Lottery Grants Slump
24/03/2009 15:33:06
A survey has shown that there has been a lottery grant slump over the last decade with money to good causes by the UK National Lottery slashed by more than half due to rising administration costs for the lottery. The grants, for sport, arts and heritage seem to be another victim of rising administration and staffing costs right across the UK and it’s good causes that are suffering.
Figures reveal that sport funding has fallen from £461.5 million in 1997-1998 to £217 million in 2007-2008 and absolutely staggering drop in funding. Meanwhile heritage grants fell from £464.6 million to £217 million over the same period. Arts projects have also seen a fall in funding of 52% from £449 million to £214 million in the same perio. That’s about 50% of National Lottery funding and can only be described as a huge blow to good causes.
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UK National Lottery (UK) |
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UK National Lottery (Outside UK) |
Administration costs for the Lottery Commission rose by a massive 132% from £271,000 in 1999-2000 to £628,000 in this period 2007-2008. A huge rise in administration costs for the National Lottery is being blamed for the effects on good causes.
The government has defended the figures by saying they are extremely misleading as they are inflation-adjusted, while the Tories accused the lottery regulator of becoming ‘bloated’.
There is some good news however as grants for health, education, the environment and charitable expenditure have risen 9% from £597 million. It by no means covers the deficit in lottery funding though.
The Lottery Commission defended these figures saying the ignore the fact that the price of a lottery draw ticket hasn’t gone up since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994 and of course inflation must be taken into account also.
Page Last Updated: 18/06/2010 11:26:48
