£320m lottery windfall must benefit all sports, Tories argue

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The £320m taken in tax from the new Olympic lottery games should be ploughed into sports that could otherwise lose out on financing because of London 2012, according to the opposition.

The shadow sports minister Hugh Robertson will move an amendment in the Commons to increase financial support to non-Olympic sports which fear their funding could be diverted because of the games.

The Olympics Bill has generated a high level of cross-party consensus but cracks in that unity are likely at today's third reading stage. The Conservatives will also raise fears the cost of the games could spiral and urge the government to cap council tax bills for London residents. Robertson said: "It is morally wrong the Treasury is going to benefit by £320m in tax taken from the new Olympic lottery games."

The government has set the national lottery the target of raising £1.5bn for staging the Olympics: £750m from the existing lottery good-causes pot and £750m from Olympic scratchcards and games. Robertson said"the big four" - the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Lawn Tennis Association - were concerned some of their lottery funding could be diverted. The Tory amendment proposes the £320m anticipated by the exchequer should be dispersed by the games organising committee (LOCOG) for the benefit of all sports.

"All attention in government circles is focused on the Olympics but the vast majority of people are not turning out for Olympic sports on a Saturday afternoon," Robertson said. "What made the 2012 bid so good was that sport presented a united front but now some are saying life is tricky and they need extra Treasury funding."

His second amendment proposes capping the amount to be raised by London council taxpayers at £625m - 38p a week extra for a band-D taxpayer. Robertson added that security costs were likely to escalate and construction-industry costs were rising at 7%, rather than the 3% budgeted for. However, Richard Caborn, the sports minister, will reject capping the council tax in London, believing it would be premature to close that option.


Source
Andrew Culf
The Guardian