Chair of the Big Lottery Fund (BLF), Sir Clive Booth faced tough questions today about the Lottery Bill, independence of the distributor, the Lottery Bill and even his salary during a live discussion forum this afternoon.

Held as part of the BLF’s commitment to public consultation, the forum allowed visitors to the website the opportunity to ask questions about the allocation of lottery money. Topics under discussion ranged from the streamlining of the application process to concerns about the impact of changes on various causes.

When asked about his desire to keep programmes free from government interference and how this sits with the provision in Lottery Bill that states the BLF has to comply with policy directions from the Secretary of State, he replied: “The policy directions from the Secretary of State will be at a high, strategic level, consistent with her public assurances that we will enjoy a large measure of freedom over the design and delivery of programmes.”

He also reiterated comments made at the Funding the Future conference in November that he would guard the BLF’s independence “vigorously” but pointed out that as a non departmental public body it was normal that it had a close relationship with government. “It is normal for the government to have reverse powers to direct a public body like ours, I have no problem about the reverse powers in the bill,” he said.

And in answer to the question about his salary – he earns £36,000 per annum for a three day week.