather than the system bending to the needs of communities.
It is time to address this and put the national lottery back in the service of all of our people and all of our communities.
As a consequence, our call for evidence will be guided by three simple principles.
First, this funding belongs to the public. The billions that the national lottery invests—£33 million a week—must reflect the modern priorities of the British people—in all communities.