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Community Fund

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to simplify the system of applying for Community Fund grants. [128000]

Estelle Morris: We intend to make it easier for all potential applicants to apply for Lottery funding. The Decision Document on Lottery funding, which DCMS published earlier this month, outlined ways in which the application process could be simplified for all Lottery distributors. Our proposals include making the new community distributor the first port of call for all applicants seeking advice or guidance, expanding the Awards for All scheme and piloting a new micro grants programme, improved turnaround times for smaller grants, and greater standardisation of Lottery application forms, customer care charters and complaints procedures across all distributors.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has for redeployment of members of her Department out of London and the South East. [125363]

Mr. Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary (John Healey) on 11 July 2003, Official Report, column 1021W.

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) special advisers, (b) press officers, (c) civil servants, (d) advisers to civil servants and (e) permanent staff were working for her Department in each year since 1996. [126480]

Mr. Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to Table C of the annual publication 'Civil Service Statistics' which provides staff numbers, including press officers, in each department and agency from 1995 to 2002, copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

The number of special advisers working in the department since 1996 are set out in the following table:

Year	(3)Number
1996	2
1997	2
1998	3
1999	3
2000	2
2001	4
2002	2
2003	2

⁽³⁾ Total of 10 Special Advisers (full-time equivalents)

In addition, there have also been two Ministerial Sports Advisers, two Ministerial Tourism Advisers and two Ministerial Music Advisers since 1996.

Environmental Impact

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of the Department's

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policies have been screened for their environmental impact since June 2001; how many environmental appraisals have been conducted, and on what policy issues; and what information has been published about these screenings and appraisals. [124718]

Estelle Morris : Environmental impact screening is undertaken as an integral part of the policy making process and separate records are not maintained.

In respect of legislation, DCMS complies with guidelines by compiling Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) for proposals that have an impact on business, charities and the voluntary sector. RIAs include details of the obvious costs, risks and benefits of the proposal but also the wider economic, social and environmental impacts. There is no separate section within an RIA specifically for environmental impacts, but where a proposal has an impact on the environment, it should be set out in the RIA. The impact will usually be included in the analysis of the costs and benefits of the proposal, or may be covered in the unintended consequences section.

EU Directives

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the EU directives implemented by the Department since 8 June 2001. [126599]

Mr. Caborn: No EU directives have been implemented by the Department since 8 June 2001. I have nothing to add to my previous answers of 19 March 2002, Official Report, column 200–01W, and 29 April 2003, Official Report, column 336W.

National Lottery

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the objective will be of the good cause to be helped by the new lottery fund which will supersede the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund; and what types of organisations are planned to be its principal beneficiaries. [127991]

Estelle Morris: The Department's Decision Document on Lottery funding, published earlier this month, confirmed our intention to create a new community distributor, which will take on the functions of both the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund. It is proposed that the new distributor will act as a fund for transformation, supporting projects to revitalise and regenerate communities, particularly those at greatest disadvantage, across the UK. As with the two existing distributors, funding will be available to a wide range of organisations, with the focus being on projects which transform communities.

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what interim arrangements she intends to put in place for the creation of the new lottery fund which will supersede the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund. [127992]

Estelle Morris: The Department's decision Document on Lottery funding, published earlier this month, confirmed our intention to create a new community distributor, which will take on the functions of both the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund.

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Legislation will be needed fully to establish the new distributor. The two bodies have welcomed the proposal, and in the interim period have agreed to work together to look at bringing together their administrative and operational functions over the coming months.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total balance held by each of the Lottery distributors was on 17 July; and if she will make a statement. [127997]

Estelle Morris: The information requested is shown in the table.

Distributor	Balance (£)
Heritage Lottery Fund	982,700,272.70
Community Fund	256,374,661.71
Millennium Commission	198,814,261.94
New Opportunities Fund	851,399,441.55
Arts Council of England	234,702,785.11
Arts Council of Scotland	47,396,474.64
Arts Council of Wales	29,444,506.67
Arts Council of Northern Ireland	34,505,269.50
Film Council	71,454,508.56
Scottish Screen	914,754.59
Sport England	246,332,374.13
Sport Scotland	75,419,089.41
Sports Council of Wales	27,875,487.54
Sports Council of Northern Ireland	22,326,010.34
UK Sport	928,373.01
Total	3,080,588,271.40

The total balance as at the end of June 2003 was the lowest month end balance since August 1997. All of this money has been committed to projects by distributors.

This Department recently published the National Lottery Funding Decision Document, which sets out a number of proposals aimed at reducing further the balances held by distributors. These include issuing guidance on balance management to distributors and revising the Financial Directions distributors operate under in order to speed up the funding of smaller, low risk projects. There are also a number of other proposals which would require legislation. I have placed copies of the document in the Libraries of both Houses.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to review the system whereby projects can only be supported by the National Lottery for a set period of time. [127998]

Estelle Morris: There are no plans at present to review the period of support for projects by the lottery. Funding is generally time-limited and usually for a maximum of three years. Following extensive consultations last year, however, the Heritage Lottery Fund extended the length of the maximum period of support for their revenue projects from three to five years. There is an opportunity for grants to be renewed to allow projects to continue in operation but such follow-on funding is unlikely to be repeated indefinitely.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her projected timescale for implementing common branding for National Lottery supported projects. [127999]

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Estelle Morris: The Government recognise that the simplest way of establishing the necessary link between buying a Lottery ticket and funding a Lottery project is to use the same brand for both. The Lottery Distributors are currently working with Camelot to develop an appropriate design. It is expected that, from autumn 2004, this will be offered on a voluntary basis to projects which have received Lottery funding. The display of the logo will then become mandatory for most future Lottery awards. Over a longer timescale, other ways of using the crossed fingers logo throughout the whole distribution process will be explored.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff are employed on the Young People's Fund of the National Lottery. [128003]

Estelle Morris: The Department announced that we were considering setting up a Young People's Fund, and the Decision Document published earlier this month confirmed that this will be fully established within a year, with an initial budget of £200 million. It is envisaged that the Fund will initially be managed by the New Opportunities Fund, but we have not yet reached the stage where staff have been allocated specifically to run the scheme.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the proportion of National Lottery ticket sales made to (a) the young and (b) low income groups. [128004]

Estelle Morris: The available information is contained in an independent report on expenditure on the National Lottery (undertaken by Kerry Sproston) which was commissioned by the National Lottery Commission and published earlier this year. The report indicated that 17 per cent. of those aged 16–24 participated in the National Lottery, which was the lowest rate of participation for any age range. It also indicated that those on the lowest incomes (below £9,499 per annum) spent significantly less per week than those on incomes above this.

The report is available on the Commission's website www.natlotcom.gov.uk. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the extent of (a) overlap and (b) duplication in the work of the (i) Community Fund and (ii) New Opportunities Fund. [128005]

Estelle Morris: The Department's Decision Document on Lottery funding, published earlier this month, confirmed our intention to create a new community distributor, which will take on the functions of both the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund. We believe there is significant overlap between the work of the two distributors, particularly in supporting local communities and the voluntary sector. The new distributor is intended to take advantage of these synergies to transform the lives of local people and communities across the UK.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her policy on designating a National Lottery Day. [128006]

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Estelle Morris: The Government's proposal for a National Lottery Day is designed to provide an annual focus on the Lottery and its achievements, to let the public see what their lottery money goes to fund. It will be an opportunity for Lottery funded projects throughout the UK wherever possible to open their doors or otherwise celebrate the Lottery's contribution. The exact form the day will take is still to be finalised, but it will have a strong regional and local focus and major prizes will be available to players.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the options being considered for giving the devolved Administrations more influence over how National Lottery funding is allocated. [128008]

Estelle Morris: Our provisional view is that we should retain a UK structure for distribution but that the devolved Administrations should have more influence in setting specific priorities and strategies, taking account of the needs and wishes of local communities and service providers there. We will consider how this should be done, consulting with devolved Administrations before coming to a final decision.

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