Susan Smith argues that changing how lottery money is distributed will force devolved governments to change their spending priorities
Would you rather buy a lottery ticket or pay tax? If the UK government decides to go ahead with cuts to the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) it will all amount to the same thing.
The news that the government is considering cutting BLF’s budget was leaked this week prompting fears about its impact on Scottish charities.
The problem appears to be one of UK ministers considering only the implications of a decision on England.
Quite simply, the UK government is looking to redistribute lottery funding in England in order to make up for public spending cuts in specific areas, namely sports and arts.
Members of the public do not buy lottery tickets because they want to see more money going to the state
One of the founding principles behind the creation of the National Lottery was that funds would go to good causes for activities not provided by the state. The treasury gets 12 per cent of lottery revenue to spend as it likes and 28% goes to good causes through 12 distributors.
Currently 40% of good cause money goes to the BLF to spend on health, education, environment and charitable causes, 20% goes to sport, 20% to the arts and 20% to heritage.
BLF, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the British Film Institute and UK Sport are UK-wide distributors while the other sports and arts distributors are devolved amongst the four nations.
So, if London choses to shift money from the BLF to a devolved distributor to make up for funding cuts in these areas in England, it will force devolved governments to reassess their own spending priorities to redress the balance.
This is not the first time the UK government has raided lottery money – remember the London Olympics – but it once again highlights why it is so important to keep the principle that good cause funding is not state funding.
Members of the public do not buy lottery tickets because they want to see more money going to the state, but that is what they will be doing if the UK government goes ahead with this decision.
Susan Smith is editor of Third Force News.
