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It has been reported that the charitable works
of the UK National Lottery could come under
heavy pressure if the British government decides
to use lottery funds to help breach a yawning
gap in its 2012 Olympic budget. Sources say
that the construction bill for the games looks
likely to be around £3.3 billion - some
38% higher than the sum originally planned for,
leaving a shortfall of around £900 million.
Sir Clive Booth, Chairman of The Big Lottery
Fund, spoke last night on Channel 4 News about
the problems charities might face if the government
chooses to use lottery funds to help cover some
of the 2012 Olympic shortfall. He said that
the government, "just assume that the lottery
is this enormous pot of money which keeps generating
huge amounts of cash, and that you can just
help yourself to some of it, and that there
are no adverse consequences."
But, as Sir Clive also stated, there are consequences.
The Big Lottery Fund, which is one of more than
a dozen groups working to distribute lottery
funds, has an annual budget of £630 million
and in 2006 alone helped 86,000 good causes.
If the amount of money to be distributed is
reduced - as it obviously would be should the
government use some of it to go towards Olympic
construction costs - the number of good causes
supported will also be reduced.
Sir Clive's warning was supported by a number
of politicians. Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat
Shadow Culture Secretary, said: "The Lottery
is already funding a large proportion of Olympic
costs. Any further raids of Lottery cash could
seriously damage funding for arts, heritage,
sports and charities.
"We all agreed the Lottery should bare
the burden of some of the costs of these Games,
but it must not be seen as a Treasury slush
fund for Olympic overruns. What we need is a
new budget independently audited, with a full
public discussion on those figures, including
a debate in Parliament."
15 January, 2007
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