Written - Lottery Funding Priorities For Wales And The Future Of Healthy Living Centres

This statement addresses a number of points raised by Members regarding the priorities for Lottery funding in Wales, the level of Lottery funding available for projects within Wales and the sustainability of Lottery funded projects.  It also addresses specific concerns around the continuation of Healthy Living Centres.

Lottery Funding in Wales
Under the terms of the National Lottery Etc Act 1993, as amended, there are five good causes funded by proceeds from the National Lottery.  To date 26,000 projects across Wales have shared almost £1 billion in Lottery funding, distributed by the following bodies:

• the Arts Council of Wales;
• the Sports Council for Wales;
• the Heritage Lottery Fund;
• the Big Lottery Fund.

Priorities for Lottery Funding in Wales
In allocating funding to projects each distributor is required to work within a set of high level, strategic policy directions issued by the Welsh Assembly Government.  Policy directions are distributor specific, taking into account the position within Wales and the related work already underway.

This Assembly Government is determined to address the issues surrounding social inclusion, child poverty and healthy lifestyles and Lottery distributors are committed to those aims.  A degree of alignment of priorities is required to deliver the best outcomes for Wales and the need to work in a cross-cutting manner underpins all policy directions.  Lottery distributors within Wales are fully committed to the Making the Connections agenda and are actively working to ensure equity of access to grants.  

This is even more important in light of the recent announcements on the funding of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.  Members will be aware that on 15th March 2007 the contribution from the National Lottery was increased to £2.2 billion.  

At present we estimate the impact on Lottery funding in Wales in the future to be around £70 million.  The timing of the announcement has allowed distributors a number of years to plan their finances carefully and the Assembly Government is discussing with Lottery distributors how they will manage the impact.  I am also pressing the UK Government to ensure no further calls are made on the National Lottery in respect of the 2012 Games.  

It is important to note that this announcement will not change the way distributors assess applications.  As always, decisions will be based on how well applications for projects meet programme criteria.  As with any funding programme it is not possible to fund every project.

In considering these matters we should not lose sight of the benefits the 2012 Games can bring to Wales.  In addition to the economic opportunities, the 2012 Games will create a lasting sporting legacy, which will contribute to the aims of our Climbing Higher strategy.

Healthy Living Centres
Members specifically asked for information on Healthy Living Centres.  The Healthy Living Centre programme aimed to reduce health inequalities with centres taking a holistic approach to health promotion and tackling the underlying causes of ill-health.  Worth £18.5 million the programme established 29 centres based in communities across Wales and while the Big Lottery Fund investment is coming to an end a number of the centres have been able to continue their work through other means.

There was never any intention that the Big Lottery Fund would provide funding for the Centres in perpetuity.  Nor was there a commitment that ongoing funding will come from the Welsh Assembly Government.  The decision to continue funding healthy living centres is to be determined locally and not by the Assembly Government.  This ensures that decisions are based on local needs and are in line with Health, Social Care and Well-Being strategies.  

The nature of Lottery funding is that grants are provided on a fixed term basis for a specific purpose.  If distributors were to continually fund every project there would be no money available for new developments and it is incumbent on Lottery grant recipients to seek alternative sources of funding as necessary.  This is explained to applicants early in the process and help is offered to them in identifying alternative sources of ongoing funding, in particular from the Wales Centre for Health which runs the network of Healthy Living Centres.

In addition to this the Big Lottery Fund has appointed a firm called Momenta to work with the Wales Centre for Health in supporting centres in Wales.  Grants of up to £5,000 are available from the Big Lottery Fund for centres to secure one to one business support advice on their long-term sustainability.

Lottery Funding and the Voluntary and Community Sector
The Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in Wales is a key stakeholder in relation to Lottery funding matters.  As Members stated, the VCS is innovative and develops a number of new and exciting communities initiatives, many of which receive their initial funding from the National Lottery.  The fact that Lottery funding is not government money allows it to make these investments and take risks on innovative projects and that is to be both welcomed and enhanced.

Members will want to note that the UK Government has made a commitment that the VCS will not experience a cut in funding that it receives from the Big Lottery Fund as a consequence of the National Lottery contribution to the 2012 Games.  The Big Lottery Fund will continue to provide 60-70% of their funding to the VCS and will make maintaining that proportion of funding a priority.  This will be coupled with further work to ensure the long-term sustainability of projects.

Funding for the Voluntary and Community Sector in Wales
In 2005/6 the Welsh Assembly Government provided funding of £162 million to voluntary and community organisations in Wales. This has steadily increased from £28 million in 2001/2 when this data collection began.

In consultation with the voluntary and community sector the Welsh Assembly Government has developed a Strategic Action Plan for the Voluntary Sector Scheme. The Draft Plan contains proposals for the future funding of the voluntary sector, including the introduction of a fund to build the capacity of the sector as well as mainstreaming full cost recovery.

The draft Strategic Action Plan is currently out for public consultation until 3rd April and will be presented to the new Assembly Government following the forthcoming elections.