asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have held recent discussion with the voluntary sector on the potential impact of diverting National Lottery funds presently flowing to charities, community groups and social enterprises to support the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. [HL4684]

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has sought the views of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA), the Voluntary Arts Network (VAN), Heritage Link and the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), as part of the formal consultation on the draft statutory instrument enabling the diversion of funds to the Olympic budget. The consultation will end on 25 August.

On 15 March, the then Secretary of State (Tessa Jowell) announced an additional contribution to the Olympic Games of £675 million over the four years 2009 to 2012 alongside a sharing arrangement by which lottery good causes will benefit from the profits of land sales after the Games. £425 million will come from the Big Lottery Fund and the remaining £250 million will be split between other good causes. In addition, non-Olympic good causes may lose about 5 per cent of their income as a result of sales diversion from the new Games during the eight years from 2005 to 2013.

At the time of the announcement, the then Minister for Sport (Richard Caborn) met a number of representatives of the voluntary sector and this issue has been discussed at other meetings with Ministers.