National Lottery Bill

I beg to move, to leave out from ““That”” to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:"““this House declines to give a Second Reading to the National Lottery Bill because it creates the Big Lottery Fund, which will take the National Lottery further away from its original purpose of providing new resources to charities, sport, heritage and the arts; because it breaches the principle of additionality and allows the Secretary of State too much interference over the direction of Lottery funds and distributors; because it fails to restore funding to the original four good causes, which have lost £3 billion in Lottery funding since 1998; and because it fails to give the public sufficient say in where Lottery funding will go.””" I feel that at the beginning of this debate I should almost declare an interest because many good causes and projects in my constituency have benefited from lottery funds—not least the £5 million given to the first class Norden Farm arts centre in Maidenhead. Of course, that could be said for all Members. Equally, I am sure that we all know of causes that have bid for funds and been turned down. Sadly, I fear that as a result of the Bill more good local causes will be deprived of funds—not because they do not have a good case, but because they do not fit the Government’s ideas of what money should be spent on. As the Minister said, the lottery has become part of our way of life. Every week, millions of hopeful Britons buy their lottery ticket, not only convinced in the knowledge that it could be them, but reassured that by taking part they are contributing to a host of good causes—that the money they donate goes to charities, to community groups, to improving the arts and sports and to restoring our heritage sites. Billions of pounds have been raised as a result of public support for the lottery, and it is a shame that the Government do not hold the lottery in the same esteem. The Bill will lead to the lottery further becoming just another arm of Government. The Government’s contempt is evident in the fact that we are only now debating this issue, when in fact the Department for Culture, Media and Sport started the administrative process of establishing the Big Lottery Fund back in October 2003. It was set up by ministerial sleight of hand, without consultation or legislation in the House, and it is extraordinary that, more than 18 months later, we are only now getting down to the nitty-gritty of the Bill—and that the Government intend that the Committee stage of the House should start and finish in October.