Commentary on Sections Part 3: National Lottery: Olympic Lotteries Section 26: Payments out of fund
76.Section 26 sets out the types of payments that can be made from the OLDF. Subsection (1) provides for payments to be made by the Secretary of State from the OLDF to the Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD) which is responsible for distributing any monies received in accordance with section 30 of the Act.
77.Subsection (2) permits the Secretary of State to make regulations to provide for further payments. These include meeting expenses incurred by the Secretary of State and the National Debt Commissioners as a result of the exercise of their functions under Part 3 of the Act (subsections (2)(a) and (b)). Subsection (3) provides that Treasury consent is required in relation to payments of this kind.
78.Subsection (2)(c) and (d) enable the Secretary of State to make payments to the NLDF and to the Greater London Authority (GLA). In relation to payments to the NLDF, subsection (4) gives the Secretary of State discretion to divide the money between the good causes as set out in section 22(3) of the 1993 Act or to allocate it entirely to the sport good cause. In circumstances where such a payment is allocated entirely to the sport good cause, subsection (5) gives the Secretary of State a discretion to divide the money between the various sports lottery distributing bodies in proportions that differ from those set out in section 23(2) of the 1993 Act and may result in a particular body receiving nothing.
79.The power to pay money from the OLDF to the GLA and the NLDF as provided in subsection (2)(c) and (d) is included in the Act to accommodate arrangements for the public funding of the 2012 Olympic Games, as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Government and the Mayor of London (published June 2003), and to allow for public funding to be reimbursed where possible. The MoU makes provision for costs of staging the Olympics to be met from a variety of sources in varying proportions. These include from the GLA through an Olympic Council tax, from the National Lottery through Olympic Lottery games, and from existing Sports Lottery distributors. It also gives an indication as to how it is proposed payment may be reimbursed in the event that the Olympic lottery games generate a surplus.
80.In the event of payment to the GLA, subsection (6) provides that this may be used by the GLA for any purpose it is authorised to incur expenditure on.
81.Subsection (2)(e) enables the Secretary of State to make payments to the British Olympic Association (BOA) in its capacity as the National Olympic Committee (NOC) from the OLDF. If London is successful in its bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the NOC may suffer a drop in their income as a result of their having to surrender their property rights to the Olympic symbols, mottos etc. In these circumstances it may be necessary to make payments to the NOC from the OLDF.
82.Subsection (2)(f) enables the Secretary of State to make payments from the OLDF into the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of meeting the expenditure of the NLC which is initially defrayed out of money held in the Consolidated Fund in accordance with Paragraph 10 of Schedule 2A to the 1993 Act. Such expenditure will be incurred by the NLC, in licensing new Olympic Lottery games.