Lottery forces pools company to cut donations
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Your support makes all the difference.Competition from the National Lottery is forcing one of the main pools company to cut its donations to the Foundation for Sports and Arts, a trust which gives money to local sports clubs and theatre companies.
Vernons Pools announced it is to abandon in three months' time a scheme in which 5p of every 105p staked is donated to the FSA. It will continue to pay 2.5p in the pound tax to the foundation under the terms of the 1991 Finance Act.
The company said that the introduction of the National Lottery had reduced its turnover by 15 per cent since November and 95 people had had to be made redundant at its Liverpool headquarters three weeks ago.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer set up the FSA in his 1991 Budget speech, and Vernons agreed to support it. In 1993, the total income of the foundation was £68m. Two-thirds of this was voluntary donations by the pools companies, with Vernons donating £9m.
The Department of National Heritage said it was "disappointed" Vernons had taken its decision.
"Only recently the pools companies were allowed to advertise on television and last week we gave Vernons the concession to allow them to pay out pools winners in betting shops," it said.
Gratton Endicott, secretary to the FSA, admitted that Vernons' decision was a "serious blow" which would leave it with £200,000 less per week for grants. "It's an unfortunate state of affairs but we understand the reason," he said.
Last month, the FSA suspended funding for most new grants for the next six months. "With the difficulty surrounding us at the moment we did not want to build up too much of a queue," said Mr Endicott. "We are anxious that what happened to Vernons could happen to others although they have been very supportive. We have had to put fresh approvals on hold until we are on the move again."
Vernons said that the company would continue to lobby for a "level playing field" where the lottery organisers would pay as much in tax as the pools operators. Littlewoods and Zetters, the other main pools companies, have said they will continue to fund the FSA for the rest of 1995 at current levels.
Camelot, the lottery organisers, said that one person had won Saturday's jackpot of £9,015,108, and more than a million people shared a total prize fund of about £27.8m.
But a survey published yesterday suggests that three-quarters of people think the jackpot should be lower, with more than half wanting a maximum jackpot to be set at £5m or less.
Out of 1,000 people questioned by NOP for the TSB, only 41 per cent said they would immediately quit their job and retire if they won a £7m jackpot.Just over 30 per cent said they would give £1m to their family.
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