Clause 26 - Payments out of Fund
Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill
9:45 am
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
Those involved in sport have not indicated any of those concerns to me or to my officials; on the contrary, we have kept things lean and mean and ensured that the lines of communication are as short as possible where we can affect decisions. Although the hon. Gentleman has proposed amendments to stop this, I am sure that he will appreciate that we are attempting to ensure that there is flexibility in the distribution of lottery funds in a number of areas—for example, if the Mayor's office or the Greater London Authority wished to move in, the Bill allows us to compensate. We have attempted to ensure that the streamlining of payments is effective, because we know that we are operating under very tight time constraints as we move to the bid and—hopefully, after July 2005—beyond.
There has been no indication to us about the legacy in respect of the lottery. The legacy was first class in relation to the Commonwealth games in Manchester. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I saw how a number of cities had dealt with the bid, the operation and the legacy, which taught us a lot, particularly when we consider the Sydney experience, where a fantastic—but massively underutilised—suite of facilities costs £10 million a year, not to fund its debts, but in revenue to keep those facilities running. If those in Sydney could make that choice again, they would not have two arenas. They would use a downtown arena in Sydney rather than building a new one.
We have learned from those experiences and have built them into our strategy, which is why we were commended so highly by the president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge. He said that the approach that the Brits had taken was very businesslike. We have been congratulated on the way that we approached the bidding process, part of which has been the legacy. I know of no criticism from those involved in sport, to the best of my knowledge. Later, the hon. Gentleman might be able to whisper in my ear the names of those who have been whispering in his ear, and then I shall be able to whisper in their ears.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 26 ordered to stand part of the Bill.