Nursery World - Lottery shortfall raises doubts for children's funds

Lottery-funded programmes for children will not be affected by Camelot's revelation that there is a 5bn shortfall in the amount it hopes to raise for good causes, a spokeswoman for the New Opportunities Fund claimed last week. She said the Fund's figures were based on a 10bn forecast of National Lottery cash supplied by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and added that the out-of-school programme and the Neighbourhood Nurseries initiative would not be cut back. Many programmes, particularly in deprived inner city areas, were now being extended after receiving start-up cash in the first year.

She said the Fund's figures were based on a 10bn forecast of National Lottery cash supplied by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and added that the out-of-school programme and the Neighbourhood Nurseries initiative would not be cut back. Many programmes, particularly in deprived inner city areas, were now being extended after receiving start-up cash in the first year.

However, Eva Lloyd, chief executive of the National Early Years Network, said there were grounds for concern because the shortfall again raised the debate about 'what constitutes public funding'. She questioned whether key planks of the Government's anti-poverty strategy, particularly those affecting children, should be funded from the Lottery when its revenue could not be guaranteed in the future.

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