Clause 10 - Distributing bodies: consultation
National Lottery Bill
3:15 pm
Jo Swinson (Shadow Minister, Culture, Media & Sport; East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat)
Thank you, Mr. Gale. It is important that the lottery can fund projects that are not the most popular or sexy, and that do not capture the headlines. There can be a danger, when involving the public more, that main, popular causes will always win. I spoke earlier about the BBC’s “Restoration” programme, which many people watched and enjoyed. That programme meant that many projects that are not often put in the spotlight were put in the spotlight. Manchester Victoria baths won that series in 2003, but would it have won if it was up against other reality TV programme stars of 2003, such as Natasha Kaplinsky in “Strictly Come Dancing”, or Peter André and Jordan in “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here”? That illustrates the importance of ensuring that popular projects are not funded at the expense of others.
I hope that the Minister agrees that the Big Lottery Fund should make a commitment that the projects on which the public will vote aim to achieve similar things, and that the public will not be asked to choose between projects between which there is a large imbalance in popularity. I hope that he agrees that all distributing bodies should make a similar commitment.