Scottish Secretary boosts bid to get Lottery cash for 2014 Games

THE campaign to win Lottery funding for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games received a huge boost last night after Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy revealed he is backing the plans.

Murphy, installed in the post last weekend, has already begun talks with Lottery Minister Andy Burnham to ensure a "lasting legacy" is secured for the games.

It follows a two-month campaign by this newspaper to ensure a substantial sum of Lottery cash goes to Games organisers to boost sporting facilities in Glasgow and across Scotland.

SNP ministers raised the issue in the early part of the year, claiming that as much as £200m is to be taken from Scottish causes to pay for the London Olympics.

The £300m cost of the Commonwealth Games is being met entirely by taxpayers in Scotland and Glasgow.

Politicians on all sides in Scotland have since backed calls for a one-off Lottery payment to be made for the Commonwealth Games. Sports bodies have pointed out that – with cuts in funding due to the Olympics – they will struggle under current funding arrangements to afford top-quality coaching or to boost facilities across the country.

With extra cash in hand, it is hoped that administrators will ensure that by the time the Games are held in Scotland, in 2014, a world-class sporting infrastructure is in place that will last well beyond the two-week event.

Murphy took on the new Scottish Secretary position last week with a promise to work with Scottish ministers where there was common ground.

He told Scotland on Sunday: "I want to see Glasgow's Commonwealth Games leave a permanent legacy in the east end of the city and beyond. I am working with the leader of Glasgow City Council Steven Purcell and

Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to secure this lasting legacy. This is a once in a generation chance to have a transformational impact on the lives, health and housing of the ordinary people in Glasgow and across the whole country."

Purcell added: "I am pleased with the discussions I am having with the new Secretary of State and I believe there is a genuine will on behalf of the UK Government to swing behind the efforts to enhance the legacy that we, along with the Scottish Government and the Commonwealth Games Federation, are determined to create for the people of Glasgow and beyond."

A spokeswoman for Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell said: "There is strong support in Scotland for a fair share of Lottery funding to help support the legacy of Glasgow 2014, and Jim Murphy's backing for the campaign is very welcome indeed.

"Some £150m of Lottery money is being diverted from good causes in Scotland to go towards London Olympic spending, and it is entirely fair that an equivalent amount should be returned.

"Now that we are getting support from the UK Government, hopefully we can make speedy progress in identifying these resources."

Officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have so far resisted the calls for any Lottery funding, pointing out that the Commonwealth bid did not request such funding when they originally made their submission.

Organisers of the Games are now putting together a specific 'wishlist' for Burnham, which they intend to submit to UK ministers soon.

Scotland's leading sporting bodies are massively reliant on Lottery funding, but well over £1bn was taken out of the UK funding pot in order to provide extra money for the London Games.

As well as sporting bodies, voluntary groups in Scotland who rely on Lottery cash also fear their own funding is set to be cut.