Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2019 to Question 206860, on Stonewell: National Lottery, what processes are in place to ensure that providing information for key public sector institutions does not constitute lobbying or break any rules on political funding.

The Big Lottery Fund (BLF) has a process of review and due diligence on the award of all grants to ensure that BLF money is spent in the ways agreed through the grant making process, supported by a robust approach to the monitoring of grants over their lifetime. All Big Lottery Fund programmes clearly state in their guidance that they cannot fund political activities. Each programme is assigned a BLF member of staff as a point of contact who works with the organisation after the grant is made, supporting the grantee and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of their grant.

A further protection is provided by charity law which prohibits charities from supporting or funding a political party. This is enforced by the Charity Commission, as independent registrar and regulator.