More than £70 million of lottery grants have been awarded to people and organisations in one part of Brighton in just over a decade.
And nearly £10 million has been to organisations in the same parliamentary consitutency by the Arts Council through the Grants for the Arts programme since 2003.
The figures were revealed in a written reply to a question by Brighton Pavilion Green MP Caroline Lucas.
She asked Conservative Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to “set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Brighton Pavilion constituency, the effects of his department’s policies” since May 1997.
John Penrose, the Conservative Junior Minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, replied.
His reply – on the website They Work for You – can be seen here.
He said that the impact of the department’s policies, including those delivered by its quangos, included
- Almost £70 million of national lottery grants being made to applications from the Brighton Pavilion constituency since 1997
- £9,617,829 being given by Arts Council England to organisations based in Brighton Pavilion through the Grants for the Arts programme since 2003
- £1,689,500 of capital lottery funds being allocated by Arts Council England for projects in the Brighton Pavilion constituency since 2003
- Almost 100,000 free swims being taken in the Brighton and Hove area as part of the Free Swimming programme
- £53,000 of English Heritage grant funding being offered to the constituency in 2008-09
- £25,149 of funds being spent in the constituency through Sport England since 2002
He also said that the switch to digital television was due to start taking place in the constituency next year and to be complete by the end of 2012.
Since the general election in May, when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition took office, he said that Arts Council England had granted a further £78,767 to organisations based in Brighton Pavilion through the Grants for the Arts programme.
And since the election, the heritage lottery fund has provided £206,200 to the constituency.
