North poor relation for lottery funding

Oct 23 2007 by William Green, The Journal

A SHAKE-UP of heritage lottery funding has been demanded by MPs after it emerged the North-East receives the third least in the country.

The region was handed £164m – just 4.6% of funding – compared with London’s £744m or 20.7% between 1994 and 2006, says the Commons public accounts committee.

Only Wales and Northern Ireland got less, with £157m and £103m respectively. MPs said the London Olympics could also hit funding.

In a new report, they called on the Heritage Lottery Fund to consider the need for all regions to have access to funding, as well as its scope for cutting economic and social deprivation.

The fund was urged to develop an explicit rationale for selecting priorities to improve on current inconsistent criteria.

The committee warned funding would fall from £237m to £180m by 2009 because of the 2012 Olympics.

They said there was uncertainty over people switching to Olympic lottery games and the price for the Olympic park when it is sold.

Concerns about future income meant the fund was less willing to spend more of its £660m of undistributed money, said MPs.

But it should set out how it could manage with less money and costs could be cut – with a nearly £23m annual administration bill – so applicants understand its priorities and encourage them to find other sources of money. The MPs said under-represented groups should be helped to submit applications and efforts to simplify a confusing and off-putting process continue – although more information is needed to judge the success of schemes.

Shadow Tyneside minister Alan Duncan said: “It is important that the North-East is not neglected by the Heritage Lottery fund, especially given some of the wonderful sites in the region, such as Gibside or the former house of Venerable Bede.

“Equally, the Olympics will divert funding, and considering the North-East will benefit very little from the Games, they must be given a better share of the lottery money.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport – responsible for the Olympics and lottery – said it would consider the report’s recommendations.

But Gateshead East and Washington West MP Sharon Hodgson said: “The North-East deserves a better deal than this. We have made a real contribution to the heritage of the whole country and this should be valued.

“You only need to look at the success of the Renaissance in the Regions project to see how much people in the region value our shared history.

“Bowes Railway in my constituency is the only industrial monument which has the same level of protection as Stonehenge.

“Restoring, protecting and promoting such sites is essential if we are to maintain our heritage.

“I know that there are groups across Gateshead and Sunderland who are crying out for Heritage Lottery Funding and by the looks of these figures it is about time they got it.”