Tessa Jowell has put the good causes allocation of lottery funds in the hands of punters.

The culture secretary's move came with the publication of a consultation paper aimed at making the distribution of proceeds from the National Lottery fairer.

Critics have often accused the lottery's distributing bodies have handing out too much cash to London, and have said that red tape can hinder efforts by smaller community groups to claim their share of the £12 billion raised for good causes.

Forum Response: Camelot

Dianne Thompson, chief executive of Camelot, told ePolitix.com: "If implemented in the right way, this proposal will represent a major step forward for championing the public's desire to know where its money is being spent.

"This is a key element in underpinning public confidence in The National Lottery as it matures in the second licence period. National Lottery players play to win, but feeling proud of their contribution to transforming communities around the UK will keep them playing the games longer.

"We hope the government and the distribution bodies will grasp the opportunity to promote the achievements of The National Lottery in a more cost-effective and efficient manner through the strategic partnership of a single organisation."

Forum Response: Community Fund

Diana Brittan, chair of the Community Fund, told ePolitix.com: "I agree wholeheartedly with Tessa Jowell that we can all take pride in the achievements of the Lottery both nationally and in local communities.

"We are a UK-wide distributor with a local decision making structure, four country offices and nine in the English regions. We work with some of the most disadvantaged communities right across the UK and have done a magnificent job of ensuring that Lottery money is reaching the poorest and most disadvantaged among us.

"We very much welcome the fact that the secretary of state has acknowledged that not only should Lottery money go to where it is most needed but that it should also remain additional to state funding.

"After seven years of hard work by staff and committee members the Community Fund has succeeded in establishing itself as one of the largest independent grant makers in Europe.

"This is a remarkable achievement in so short a time and one the Lottery playing public should be proud of too. We believe that the public values the fact that we have an independent grant making structure.

"We support the idea of a National Lottery Day. We support the re-launch of the Lottery and recognise the money allocated to good causes must play its part in campaigns run by Camelot. We also support the view that the Lottery can and should support innovation in communities and would welcome new powers to distribute non-Lottery resources.

"We also support more joint working amongst the distributors and with other agencies. However we believe there is a limit to what can be achieved through joint working and the suggestion of one Lottery distributor may not be to the advantage of the groups we fund.

"We do not think there is a case for creating more distributors or that there is case for merging the existing ones."

Richard Buxton, chief executive of the Community Fund, told ePolitix.com: "The Community Fund is fully signed up to the concept of more joint working not just with the other distributors but with other agencies too.

"We are working jointly with the New Opportunities Fund on the new fair share initiative to ensure that those areas which have not received enough Lottery funding get more.

"The Community Fund relies solely on its income from the Lottery (as does the New Opportunities Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund for the most part). Sports and Arts get some of their resources from taxation borne expenditure. Rather than merging the distributors, more may be achieved by clear branding of the National Lottery good causes.

"However, we agree that applicants should not be passed from one Lottery distributor to another and there should be less rigid demarcation between the bodies."