Proposed changes to National Lottery funding allocation will be enacted by a statutory instrument in September, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced almost a month before the consultation closed at the end of August.

They will lead to a reduction in resources for the voluntary and community sectors from 50% to 40%.  60% of lottery ‘good cause’ money will be channeled into arts, sports and heritage organisations. The structural reform plan also calls for a 5% reduction in administration costs by lottery distributors. The chief executive of BIG Lottery, Peter Wanless, fears that this targeted reduction could lead to “the allocation of fewer, bigger grants”.

This is not to be confused with the consultation closing in October on proposals to require the Big Lottery Fund “to focus its funding on the voluntary and community sector”. It has now been made clear that these proposals, seen as threatening projects linked to public sector services, such as after-school clubs, will now be the subject of a separate decision by Scottish Ministers.