National Lottery Good Causes

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.

Secondly, decisions must be made by the public. It is time to trust the people who know their streets, their community spaces, and their heritage best.

Thirdly, community ambition should not be met with red tape. We are determined to strip away the bureaucracy that acts as a barrier to community investment, making it easier for grassroots groups to access the funding they need.

We are also clear that this review will not tamper with the principle of additionality.

Heritage, arts, sport and culture belong to us all and it is for the people to determine what that is and what they treasure. They must be the authors of the story we tell ourselves about ourselves as a nation.

That principle will continue to be fiercely advocated by this Labour Government and we will not allow the national lottery to be used to plug day-to-day funding pressures.

Instead, we will equip it for the future, so that every time a player purchases a ticket and chooses their numbers, they will know that their money will go directly towards changing the face of their town, village, or city and living up to the ideal set out by John Major more than three decades ago.

The Government’s call for evidence can be found on www.gov.uk and we invite everyone to share their views on the future of good cause funding over the next 12 weeks.

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