NCVO welcomes 'additionality' change to Lottery Bill

Howard Lake | 24 April 2006 | News

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has welcomed a Government commitment to amend the Lottery Bill, following its campaign to make key changes to the legislation regarding the ‘additionality’ principle.

The Government has agreed to table an amendment that will mean that lottery distributors will have to report on how their funding to the voluntary sector is free from political interference and distinct from governmentexpenditure. NCVO hopes that the ‘additionality’ amendment will ensure that lottery funding remains additional to core government spending.

Stuart Etherington, Chief Exectuive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations said: “This is an important victory for the voluntary and community sector. It should guarantee that lottery funding continues to be available for much needed and valued projects run by community groups and voluntary groups throughout the UK.

“We will work with the Government to make sure they are aware of the sector’s concerns, when drafting the amendment, and will await the results in the third reading of the Bill.”

Additionality, the principle that lottery funding should be additional to what should be properly funded from general taxation, was one of the founding principles of the lottery. NCVO has been campaigning to ensure the principle of additionality is upheld in future lottery funding to the voluntary sector.

A further change was made to the Bill, which removed the Secretary of State’s power to prescribe lottery expenditure. NCVO also welcomed this, as an important step in ensuring the lottery’s independence.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.