Department for Culture Media and Sport
distribution
The National Lottery Act 1993 established five areas to benefit from the Lottery: sport, the arts, heritage, charities and projects to mark the year 2000 and the beginning of the third millennium.
The National Lottery Act 1998 created a sixth good cause of health, education and the environment.
The National Lottery Act 2006 is an important element of the Government's reforms to the National Lottery to make it responsive to people's priorities and ensure that Lottery money goes efficiently to good causes.
What happens to the money spent on Lottery tickets?
Every Tuesday Camelot, as operator of the Lottery games, passes the proceeds from Lottery tickets sold in the previous week to the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF). The Fund, administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, passes the money to the Lottery distributors (see below), who are required to calculate the amount of money which they expect to pay in Lottery grants and cover operating costs. As distributors are not allowed to draw down money in advance of need, monies which are not yet required (e.g. because successful grant recipients are not yet in a position to spend their Lottery grant, or have agreed staged payments) the remainder of the money is invested until required, by the National Debt Commissioners for the benefit of the NLDF.
The income from each ticket sale which is passed to the Lottery distributors is worked out according to a formula set out in the operating licence. Currently, sport, arts and heritage each receive 16 and two thirds percent of this income and the Big Lottery Fund receives the remaining 50 percent. In addition, the distributors receive income from the investment returns on their balances held by the NLDF. This means that Lottery distributors' budgets are based on Lottery income and investment returns.
The chart below shows how every £1 spent on a Lottery ticket is divided up:
Applying for a National Lottery grant
There are currently 13 independent distributing bodies responsible for awarding National Lottery grants. These are: Sport England; Sport Scotland; Sport Northern Ireland; the Sports Council for Wales; UK Sport; Arts Council England; Arts Council of Wales; Arts Council of Northern Ireland; Scottish Arts Council; Scottish Screen; the UK Film Council; the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.
These bodies make their grant decisions independently of Government and of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. They also make their decisions based on the published criteria of each of their different Lottery funding programmes.
To apply for a National Lottery grant you can contact the relevant distributing body through the Lottery Funding website or by telephoning the Lottery Funding Hotline on 0845 275 0000, which can also offer advice on the best distributing body to approach.
Details of all the grants awarded to date can be accessed via the National Lottery grant search database.
Following the announcement that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be hosted by London, an additional distribution body has been established - the Olympic Lottery Distributor.
The Olympic Lottery Distributor's role it is to fund any facility, function or service it considers necessary or practical for the delivery of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will monitor grants to ensure they are spent effectively.
Money raised through the dedicated Olympic Lottery games passes into the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund, which is administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The money is drawn from this Fund when needed by the Olympic Lottery Distributor
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