Department details

Office of Arts and Libraries 1964-1992

Prior to the second world war, the only public provision for the arts took the form of central government's responsibility for certain major museums and art galleries. The first steps towards a more direct public provision for the arts were prompted by a concern during the war for the morale of the civilian population.1 The beginnings of government involvement in the arts, however, date from the immediate post war years with suggestions that greater activity in the field of the arts should be encouraged and that central grant aid should be made available to museums and public libraries should be made more widely available. There were also suggestions that a separate ministry for the arts should be established although there was little progress on this front until the establishment of the Department of Education and Science (DES) in 1964.2

Responsibility for the arts function was added to the remit of the External Relations Branch of DES which changed its name in 1966 to the Arts, Intelligence and External Relations Branch. The Branch administered grants to major institutions, especially to the national museums and galleries, the Arts Council, National Film Institute and National Sound Institute. It was also concerned with the provision of funding for the National Theatre on the South Bank, London. In 1970 a new Arts and Libraries Branch was set up to deal specifically with these matters.

The Secretary of State for Education delegated his responsibility in this field to a Joint Parliamentary Under Secretary (later a Minister of State) until, in 1970, responsibility was delegated to the Paymaster General. After the general election of 1974, direct responsibility was resumed within the DES under a Minister for the Arts. In November 1979, a separate Office of Arts and Libraries was created and responsibility for arts and libraries was transferred to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. the functions of the Office of Arts and libraries were absorbed by the newly created Department of National Heritage (DNH) in 1992.

Department of National Heritage 1992-1997

DNH was the one new department established by John Major after his general election victory of 1992. Its creation amalgamated a number of functions relating to the arts, broadcasting, film, sport, architecture and historic sites, royal parks and tourism. The core of the new department was formed from the Office of Arts and Libraries, and additional functions (media, heritage, sport, tourism) were transferred from a number of other government departments including the Department of the Environment and the Home Office. DNH was responsible for funding the Arts Council of Great Britain and other arts bodies, the national museums and galleries in England and the British Library.3

Department for Culture, Media and Sport 1997-date

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was established in July 1997 following a change in government, retaining the core functions of its predecessor the DNH. DCMS has policy responsibility within the government for the arts, sport, the National Lottery, the Millennium, the Golden Jubilee, gambling, liquor licensing, libraries, archives, museums and galleries (see the separate administrative history for the Museums and Galleries Commission), broadcasting, film, the music industry, press freedom and regulation, the historic environment and tourism. Many of the executive functions in these areas are carried out by Non-Departmental Public Bodies, for example the National Lottery Commission. The department sponsors one Executive Agency - the Royal Parks; it also has a number of direct executive functions including listing buildings of special architectural or historic interest, scheduling ancient monuments, issuing export licences for cultural goods and managing the Government Art Collection.4

National Lottery Division

The National Lottery Division of DCMS has policy responsibility for the way in which National Lottery proceeds are distributed. It sponsors the National Lottery Commission and the National Lottery Charities board and co-ordinates the activity of the organisations that distribute money from the National Lottery to the various good causes. In 1993 five 'Good Causes' were created to benefit from money from the Lottery: sport, the arts, heritage, charities and projects to mark the year 2000 - the beginning of the third millennium. In 1998 a sixth Good Cause, the New Opportunities Fund, covering health, education and the environment was created. The division is responsible for the implementation of the National Lottery Acts 1993 and 1998, its duties also cover issues relating to the financial management and monitoring of lottery awards.

State run and private lotteries were first held in England in the sixteenth century, the first in 1569. Private lotteries were often held with the aim of raising finance for a specific purpose, for example the Virgina Company held several lotteries aimed at providing financial support for the English settlement in Virginia. The government too recognised that lotteries could be a useful way of raising revenue and held an annual national lottery between 1750 and 1826.5 The current lottery in the UK was launched on 14 November 1994 making the UK one of the last countries in Europe to establish a lottery. There are a number of reasons why the UK did not establish a lottery much earlier than this. The idea of a gambling venture supported by the state was opposed by the churches and a number of leading figures in the government notably the former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. In addition the voluntary sector was opposed to a national lottery fearing that it would lead to a significant fall in charitable giving. The football pools companies and major bookmakers were also against the introduction of a lottery predicting that it would have an adverse effect on their business. Supporters of a lottery were, however, able to demonstrate that the introduction of lotteries in other countries had had a beneficial effect in providing financial assistance to many social, cultural and sporting projects that would never realistically have been financed from public funds.6

The National Lottery Act 1993 established the legislative framework under which the lottery would operate.7 The act created the post of lottery regulator, whose office, the Office of the National Lottery (OFLOT) was responsible for establishing and regulating the lottery. In addition the 1993 act set out the system under which the lottery operator would be licensed to run the lottery and put in place the means by which the net proceeds of the lottery would be distributed. During 1994 OFLOT ran a competitive application process before awarding the Camelot Group plc a 7 year licence to run the National Lottery. Following a second competitive tendering process in 2000 Camelot was awarded a further seven year licence to operate the lottery with effect from October 2002. Camelot is a private sector company that was originally set up by a consortium of other companies: the GTech Corporation (an American IT company specialising in setting up and running lotteries), Racal Electronics plc (now known as Thales), Cadbury Schweppes plc, ICL (now Fujitsu) and De La Rue plc. In April 1998 following a libel case involving Guy Snowden, the chairman of GTech, and Richard Branson who had headed one of the rival consortia bidding for the lottery licence, GTech's share in Camelot was purchased by the four other partners in the consortium. Although they are no longer part of the Camelot group, GTech continues its involvement with the lottery as Camelot's main supplier of lottery technology. From July 1999 The Post Office (now known as Consignia) joined Camelot as the fifth partner in the consortium. The UK's National Lottery is one of a small number of national lotteries including those in Japan and Italy that are run by private companies rather than the state.8

The National Lottery Act 1998 replaced OFLOT with a new regulatory body, the National Lottery Commission. The Commission is a non-departmental public body funded by grant-in-aid provided by DCMS. Its duties can be summarised as ensuring that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, that the interests of those playing the lottery are protected and to maximise the money raised for the good causes. The Commission discharges its duties by selecting the Lottery operator, setting the terms of its licence, ensuring that it complies with those terms and that it pays the right amount of money to the good causes. Individuals and companies associated with the National Lottery are vetted by to ensure that they are 'fit and proper', the Commission is also responsible for licensing the individual games that form part of the National Lottery.9 The National Lottery Act 2006 introduced a change to the distribution of funding to the good causes by establishing the Big Lottery Fund as a single distributing body replacing the Community Fund, the New Opportunities Fund and the Millennium Commission.

The Millennium Commission 1993 - 2006

The Millennium Commission was established in 1993 by the National Lottery Act. It convened for the first time in February 1994 and was one of the bodies that distributed proceeds from the National Lottery. Unlike the other distributing bodies, the Commission was created as a temporary organisation, with a specific short-term objective aimed at funding projects to celebrate the end of the second millennium and the start of the third.

The Commission was created and regulated by the Government, but classed as an independent body. The Millennium Commissioners were individuals entrusted with the core decision-making powers subject to the ongoing advice offered by the Commission staff. Commission staff assisted projects throughout the grant-giving process by monitoring progress and offering guidance. Commissioners were in turn updated about the ongoing achievements of individual projects.

In August 2001, the National Lottery ceased to distribute income to the Millennium Commission under the terms of an Order approved by both Houses of Parliament in December 2000. Up until its dissolution on 30 November 2006, the Millennium Commission continued to distribute grants and complete projects in addition to fulfilling its role of protecting the legacy of the millennium celebrations. All grant-giving work was scheduled to be completed by the same time that the Commission was to be dissolved by Parliament. Following the closure of the Millennium Commission, responsibility for the necessary checks of Commission-funded projects now resides with the Big Lottery Fund. 10

National Lottery Awards Database: reference CRDA/39

The National Lottery Awards Database provides information about awards made from the proceeds of the National Lottery. It contains grant award information provided by the distributing bodies and is used by the Department to generate reports summarising awards by any selected value; for example, good cause, region or distributing body. The database is also available on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport website: http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk/search.asp. For further information on the National Lottery Awards Database see the Series Catalogue.

Millennium Commission: Awards Scheme Database (AMIS): reference CRDA/65

NDAD holds one dataset in this series comprising the Awards Scheme database (also known as the Awards Management Information System or AMIS). It provides details of all the projects supported through the Millennium Awards Scheme from 1996 until 2005. The system holds data on the following: Award Partner organisations; Award schemes; Award scheme finances; Award winners; Award winner projects. See the Series Catalogue for details.

Millennium Commission: Grants Database (PROFESA): reference CRDA/66

The Grants database PROFESA provides details of grants awarded to all the organisations supported through the Millennium Awards Scheme, which allowed individual people to benefit directly from a National Lottery grant; the Millennium Projects scheme; and the Millennium Festivals scheme. It contains basic information about all the projects, awards and festivals supported by the Millennium Commission, including applicant, project outline, cost, and progress. See the Series Catalogue for details.

The National Archives holds records of the DCMS in series with the prefix "PF". Records of its predecessor, the Arts and Libraries branch of the Department of Education can be found in series with the prefix "ED" including ED221, ED 236, ED242, ED244 and ED245.

The National Archives holds records of the Millennium Commission in series "MM", including Minutes and papers from 1994 in MM1; a copy of the website in MM2; and case files from 1993 in MM5.

Further information on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport can be found on the Department's website. The general telephone number for DCMS is 020 7211 6200; email enquiries can be sent to enquiries@culture.gov.uk; the department can be contacted by post at DCMS, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH

1. Stefan Collini, Culture Inc, The Guardian (28 Oct 2000), consulted on 20 November 2001 at (http://www.guardian.co.uk/dumb/story/0,7369,387441,00.html)

2. Public Record Office Online Catalogue (PROCAT), Administrative History of the Arts and Libraries branch of the Department of Education and Science, consulted on 20 November 2001 at (http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk)

3. Public Record Office Online Catalogue (PROCAT), Administrative History of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, consulted on 7 June 2001 at (http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk)

4. Cabinet Office, The 36th Civil Service Year Book 2001 (London: Stationery Office, 2001)

5. Raymond Snoddy and Jon Ashworth, It Could Be You, The Untold Story of the UK National Lottery (London Faber and Faber, 2000)

6. Raymond Snoddy and Jon Ashworth, It Could Be You, The Untold Story of the UK National Lottery (London Faber and Faber, 2000)

7. National Lottery Act 1993 (http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1993/Ukpga_19930039_en_1.htm) consulted on 10 Jan 2002

8. Raymond Snoddy and Jon Ashworth, It Could Be You, The Untold Story of the UK National Lottery (London Faber and Faber, 2000)

9. DCMS web site (http://www.culture.gov.uk), consulted 10 Jan 2002

10. The Millennium Commission website (http://www.millennium.gov.uk/about/how_we_work.html), consulted on 29 September 2004, and 8 January 2007.