Ministers are planning a £320 million raid on the lottery funding handed to charities, it was claimed last night.
Lottery money that funds thousands of good causes would be diverted to the arts, sport and heritage under the proposals, charity bosses said. The move would be designed to plug a hole in funding created by next week’s spending review.
This risks hitting the most vulnerable, senior charity figures said. There are also legal concerns because the government is not allowed to replace public funding with lottery money.
Government sources have indicated to charities that under the proposals the amount of money handed to good causes through the Big Lottery Fund would go from 40 per cent of all lottery funding to 22 per cent, an