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Games blamed as Lotto sports cash plunges by £30m
Nicholas Cecil, Evening Standard30 Nov 2007
Lottery funds for sporting groups have slumped by nearly £30 million in a year, official figures show today.
Up to half the reduction is believed to be due to people switching their Lotto money to Olympic scratchcards and other games to support London 2012.
The revelation has sparked concerns among MPs that the Olympics will hit sporting groups' funding by more than ministers have predicted.
Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Yet again the Government is robbing Peter to pay Paul. 2012 was supposed to be about a sporting legacy for young people but bungling of the Olympics budget means this is now at serious risk.
"Cannibalisation of the original good causes threatens to weaken the very base of community sport the Games is designed to inspire."
Ministers reject these accusations and insist overall government funding for sport has increased massively. Lottery cash for sporting organisations fell from £230.4 million in 2005/06 to just under £200.9 million over the last year - down 13 per cent. The figures were given by the Government in a parliamentary answer.
Funds for arts, heritage, charity, health and education schemes are also likely to have seen a fall of tens of millions of pounds. Ministers had forecast a drop of about five per cent in funds for good causes as people opt to play Olympic Lottery games.
Today, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport defended the use of Lottery cash for the 2012 event.
A spokesman said: "We have always acknowledged a proportion of the 2012 sales will be diverted from other sales. But we do not recognise the fall between 2005/06 and 2006/07 is simply the result of the dedicated Olympic Lottery games.
"There have always been fluctuations in income with the Lottery. In 2002 the figures fell by £46 million for sport and that was not due to the Olympics."
When Labour came to power in 1997 it cut the share of Lottery funds going to sporting groups, arts, charities and heritage from 25 per cent each to 16.6 per cent. Under the new system, half the good causes money goes to charity, health and education schemes. Overall, Lottery cash for sporting groups has fallen from a peak of £322 million during this period to £200.9 million last year - a slump of 38 per cent.
Reader views (1)
The National Lottery was never much more than a stealth tax, offering the dream of riches to hapless gamblers in order to reduce government funding.
- Roger, London, UK, 30/11/2007 14:52
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