National Lottery Bill

moved Amendment No. 15:"After Clause 19, insert the following new clause—" ““REPORT OF INTERNATIONAL EXPENDITURE In section 34 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 (c. 39) (annual reports by distributing bodies other than Millennium Commission) after subsection (2) insert— ““(2A) The report shall set out any awards made during that year for projects outside the United Kingdom.”””” The noble Viscount said: My Lords, in Committee I moved a similar amendment, because I was unable to discover by looking at the Community Fund website the nature of its grants to international projects. The information that I did discover was confusing and contradictory. The Minister has been very helpful since and has sent me an accurate summary of the grants that have been handed out from 1997–98 until last year. Indeed, in his letter he wrote that he would like to clarify that the Community Fund already includes details of its international grants programme in its annual report and that the Big Lottery Fund will continue to include it in future reports. I have also had a letter from the Big Lottery Fund, saying:"““I can assure you that we will report clearly””—" which is important to add—"““in our annual reports and accounts the amount of funding that goes to international projects””." I am grateful for that, because the report that came out of the Community Fund was far from satisfactory. I am going to move this amendment to allow the Minister to repeat that assurance, and I assure the Minister that he can be as brief as he wishes in repeating that assurance. I am grateful for the help that he has given me on this issue. I beg to move.