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Westminster and Holyrood are siphoning off lottery funds and denying Scottish charities millions of pounds according to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).

Martin Sime, the organisation's chief executive, claims that a combination of falling ticket sales and increasing use of lottery funds for government programmes is leading to a huge reduction in cash for Scotland’s charities. 

"The resources available to the Community Fund for charities will fall across the UK from £450m in 1999/00 to £250m next year – a drop of over 50 per cent.” 

SCVO fears that further government control will separate the public’s connection between buying a lottery ticket and contributing to good causes, thus reducing sales and resources further.

SCVO are also critical of the New Opportunities Fund which now takes a third of all lottery proceeds for good causes since the use of this money is strictly pre-determined by the UK government.  This situation “stifles the scope for innovation and communities own priorities” according to SCVO.

Sime accused the government of underhand behaviour and said:  “Through stealth and secrecy, government has taken hold of the lottery and the resources it generates and has quite shamelessly used it for its own purposes.”

Sime is calling for a radical overhaul of the situation:  “Lottery distribution policies must be open to a robust debate about overall priorities – is it social justice, sustainable development or public health?”

www.scvo.org.uk