Mike Bell - Weston-super-Mare's next Liberal Democrat MP

Is North Somerset losing out on Lottery cash?

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 10th Jun 2003

North Somerset is missing out on millions of pounds in National Lottery cash according to a new House of Commons Library report.

The report, which looks at the amount of lottery money awarded to projects in every parliamentary constituency in the country up to the 5th June 2003, found that:

  • The average constituency had received nearly £19 million in lottery grants

  • Woodspring Constituency (which covers Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead) had received just £6.6 million

  • In the average constituency more than 200 different projects had received cash

  • In Woodspring Constituency only 163 projects had benefited from an award

Commenting, Woodspring Constituency's Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman, Councillor Mike Bell, said:

"These figures show that community groups and organisations in Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead have missed out on around £16 million when compared to the average constituency.

"Whilst the National Lottery has been good news for the more that 150 projects that have received an award, it has caused real problems for the rest.

"Many organisations have told me that they have struggled to raise money from the public and other sources since the Lottery was introduced.

"These House of Commons Library figures show that local groups are not even benefiting from a fair share of the Lottery money that is available."

Councillor Bell has written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and urged a review of the lottery awarding bodies to ensure that all parts of the country receive their fair share of lottery cash.

He also plans to raise the issue with North Somerset Council to ensure that the local authority does all it can to support local bids for lottery cash.

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Previous news story: Top up fees may stop 67% of local students going to university (Fri 6th Jun 2003).
Next news story: Tax credit chaos hitting vulnerable North Somerset families (Mon 16th Jun 2003).

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