Tory anger at lottery cash for transsexuals
By Rachel Sylvester and David Graves
VIRGINIA Bottomley last night demanded to know why £33,700 of lottery money was given to a charity for transsexuals and people who are "uneasy about their sexuality". She called on the National Lottery Charities Board to justify its award to the Gender Trust.
"It is for the charities board to explain and account for their actions in areas which may not attract widespread public endorsement," Mrs Bottomley, the Heritage Secretary, said.
Government sources said the award to the Gender Trust, based in Horsham, West Sussex, would strengthen the case for a shake-up of the way lottery money was distributed.
Last June John Major ordered an investigation into the workings of the lottery charities board after it gave more than £400,000 to organisations representing homosexuals, lesbians and prostitutes.
At the same time Mrs Bottomley wrote to David Sieff, the chairman of the board, demanding an explanation. Yesterday’s award to the Gender Trust, which offers "confidential support and help" to transsexuals, is one of 65 grants, largely to medical charities and groups working with the disabled.
It will be used to relocate the charity and expand its services. The trust, set up in 1990, says that it supports about 50,000 people each year through its helpline.
The trust has a post office box office number in London for letters and a taped telephone message service which gives callers the numbers of volunteers around the country with whom they can discuss problems. A spokesman said it intended to use the grant to pay for an office and recruit a part-time paid worker.
It is estimated that there are more than 7,000 sex-swop patients in Britain. The number of operations is believed to be more than 250 a year, an increase of up to a third since the mid-Eighties.
The charities board defended its decision. It said that the purpose of lottery money was to "help the most vulnerable in society" and that the trust had been "vigorously assessed" by its grant officers.
A spokesman said: "We are an independent grant-making body not connected with the Government or Camelot, the organisers of the lottery, and we are empowered to give grants to those organisations which we feel qualify under our mission statement. Since we were established we have given in the region of 7,000 grants and only a few have attracted criticism."
But MPs reacted angrily to the award. Jacques Arnold, Tory MP for Gravesham, said: "When making grants the decision-makers should not genuflect towards political correctness. If people want to pursue their own bents they should do so at their own expense."
James Pawsey, the chairman of the Tory backbench education committee, said he was sure there "must be other more deserving causes" than the Gender Trust. Keith Mans, Tory MP for Wyre, said: "If the awards are meant to reflect the public’s priorities then I think this kind of thing would not be so far up the list."
Ministers have become increasingly concerned about the workings of the lottery distributor in recent months. The Government has no power to overturn decisions taken by the board, an independent body which maintains an "arm’s length" relationship with the National Heritage Department.
The latest round of grants to health, disability and care projects totalled £9.6 million. The largest was £500,000 to the Samaritans to develop its helpline. Other groups to benefit included: the National Deaf Children’s Society (£339,995); the Leonard Cheshire Foundation for the disabled (£492,203); the Burma Star Association for war veterans (£83,454); the Royal National Institute for the Blind (£331,714); Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund (£150,000); and Community Service for Volunteers (£180,000).
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