Your Pound, Your Choice

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has announced plans for Lotto players to have more of a say about where lottery grants go under a new pilot voting scheme. The pilot trial is called, "Your Pound, Your Choice" and will allow players to tick boxes on voting slips at selected lottery retailers and thereby say which local projects should get lottery money.

Two regions have already been selected to pilot the scheme, although these have not yet been announced to the public. According to officials, the scheme is scheduled to run in August, and up to five projects in the two regions will compete for lottery grants of up to £50,000.

Speaking at the Lottery Monitor Conference in London, Tessa Jowell emphasised the importance of the public value of National Lottery in supporting good causes, and the importance of involving the public in shaping Lottery policy.

Tessa Jowell said: "The National Lottery is not just great fun for players, it is a major funder of good causes in the UK - £18.6 billion to date. Just imagine what Britain would be like without the Lottery. Major public value projects like the Tate Modern, Eden Project and the Angel of the North would not have happened. The National Lottery also has the overwhelming support of the general public.

"It is vital that the public feel that they have a genuine sense of ownership of the National Lottery and real power to shape decisions and influence outcomes. We have already made the Lottery more responsive to the views of the public - the tick box pilots and decisions about how Lottery money is spent over the next 10 year period take that a step further."

27 June 2006