Charles Walker condemns the Government for using lottery money to top up spending that should be central Government expenditure.

Mr. Charles Walker (Broxbourne) (Con): Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make a small contribution to the debate. It is always nice to speak to a packed House. I am sure that hon. Members are waiting with bated breath for my words of wisdom-[Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] I thank hon. Members very much.

Health, education and the environment are all hugely important things and they are quite rightly the responsibility of the Government. When the people of this country voted for the Government, they thought that they were voting for a Government who would meet their health, education and environment needs. However, they were not aware that the Government were going to use the national lottery as a means of topping up spending that should be central Government expenditure. If the British public knew what was going on today, they would be a trifle concerned.

We heard from the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) about the various initiatives that have been funded by lottery money already. Some 529 pieces of cancer scanning equipment have been funded at a cost of £93 million. Of course that equipment is hugely important and much welcomed by those whose lives it saves, but should it be funded by lottery money, or through central taxation? We have set up healthy living centres at a cost of £300 million and information and communications technology training for teachers and school librarians at a cost of £231 million. Out-of-school learning hours have been funded at a cost of £180 million. Those are vast sums of money. The hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor), who is no longer in the Chamber, suggested that we were talking about trifles and mere pennies, but we are not-we are talking about upwards of £1 billion. The Treasury already takes 12 per cent. of all money spent on the national lottery.

Mr. Don Foster: The hon. Gentleman adds to my list of examples. Does he accept that the ultimate example of funding by the lottery that clearly should have been provided by the Exchequer was the use of £111,000 for a heart failure nurse specialist at one of our hospitals?

Mr. Walker: I accept the hon. Gentleman's excellent intervention. It is a good intervention because it is the first that I have ever taken. In a sense, he has broken my virginity, and I thank him for that. Very pleasurable it was, too-he was very gentle.

Mr. Don Foster: I was delighted to have had the opportunity to do that, and I am delighted now that I have been able to do it twice.

Mr. Walker: It was as pleasurable the second time.

Things that should have been funded by central Government have, in fact, been funded by the lottery. All those things are hugely important, but the lottery was established to fund the additional things in life: sport, the arts and heritage-those little extras that make life worth living both nationally and as part of communities. I hope that the Minister takes our concerns on board. They were put to him in Committee. I hope that he has heard them again and will reconsider his position.

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