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Mr. Leigh: I am grateful to the Minister for the way in which he has summed up the debate, particularly on amendment No. 5, which would give a right of access and control to the Comptroller and Auditor General. He intimated that, if I may read between the lines, it was too early for him to put that on the statute book and that he would need more advice. He said that he was happy for his officials to discuss with the National Audit Office how to obtain some such provision in statute, if not in this Bill, then in a future one. That is very positive.
On amendment No. 3, the Minister repeated my point that we cannot really put a figure for a capping limit in the Bill. He accepted that there was a legitimate debate about that, however, and he will issue guidance. I am very happy with that.
On amendment No. 4, the Minister took care to deal with the wide-ranging existing safeguards that ensure that if there is a problem with an endowment fund, the money could, apparently, return to the distribution funds.
The Minister's summing up was very satisfactory. We have teased out some important elements of how the moneys will be protected in this important debate, and there will be accountability to Parliament. In the spirit of good will, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
11.1 am
Mr. Keith Simpson : I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
As a number of Members have said, the Bill received all-party support on Second Reading on 28 February and in Committee on 6 May. I thank, in particular, my parliamentary colleagues from Norfolk, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Mr. Wright), who is present, my right hon. Friend the Member for South-West Norfolk (Mrs. Shephard), my hon. Friends the Members for South Norfolk (Mr. Bacon) and for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham), the hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson), and the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, who represents Norwich, South. Their assistance has been positive and has undoubtedly helped the Bill's progress. I thank, too, my hon. Friends the Members for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh) and for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) for pressing probing amendments constructively on Report. Both have given the Bill a fair wind, but they rightly teased out some points about the Bill itself and the national lottery in general.
The Bill's purpose is to amend current lottery statute, as already amended by the National Lottery Act 1998. It is intended expressly to provide all distributors with the power to make grants to endowment funds, should they choose to do so. Current statute gives lottery
distributing bodies power to distribute lottery money for meeting expenditure of the types covered by sections 22 and 23 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. It does not, however, define what is meant by "for meeting expenditure" or contain any explicit reference to funding endowment funds. The Minister has confirmed that the wording was not the result of any deliberate intention to prevent distributors from giving grants to endowment funds.The Bill's content is straightforward. It amends those sections of the 1993 Act that refer to "for meeting expenditure" to make it clear that the terms include funding of endowments in each case. It also provides for the change to have retrospective effect. Some distributing bodies have made grants to endowments, and the Bill will ensure, as debated on Report, that those payments cannot be called into question.
I shall speak briefly about the origins of the Bill. As a number of Members have said, it came directly from the fair county of Norfolk, and was born from the "We Care" 2000 appeal begun by our regional newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press. It is appropriate to be holding the Report stages and Third Reading of the Bill in the week after UK carers week. We all know the role that hundreds of thousands of carers undertake in our constituencies. Without their caring for their families and friends, there would be an enormous additional burden on our social services and the national health service. I pay tribute to the work of the 130,000 carers in Norfolk.
The EDP's appeal had a target of £1 million, and it has reached £750,000, thanks to a £100,000 lottery grant. Efforts to secure that grant took about 18 months. The first bid was rejected because of an anomaly in wording, but the second was successful. That is great news, and the money will make a real impact. The money from the Community Fund will be used to help another 80 carers a year who support loved ones who are unable to look after themselves. It is a huge boost to the EDP appeal, which was set up nearly five years ago, with its ambitious target of raising £1 million, as a partnership between the newspaper and health professionals. One of the purposes behind the Bill is to enable the appeal to raise more money for carers. The money just received will be spread over two years. It becomes available at the end of July and will enable the purchase of domestic appliances, power packs for wheelchairs, swivel seats and computers to loan to carers in Norfolk. We are very grateful for that.
I hope that the Bill will help many similar charitable bodies that want to establish a secure funding base for their work. The benefits of the Bill are that it will clarify the powers of all distributors, put the Community Fund on the same legal footing as other distributors in being able to fund endowments should it choose to do so, and, perhaps most importantly, benefit charities such as "We Care" that want to apply for lottery funding, enabling them to manage their resources more strategically and with more secure future funding.
We have debated the benefits of endowment funds. There is no doubt that there is both an upside and a downside. The crucial point is that the Bill provides permissive, not mandatory, power for distributors. It will ultimately be up to distributors to determine how to treat applications for grants to endowment funds against other calls for lottery funding. As was rightly
said on Report, we must make certain that that is not abused. The Minister has assured us that his Department intends to assist distributors by issuing guidance on that, should the Bill be enacted. Draft guidance will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses shortly, in time for the Bill's introduction in the House of Lords.As the Bill provides a permissive power for lottery distributors, it will have no impact on central or local government expenditure or manpower. Nor will there be any regulatory cost to business or the voluntary sector. The measure is intended to assist charities and other good causes by helping them to manage their funding more effectively.
Legislation relating to the national lottery is reserved to the UK Parliament, but I understand that the Bill has attracted the support of the devolved Administrations.
Finally, it was remiss of me earlier not to thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) for his positive and enthusiastic support this morning from the Front Bench.
I commend the Bill to the House.
11.8 am
Mr. Anthony D. Wright (Great Yarmouth): I will speak for only a couple of minutes because I am aware that other Members have equally important Bills to discuss this morning. I want only to congratulate the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson), and to offer congratulations, too, to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson), who tried to promote the Bill two or three years ago. We all know the history of why it did not pass then. It is pleasing that the Bill has support on both sides of the House. The project has certainly united political parties in Norfolk.
The probing amendments that were tabled today needed discussion, and I hope that the Bill will proceed with all speed so that charities such as the "We Care" appeal in Norfolk, which has already helped many hundreds of my constituents as well as many other people across Norfolk, can gain more money through endowments and achieve much more throughout the country.
Once again, I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk and hope that the Bill proceeds with all haste.
11.10 am
Mr. Greenway: I want only to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on the progress of the Bill and to express the hope that it will be well received in the other place. I thank him for his kind remarks.
I genuinely believe that the way that lottery funds are distributed and the good causes that they are seen to support are vital ingredients in managing a successful national lottery. My hon. Friend's Bill contributes to that process, especially in the county of Norfolk.
May I ask the House to be kind enough to excuse me so that I can return to my constituency, where, this afternoon, I am visiting a project that has just received funding from—believe it or not—the national lottery and the Foundation for Sport and the Arts? I am going
to see the new sports pavilion in all its glory and shall leave the Opposition Front Bench in the capable hands of my hon. Friend the Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown), who, in fact, originally came from Norfolk.Once again, my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk, and I hope that all right hon. and hon. Members have a happy weekend.
11.11 am
Mr. Chope: I wish my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) Godspeed and a safe journey to his destination. My constituents will look at his constituents with some envy and ask, "Why can't we get a decent share of the money that is being distributed from the lottery?"
I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on having steered the Bill to Third Reading. Although I was slightly critical of him for not having asked more questions in Committee, I understand the reason and forgive him. I think that he wanted to curtail the Committee stage so that he could ensure that his Bill was heard first today. Strategist that he is, he has succeeded in doing that, although the tactics were not necessarily to all our liking. However, we have had a chance today to examine some of the issues that would have been considered in Committee and the Bill is none the worse for that.
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