National Lottery Bill

I am glad to support Amendment No. 11 and to have an opportunity to contribute to this debate on this important Bill. I have said previously in this House that I tend to worry that I support the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, on too many occasions. I have done so twice in some 10 days and three times in three weeks. The Committee must not read too much into this; it is just that, now and again, he can be right. I have been a foremost supporter of the National Lottery since I was asked by the late John Smith to lead for the then-opposition on the original Bill in 1993 in another place. Voting for that Bill at Third Reading and convincing some of my colleagues to do likewise was not an easy task. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, will remember the difficulty that I had. Many reservations were expressed by members of my party, understandably so by those who represented Liverpool constituencies and who were concerned about jobs in the football pools industry. However, our Front Bench were able eventually to assure many of the dissidents of the overriding importance of introducing a national lottery which would benefit many good causes and create many jobs in the process. I have witnessed at first hand the importance of the lottery through my roles as chairman of the Football Trust and as chairman, and now president, of the Football Foundation, which has supported projects worth more than £365 million since it was launched in 2000. It has £63 million worth of projects in the pipeline. I therefore support Amendment No. 11, which would place an important duty on those responsible for distributing lottery money to attribute and promote the National Lottery as the source of this funding. This is an important commitment, which will have a hugely beneficial impact on improving public confidence in, and understanding of, the lottery. Camelot deserves due recognition for its role in operating the lottery. The National Lottery is experiencing its longest-ever period of growth, which means more for good causes. Lottery sales remain the foundation for maximising returns to good causes. Impressive results led to an increase of nearly £60 million in returns to good causes in the year to 31 March 2005. That is an increase of 4.6 per cent. Our lottery is in good health—that is for sure—but we should not be complacent about the fundamental role that public confidence in, and support for, the lottery plays in maintaining its success and the money that is consequently available for good causes. Too often, we see in the newspapers yet more criticism of how lottery money is spent and an outcry about the suitability of certain projects to receive lottery funding. When do we see enough coverage of the many good stories that result from National Lottery money? Strengthening the wording of the Bill to ensure that distributors properly accredit the National Lottery for the numerous projects that it funds would help to counter this mood and increase public understanding of the lottery’s benefit to society as a whole. Promotion of the lottery is a task for the operator, but distributors should be energetic in demonstrating the good that its money has done. I understand that some progress has been made, as was mentioned earlier, in introducing the blue plaques and a National Lottery good cause common brand. Such plaques are virtual or real and are adorned with the well known crossed-fingers logo. They identify where lottery funding has been used to raise public awareness. I commend this work, but would like to see it extended to have the strongest impact on the public. Placing a blue plaque on every project which receives funding; making formal recognition of lottery funding a condition of each lottery grant; and requiring distributors to report annually on how they are promoting the lottery brand would increase the public stature of the lottery. Those activities could be pursued under the terms of the amendment. I hope that the Minister will explain the progress being made on this. As the lottery matures and faces increasing competition from the gambling sector, this kind of acknowledgement is vital to keep public interest and confidence high. As chair of the parliamentary All-Party Group on Sport and president of the Football Foundation, I have argued this point for some time. I fully understand the importance of lottery funding to the health of sport in the UK. Moreover, we should not forget the vital contribution that lottery money will make to our ability to host a fantastic Olympic Games in 2012. I urge the Minister to support the amendment as an effective way of maintaining and building public confidence in the lottery and the good causes that it funds, and to do so in the interests of all those who believe in the lottery. The Government should make a commitment to ensuring that the amendment is carried.