The Directory of Social Change has called upon the newly re-elected Conservative government to repay £425m that was diverted from the Big Lottery Fund to help pay for the 2012 London Olympics.
In a statement released to mark the passing of the 1,000th day since the money was borrowed by the then Labour government in 2007, Jay Kennedy, the director for policy and research at the DSC called upon Prime Minister, David Cameron to “redress this wrong”.
“David Cameron has a massive opportunity to redress this wrong, to support vulnerable people and vital causes across the UK, and it need not impact the government balance sheet," he said. "His ministers have previously said they are confident that the money will be eventually paid back.
“The new government should pay back the Big Lottery Fund immediately, and take on the role of creditor for repayment from assets sales. This could help tens of thousands of charities and millions of people during very difficult times.”
While some £148m was repaid in 2014 – including £69m from the sale of the Athletes’ Village in September – Kennedy said the DSC hasn’t subtracted that from the overall figure.
“The £69m for the Athlete’s Village was an additional raid on lottery distributors after a private sector deal fell through,” said Kennedy speaking to Civil Society News. “While the other figure of £79m that was returned last year was from money they took but never used.”
Kennedy also said that between the government and the London Legacy Corporation, the Big Lottery Fund and other distributors could find themselves being repaid over £800m.
While both the last coalition government and the preceding Labour government agreed to pay back the debt owed to the Big Lottery Fund, the DSC claim the scheme might not be fully refunded until 2030 or even beyond.
Kennedy said that the 1,000th day milestone was one of “shame for the Olympic legacy”.
“Hundreds of millions of pounds were taken from charities that depend on Big Lottery Fund grants to help vulnerable people and communities across this country, to subsidise the costs of building stadiums on the Olympic Park. We need this money paid back now, not in 2030.”
Over 3,800 charities have joined the DSC’s ‘Big Lottery Refund’ campaign so far.
