27 September 2007
We received a petition asking:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop the Chancellor from using lottery money to fund the olympics in 2012."
Details of Petition:
"Stop the chancellor using Lottery money to plug the funding gap in the 2012 olympics. If this goes ahead at least £900m will go from Big lottery, Sport England, Arts Council and Heritage Lottery much of this money would fund projects within the local voluntary and community sector. Services to disadvantaged people will be directly affected by the loss of this funding, people who will have no opportunity to benefit from the olympics directly but rely on local services provided by the voluntary sector. "
Read the Government’s response
The decision to take a further share from the Lottery was taken only after very careful consideration. The Government is determined to ensure that the temporary diversion of funding from the existing good causes to the Olympic good cause is done with the least possible disruption. As such, the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport announced in Parliament on 15 March that no existing lottery projects will be affected by this decision.
In addition, the Minister for the Olympics and the Mayor of London have reached an agreement on the sharing of profits from the sale of remediated land in the Olympic Park after the Games, with some returning to the Lottery to compensate for its additional contribution.
The Government continues to value the important contribution of the arts, cultural and heritage sectors in broadening access and bringing high-quality cultural experiences to a wide number of people.