THERE was never going to be complete harmony about the way that National Lottery cash was shared out, but now Worsley MP Terry Lewis has condemned distribution as being corrupt.

Figures show that Bolton, Bury and Worsley have received only £6.5 million, while London's tally was a massive £550 million and six of the top ten constituencies in the handout league are from London. In the North-west, Salford East tops our regional list with £50 million, most of which will go towards the new Lowry Centre.

Certainly, there appears to be an imbalance in the way that the money is divided. The answer from the National Heritage Department, however, is that London is bound to get the lion's share because it houses large institutions and organisations which fulfil the Lottery's award criteria.

The Department's argument that such bodies had an automatic head-start on everyone else because they were experienced in bidding for cash is more worrying, though. If that is the case, one could argue that cash should be made available for all organisations to learn how to apply for Lottery cash.

The current fuss over share-out sums is not, however, wasted. The Lottery money distributors say they are now looking to give more cash to other parts of the country to even out distribution.

Perhaps the imbalance also leans too much in the direction of arts' schemes, much favoured in the capital, and the time has come to let community projects hold sway over the available millions.

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