A lottery within a lottery? An examination of the distribution of lottery funds in England

The UK National Lottery has been in operation since 1994. An examination of the regional distribution of awards per head of population suggests marked spatial disparities with London doing particularly well and Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the North East faring much better than other regions. Such disparities also exist at English Local Authority level with London and some major provincial centres doing much better than more rural authorities. Such inequalities may give grounds for concern, given that they appear to replicate those for other types of Government spending. The results of an empirical model designed to explain the spatial distribution of awards suggest that, in addition to a London effect, levels of deprivation have a positive impact. Another important explanatory variable which has a positive impact on lottery funding is the qualifications of residents which might plausibly reflect the quality of lottery bids received from an area. However, once these factors are taken account of, there is little evidence that rural areas fare badly.