# Lottery funding for Olympics should be returned to good causes, says Public Accounts Committee

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/04/19/lottery-funding-olympics-should-be-returned-good-causes-says-public-accounts-committee/
- Published: 2013-04-19T17:31:43+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Lottery money for good causes that was diverted to fund the London Olympics should
be returned to good causes, according to the Public Accounts Committee in a report
published today.

The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee, today said: “Lottery good 
causes lost money during the period running up to the Games. They need to be assured
that they will get some of this back from the financial returns secured from the
development of the Olympic Park.

“The Lottery provided more than £2 billion towards the costs of the Games but has
little influence over decisions by the London Legacy Development Corporation about
the timing and value of sales over the next two decades. It is not clear that their
interest is being adequately promoted and protected.”

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The current arrangement would not see money returned to the Lottery until the end
of the 2020’s, following sales of the assets.

Given this, the report urged the London Legacy Development Corporation to give priority
to the Lottery in its decisions.

The Public Accounts Committee’s report examined the staging of the London 2012 Games
and plans for delivering the legacy.

## Big Lottery Refund Campaign

The [Directory of Social Change](http://www.dsc.org.uk) (DSC) has welcomed the Committee’s
report. It is campaigning for the £425 million taken specifically from the Big Lottery
Fund to finance the infrastructure for the Games to be returned. Its [Big Lottery Refund](http://www.biglotteryrefund.org.uk/)
campaign has attracted support from over 3,400 charities from across the UK.

Jay Kennedy, Director of Policy at DSC said: “It’s encouraging to see so many of
our concerns being recognised by the Public Accounts Committee, especially the acknowledgement
that the Lottery’s interests have been largely ignored. Tens of thousands of charities
and countless vulnerable individuals and communities have suffered as a result of
this money being taken, and its return is long overdue”.

He added: “There is an opportunity here to make this right. The underspend on the
Games shows that much of the money didn’t need to be taken from charities in the
first place, and there is no reason to delay its return any longer.”

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