English charities get 50% less than Scottish counterparts – report
2 min read
English charities receive half the amount of cash per head their Scottish counterparts do, according to a report by the Big Lottery Fund.
The charitable fund handed English causes £510 million last year, the equivalent of £9.32 a head, while in Scotland, they received a total of £76 million, or £14.04 a head.
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries called for a review into the discrepancy and wanted to know how the Big Lottery Fund shares out its profits from ticket sales.
She told the Daily Mail: “The Scots already get far more than the English in terms of public spending - so why do they get so much lottery money on top of this?”
“This needs to be looked at urgently. The union is precious but this is too much.”
Fellow backbench Tory MP, Andrew Bridgen, said he was “shocked” at the difference in funding.
“It would appear that Scotland wins the lottery every year,” he added.
Mr Bridgen has campaigned for more lottery funding for his east midlands constituency in the past, claiming it has been overlooked by the body in the past.
The Big Lottery Fund’s annual report reportedly shows that spending in Wales, at £14.29 a head, and in Northern Ireland at £14.21 per person, is on a par with Scotland.
Peter Bone, Tory MP for Wellingborough, said: “The Big Lottery Fund needs to look more carefully at how they distribute money.
“There are plenty of good causes in my constituency.
“The Scottish already get far more in public money per head of population than the English, so you’d think in that case they’d be getting less lottery money. This is the sort of thing that annoys people in my area who are struggling to get by.”
A spokesman for the Big Lottery Fund said: “Population is one key factor we take into consideration when determining our funding, but we do so alongside other social and economic factors.
“We continually review the allocation of our funding to ensure people across the UK can access it, and that it makes the biggest possible difference to people and communities.”
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