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Lottery Funds (Allocation)
8. Angela Smith (Basildon): If he will take steps to consult national lottery players on a regional basis on how the proceeds of the lottery are allocated. [114859]
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Chris Smith): Under the National Lottery Act 1998, I instructed lottery distributors to produce and consult on strategic plans which proposed their priorities for funding. Distributors now have plans in place on which there has been broad consultation. Distributors also take account of public opinion through open meetings, polls and other research.
The National Lottery Charities Board selects two committee members in each region by lot, using the lottery draw numbers to identify potential members from the electoral roll. The Arts Council has now delegated a substantial proportion of lottery decision making to the regional arts boards. I welcome these moves by the distributors.
Angela Smith: I welcome that answer from my right hon. Friend. He will be aware that I do not think that my constituents get a fair deal from the lottery. They have spent £60 million on tickets and received back only£1.5 million. I greatly welcome the changes that are being made, but will my right hon. Friend look into the matter to ensure that they come into force quickly? I accept that it is not possible to allocate funds and to link money and expenditure on a constituency basis, but it can be done on a regional basis. I ask for greater consultation with my constituents, given the amount of money that they spend on tickets, on how the money is being spent in their region.
Mr. Smith: My hon. Friend raises an entirely understandable point. The changes that we brought in with the 1998 Act have enabled the distributors for the first time--this was not put in place by the previous Government--to delegate decision making to a regional level. I believe that to be extremely important. Regional cultural consortiums have a specific remit to advise the lottery distributors on the regional priorities for spending. That will be an added way of ensuring that the voice of the regions in this process is firmly heard.
Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex): Will the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that the regional voice, because of the substantial size of some of the regions, is not always nearly sharp enough on constituency applications. I endorse entirely what the hon. Member for Basildon (Angela Smith) has said. Sussex has not done well under the national lottery distribution. Will the right hon. Gentleman see what he can do to refine the structure
that is there already to ascertain whether he could take up the hon. Lady's suggestion to take the advise-giving process lower than regional level?
Mr. Smith: I am sure that it will be possible for regional cultural consortiums, regional arts boards, regional committees of the National Lottery Charities Board and other regional elements in the structures now being put in place to consult widely, deep down within the regions, as to the people's priorities for the spending of lottery money. We now have in place--again for the first time ever--an instruction to all the distributing bodies to ensure a fairer geographical spread of national lottery funds. That is beginning to take place, especially as the smaller grants programmes begin to roll out. That contrasts with what happened at the outset when there was a concentration on very large capital projects.
NESTA Projects
9. Dr. Ian Gibson (Norwich, North): What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the projects funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts programme. [114860]
The Minister for the Arts (Mr. Alan Howarth): NESTA is currently funding a series of pilot projects, prior to going live with its full programmes in the very near future, and I can confirm that it is undertaking detailed assessments of the value and effectiveness of each of these projects. I expect NESTA to make a real difference in tapping the creative potential of the country.
Dr. Gibson: My hon. Friend will be aware that last week was science and technology week, when many young scientists went into schools and deprived areas to teach the wonders of the science. They took their equipment with them and showed young people how to use it. When grants are given, will my hon. Friend guarantee that science and technology are not, as opposed to the arts, the Cinderella groups and that the wonders of science are brought, and money given, to deprived schools?
Mr. Howarth: As a distinguished scientist himself, my hon. Friend speaks with authority on this subject and I very much take his point. He will be reassured by the fact that, among the trustees of NESTA, are Sir Martin Rees and Dame Bridget Ogilvie, who have great authority in the scientific field. I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that it is extremely important that we do all that we can to encourage young people to commit themselves to the creative opportunities that scientific study and the pursuit of scientific careers offer. He may agree that one of the unfortunate features of British life has been that, however brilliant our basic science, we seem to have had a national difficulty in getting the benefits of that science out of the laboratory and into the showroom.
Film Industry
10. Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold): What measures he is taking to increase investment in the British film industry. [114861]
The Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting (
Janet Anderson): The Government have set up a strategic body, the Film Council, which will be in place on 1 April under the able chairmanship of Alan Parker, with the specific task of helping to develop a sustainable UK film industry. Over the next three years, the council will have about £150 million in grant in aid and lottery funding to support film.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: I am sure that the whole House would wish to congratulate last night's British Oscar winners, Michael Caine and Mike Leigh and, in particular, Sam Mendes on his film "American Beauty". Will the Minister therefore examine how it is that more than£100 million of lottery money has been spent on 60 films that virtually no one will ever see let alone go on general release? Would it not be better for lottery funds in the future to go towards seedcorn money producing the Oscar-winning films, such as "American Beauty", of the future?
Janet Anderson: The hon. Gentleman will be aware that, in future, this will be a matter for the Film Council. The total level of lottery support for film in England is £97 million to date. Perhaps more importantly, the total cost of films supported was £378 million, so the gearing is about three to one. It is important to highlight that, under this Government, investment in film production in the United Kingdom last year was £570 million, up£93 million on the previous year. It is clear that the interests of the British film industry are very dear to the Government's heart.
Mr. Tom Clarke (Coatbridge and Chryston): Does my hon. Friend agree that she and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State should be beaming with pride at last night's brilliant British successes in the Oscars? Does she further agree that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor's tax concessions and the Government's strategy for film as a creative industry suggest that the success of British film is there? Not only have the Brits arrived, but we are saying to the world that they ain't seen nothing yet.
Janet Anderson: My right hon. Friend is right. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to him, because when he was the Minister with responsibility for film, he was responsible for the film policy action group, which produced the document, "A Bigger Picture", and for securing the tax concession that has done so much to regenerate the film industry. He is right to say that the Brits have arrived, and we are very proud of the success of all our people in the Oscars last night. That just goes to show that we have a pool of excellent skills and talent here, and it is no wonder that more and more people want to make their films in Britain.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth (East Surrey): May I associate myself with the tributes that have been paid to our talented people who have again done well in Hollywood, and who include Phil Collins, who has not yet been mentioned? However, those people did not get very much out of the national lottery. Is the Minister happy that hardly any of the 60 films that have so far been funded by the lottery have earned anything like enough money to cover their
costs? Is she proud of the fact that of the £97 million of lottery money that has gone into those projects, less than £6 million has so far been paid back?I suggest that the hon. Lady and the Secretary of State nominate themselves for a golden raspberry award because the criteria for that award correspond exactly with their achievements. As the president of the Golden Raspberry Foundation said, they
- spend too much, entertain no one and fall flat on their face.
Moreover, is the hon. Gentleman saying that films that we have all enjoyed, such as "Hilary and Jackie", "Ratcatcher", "My Name is Joe", "Shooting Fish" and "An Ideal Husband"--which is the most successful lottery film--should not have been made? If so, the British film industry will be listening carefully to his remarks.
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