The hon. Gentleman has taken a long and admirable interest in the matter and, indeed, in the effect on charities. I will try to remember to send him a special copy of the leaflet. If he wishes, we could discuss how best to ensure that those who can benefit from the advice therein can be helped by him to make their applications so that his area gets its fair share of lottery awards.

In its first two and a half years of operation, the lottery has already made a remarkable difference to the capital infrastructure of good cause areas. Nevertheless, my Department is continuously reviewing the way in which the lottery works so as to achieve the best effect. After only approximately two years since the first awards were made, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has issued new policy directions to allow sports councils, arts councils and the heritage lottery fund greater flexibility in what they fund.

The sports councils have already launched revenue schemes under those new directions, which will provide support for our most talented athletes and attract and stage major international events in the United Kingdom. Further programmes to be announced later this year will provide community sports coaches and assist in identifying and developing talent in schools and sports clubs.

The arts councils have also launched revenue programmes under the new directions. The Arts Council of England has launched a two-stream revenue programme, "Arts For Everyone", aimed at established arts organisations—professional and amateur, youth or voluntary groups—putting together their first creative project, and at small professional arts organisations.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Sussex will be interested to know that the first arts revenue awards under the new directions were announced today by the Arts Council of Wales. They include grants of £5,000 to the Abergavenny arts festival towards the running costs of a small literature festival and workshops for teenagers and £1,758 to Llandysul primary school—I apologise to the Welsh for not, I dare say, pronouncing that properly—to stage the musical show "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Welsh.

On 8 August 1996, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State issued another new direction to the Arts Council of England, allowing it to fund a stabilisation programme for arts organisations. The purpose of the programme is to help arts organisations to gain long-term financial viability and to improve and secure management skills in those organisations. The programme will help organisations to consider and perhaps change their mission and the markets in which they operate, to inject new skills to help to achieve that mission, to provide balance sheet stability, and to deliver better value for money. The first successful applicants under the pilot stabilisation programme were announced in January.

The National Heritage Act 1997 will enable the heritage lottery fund to support a wider range of projects to provide greater public access to our heritage, support for education and youth-oriented projects and for information technology initiatives, and to preserve—