The public want to see the National Lottery remain independent from the government, according to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

Research from a recent ICM poll commissioned by the NCVO, showed that 73% of those surveyed believed that an independent public body should decide on where and how money is spent.

The findings also indicated that there is currently a lack of clarity as to what type of organisations actually benefit from lottery funding. Most respondents thought that charities which help asylum seekers received as much money as those that help the disabled and the elderly, when in fact they actually received only 2.5% of the £285 million allocated by the Community Fund. The disabled and elderly benefited from 22% and 11% respectively.

Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO said: “Ten years on from its launch the public are determined as ever that the Lottery retains its independence. However, if the Lottery really is going to be returned to the people, as the Government has said it will, then we will have to see an improvement in the public’s awareness of where the money to good causes actually goes. They have stood little chance so far, with media reports mainly dwelling on a handful of controversial grants at the expense of stories about millions of pounds of funding that go to local communities.”

Earlier this month, the Department for Media, Culture and Sport released a position paper, within which it claimed that the government would be taking less prescriptive approach to lottery funding. Despite this, there are still concerns from many within the sector who believe this is not enough to guarantee the Lottery’s independence.