Reports of a planned £320m–a–year cut to Big Lottery funding have led charities to lobby government for clarification and have prompted Labour to call for debate in Parliament.
If the claims are true the cut would represent a 48 per cent drop in good cause funding from the lottery. Charity groups have warned the claims, made in a blog post by a group calling itself Save Big Lottery, and publicised on Twitter, would have drastic consequences if true.
Acevo, NCVO, Navca and the Directory of Social Change have all expressed concerns about rumoured cuts to BIG’s funding and have called on the Treasury to provide clarity.
And the Labour shadow minister for civil society, Anna Turley, has said her party is seeking a debate on the funding of voluntary sector to take place before next Thursday’s spending review. She said Labour will seek answers about the rumoured funding cuts.
Last week a campaign group, Save Big Lottery, claimed that the government plans to reduce the amount of the good causes money that is raised by the National Lottery which goes to the BIG from 40 per cent to 25 per cent.
This would cut the amount of Lottery money going to the charity sector by almost two fifths, from over £830m a year to around £510m a year.
Save Big Lottery claims the government will transfer this funding to the arts sport and heritage, to make up for planned cuts to the Department for Culture Media and Sport’s budget.
Charity infrastructure bodies have said they believe the claims are credible and have asked government for clarification.
It is not clear who is behind the campaign which describes itself as “apolitical, independent and care only for the people and communities most in need”.
Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, has written to George Osborne. A spokesman said that Acevo was “seeking clarification and stressing the value and significance of BLF contributions to charities”.
An NCVO spokesman said it was also “seeking clarity from the Treasury” and described BIG funding as “vital” to the sector.
Barney Mynott, head of public affairs at Navca, said: “We are all trying to guess who is behind this but regardless we should take it seriously. The level of cuts being pushed through by the Chancellor means government departments are making horrendous choices. This type of desperate idea should not surprise us.”
“Our job is to make it impossible for the government to do this. We need to be ready to make sure that enough Conservative MPs understand the consequences of such a cut to charities and community groups in their constituency to stop this from happening.”
Jay Kennedy, director of policy and research at the DSC said that cutting BIG’s funding could be “disastrous”.
“Yet again we hear the threat of ministers rummaging around in the Big Lottery biscuit tin,” he said. “The government still hasn’t paid back the £425m it owes from the last time this happened in 2007. Another raid on the Big Lottery Fund would be disastrous for thousands of charitable beneficiaries.
“Ministers need to realise that lottery good causes money isn’t there to subsidise public spending or to buttress political initiatives. When the independence of the Big Lottery Fund is abused, as it has been too often in the past, people suffer.
“Charities are facing unprecedented challenges. Demand on their services is rising, while support from government is dropping away. The Big Lottery Fund is strategically important for the voluntary sector – providing vital grant funding for tens of thousands of small charities across the country. Slashing it could force many small charities to fold, leaving vulnerable people without support.”
Labour seeks debate on sector funding
Anna Turley, Labour shadow charities minister, said: “It is not clear whether these proposed cuts of £320m per year from the Big Lottery Fund are verified, but they are deeply concerning.
“We are seeking an Opposition Day debate on funding for the third sector before the spending review. If granted, I am sure this issue will be raised.”
DCMS, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office all said that they could not comment until after the spending review.
A BIG spokeswoman said: “Our funding reaches every community across the UK, with over 13,000 grants made last year alone. Our priority remains focussed on the interests of our thousands of grant holders and the millions of people whose lives are affected by our work.”
The government has previously decreased the proportion of the ‘good causes’ money that the BIG receives from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.
Responsibility for BIG moved from the Cabinet Office to DCMS in 2010, and shortly afterwards the department launched a consultation on reducing BIG’s funding to increase support to other funders.