Many thanks for your letter regarding the Heritage Lottery Fund and for your invitation to submit evidence to the forthcoming inquiry.

  Having consulted with my colleagues, I now set out below a small number of comments arising from our experience of the applications process and our background knowledge of the fund itself and the criteria within which it operates.

1.   GENERALLY

  The Heritage Lottery Fund is a most valuable source of support. It has enabled a great deal to be achieved in the few years since its inception.

2.   APPLICATIONS

  Whilst a recent review of the application paperwork has somewhat simplified the application form, they are still very detailed and require a great deal of preparation. This task would be best avoided if it is unlikely to be unsuccessful.

  Close attention to emerging projects by Lottery Fund Officers and a partnership approach between the applicant and the officer would enable the provision of clear advice at an early stage and would be most valuable in minimising the risk of wasted effort. Perhaps a very simple, formal pre-application assessment, (similar to that currently used by English Partnerships) could be devised.

3.   REVENUE FUNDING

  Very often, a stumbling block for a proposal is the lack of ongoing funding to ensure the proper management of a facility or area following the initial injection of funding for creation or improvement. It would be very helpful if revenue funding was a more easily obtainable feature of a grant package. Perhaps in the form of an endowment.

4.   ACCESS

  The Heritage Lottery Fund has an important role in facilitating the improvement or provision of access to enable the public to enjoy and understand heritage areas. Sometimes the wider benefits of a scheme initially focusing on an area without great heritage value, but linking with a wider very special area, are harder to identify and quantify than those associated with say a monument of obvious and immediate value. This should not disqualify the former and there should be mechanisms for taking this into account.

  Again, this might be facilitated by a closer working relationship between an officer of the Fund and the applicant.

  I hope that these brief comments are of help, I would of course be happy to elaborate should you wish to get in touch.

September 1998