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The need to draw a
line between government spending and the distribution of National Lottery
funds has been emphasised by a campaign to amend the National Lottery
Bill, currently passing through Parliament.
The NCVO and the National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) backed an amendment
to the Bill, tabled by the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones during
the House of Lords’ debate on 13 March, to ensure bodies distributing
Lottery funds report on how they have maintained independence from government,
thus making certain that Lottery money is additional to, not a replacement
for, government spending. Another day of debate in the House of Lords
Committee has been scheduled for Tuesday 21 March to continue the process
of working through the proposed amendments.
A spokesperson for the NCVO said the organisation was pleased, but not
entirely satisfied, with the outcome of the debate on 13 March. “We
didn’t really get the movement from the government that we’d
hoped for,” she said. “With additionality a common law definition
was discussed, and that wasn’t quite the definition that we would
be seeking. We will continue to work with the NCA on that.”
The move follows condemnation from the Culture, Media and Sport Select
Committee of the way Lottery money has been used to fund government initiatives.
A spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said
the department has maintained close links with both the NCVO and the NCA
during the passage of the National Lottery Bill, and that it has been
working closely with the chief executives of the distributing bodies to
agree a number of measures. These include:
- a common framework
for reporting on the principle of additionality which will comprise
each Lottery distributing body’s own policy on additionality,
how this informs the design of their funding programmes, and how it
works at the grant giving level
- a common interpretation
of the principle of additionality as follows: “Lottery funding
is distinct from government expenditure. Where appropriate it complements
government and other programmes, policies and funding”
- a confirmation
that annual reports will be the main vehicle for reporting on additionality.
“We feel that these additional commitments on the part of the
distributors should meet the concerns people have expressed,”
said the spokesperson.
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