Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of Evidence


Annex A2

DISTRIBUTOR AGREEMENT TO CREATE JOINT SCHEME

AGREEMENT

in respect of the Awards for All (England) Joint Scheme

BODIES PARTICIPATING IN THE SCHEME

  1.  National Heritage Memorial Fund (Heritage Lottery Fund), National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund), New Opportunities Fund, the English Sports Council (Sport England) and the Arts Council of England (the participating lottery distributors) hereby agree to form a Joint Scheme in accordance with Section 25B of the National Lottery etc Act 1993 (as amended by the National Lottery Act 1998) ("the Act").

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF NATURE AND PURPOSES OF THE JOINT SCHEME

  2.  The name of this Joint Scheme shall be Awards for All (England).

  3.  The Joint Scheme will receive applications on a common form and will award grants of not less than £500 and not more than £5,000.

  4.  The Joint Scheme will make grants for expenditure to support community activities connected with the arts, sport, the national heritage; or concerned or connected with health, education or the environment; or for charitable expenditure (all as defined in the Act) and which meet one or more of the following programme aims:

      —  Extend access and participation.

      —  Increase skill and creativity.

      —  Improve the quality of life.

  5.  The participating lottery distributors agree to establish a Programme Board to be responsible for the direction of the Joint Scheme comprising a maximum of 14 members appointed as follows:

      (a)

One member appointed by each participating distributor who shall be an employee of the appointing distributor.

      (b)

Nine members appointed jointly by the participating lottery distributors.

  6.  Each participating lottery distributor agrees to appoint the Programme Board to exercise on its behalf all of its functions relating to or connected with the distribution of money within the nature and purposes of the Joint Scheme.

  7.  The participating lottery distributors agree to establish Joint Regional Committees (JRCs) for each of the nine English Government office regions and each JRC shall comprise a maximum of 14 members appointed as follows

      (a)

Two members appointed by each participating lottery distributor at least 1 of whom shall be an employee of the appointing distributor.

      (b)

A maximum of four members appointed jointly by the participating lottery distributors.

  8.  Each participating lottery distributor agrees to appoint each JRC to exercise in the relevant Government Office region the following functions in relation to the distribution of money:

    —  to determine regional priorities within criteria set by the Programme Board;

    —  to consider and determine grant applications;

    —  to approve a regional marketing and development plan;

    —  to monitor the outcome of grants; and

    —  to monitor the exercise of any decision making delegated to the officers employed to implement the scheme.

AREA WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM TO WHICH THE SCHEME APPLIES

  9.  The Joint Scheme will operate throughout England.

MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF MONEY WHICH MAY BE DISTRIBUTED IN ANY YEAR UNDER THE SCHEME

  10.  The maximum which may be distributed in any one year under the terms of the Joint Scheme is £75 million per annum inclusive of administrative expenses.

PROPORTIONS IN WHICH THE MONEY TO BE DISTRIBUTED UNDER THE SCHEME IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO EACH OF THE BODIES

  11.  The money to be distributed under the Joint Scheme including the operating costs shall be attributed to the participating lottery distributors in the following proportions, that is to say,


%

Heritage Lottery Fund
10.0
Community Fund
29.3
New Opportunities Fund
23.8
Sport England
24.4
Arts Council of England
12.5
100.0


  12.  The administration and provision of required accounting records for the Joint Scheme shall be undertaken by appropriate suppliers/contractors (currently Community Fund), in accordance with separate service level agreements. Participating lottery distributors will show through their own accounts their share of the costs and charges of the Joint Scheme.

DURATION OF THE SCHEME

  13.  The Joint Scheme will come into effect upon the signing of the agreement by the Chief Executives (or Directors as the case may be) of the participating lottery distributors and after the making of an Order by the Secretary of State authorising the Joint Scheme. It will commence operation on 1 April 2002 and will continue for a period of two years from that date unless extended in accordance with clause 19 below.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

  14.  The Chief Executives of the participating lottery distributors shall each be responsible for ensuring that:

    —  the principal purposes of the Joint Scheme include purposes for which his body has the power to distribute money; and

    —  the scheme continues to comply with all requirements flowing from the Act and any requirements of the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

  15.  It is the responsibility of members of the Programme Board and Joint Regional Committees to abide by the requirements of the Code of Practice for Board Members of Non-departmental Public Bodies, including arrangements for avoiding conflicts of interest.

  16.  Nothing in this Agreement overrides the established responsibilities of the Chief Executives as Accounting Officers in relation to the monies for which they are accountable.

  17.  All participants in this Joint Scheme shall ensure that the Scheme is operated in accordance with the requirements of the Act and any Directions made pursuant to the Act.

  18.  The provision of funds under this Joint Scheme can only be guaranteed to the extent that the National Lottery continues to operate and the participating lottery distributors receive funds from it.

  19.  This Agreement may be amended at any time by agreement in writing between the participating lottery distributors subject to the approval of the Secretary of State if required according to paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 3A to the Act.





 
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