Billericay, Wickford: Losing out on the lottery...

Life is often a lottery, but the two towns seem to be completely out of luck when it comes to securing their fair share of funds generated by the national game.

At the moment the constituency is in the bottom 10 for receiving lottery grants and Mr Baron wants new measures to help those languishing at the bottom of the funding heap.

He said: "There simply must be a fairer way of distributing lottery money."

According to Mr Baron the average constituency has received £14m in grants since the National Lottery was set up while Billericay has only received just over £700,000.

Even compared to neighbouring constituencies Billericay seems to be missing out - Basildon has received more than £2m and Brentwood has gained close to £3m.

Mr Baron has already met with Gerald Oppenheim, a director of the National Lottery's Community Fund.

He is now looking forward to a further meeting with Culture Minister Tessa Jowell to discuss how to tackle the issue.

He said: "I am of the view that there should be a sum from the overall pot ring-fenced for the benefit of the bottom ten or so constituencies.

"The ring fenced sum would be available for a set period of time, after which it would revert back to the overall pot."

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which oversees policy on grant distribution, said the Government was already aware of the issues being raised by Mr Baron.

They added that new initiatives were about to be launched to address the situation.

Mr Baron said he would give assistance to any group having problems preparing a lottery application. To contact his constituency office call 01268 520765.

Basildon District Council can provide financial assistance to groups preparing bids for lottery funding or other external grants. For more information about Pre-bid Development Grants call the Economic Regeneration Unit on 01268 294434

Published Monday December 17, 2001