Question: You've changed the name from the National Lottery Charities Board to the Community Fund - why?

Lady Brittan: We've changed the name from the National Lottery Charities Board to the Community Fund for a number of reasons. It became evident after six years of operation that our name was not only confusing but rather old-fashioned too. It was confusing really on two fronts: firstly, with the National Lottery and its operator Camelot and secondly, the word 'charities' was misleading because it made voluntary and community groups feel that they were not eligible to apply to us which indeed they can. "Board' was old-fashioned and more suited to the nineteenth century than to the twenty-first century. Community Fund on the other hand describes where we want the money to go, and our strapline: 'Lottery money making a difference' says where the money comes from and what we want it to do.

Question: Does this name change involve a substantial cost?

Lady Brittan: No, relatively small. In terms of our operating budget, as opposed to our grants budget, it is under 0.03 per cent. We will be spending just £130,000. We have not paid for excessive publicity and advertisements. We have advised our clients and all the people who benefit from our grants, MPs and government departments by letter - in no way have we pushed the boat out.

Question: So you didn't hire a glitzy PR agency to come up with corporate branding and new logos?

Lady Brittan: No glitzy agencies. We commissioned a research company to examine how our stakeholders - staff, the voluntary sector, MPs, DCMS, Board members etc., viewed us now and in the future. We also employed a design agency. Both gave excellent value for money and have come up with an identity which is fresh, easy to understand, approachable and will, I hope, look just as good in ten years time. Most importantly, it gives out the right message.

Question: You are one of a number of lottery distributors. Why isn't there just one lottery distributor?

Lady Brittan: If you had an organisation that was giving out somewhere in the region of £1.5 billion a year to fund completely different projects from large millennium schemes through to £1,000 for local mothers wanting to buy some toys for an after-school club, how would you manage that bureaucracy? The six lottery distributors each have a specialist area. Our specialist area of charities is vastly different from heritage, vastly different from arts, and different skills and experience are required to judge the needs of the community sector to those needed to decide whether to fund large capital sports or arts projects, or bids to renovate historic buildings.

If we were part of a huge bureaucracy, we would lack the flexibility that we have recently been able to show by addressing the rural problems highlighted by the current foot and mouth outbreak. We have met the leading countryside charities to discuss ways of helping them. A single distributor would not have been able to react as quickly.

Question: You are now the Community Fund - so what say does the community have in deciding which charities receive the lottery proceeds?

Lady Brittan: We have long since recognised that grant making has to be made at the local level. We quickly decided we wanted to grant-make locally but were aware of the expense of running a regional network. We have nine regional committees in England and committees in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We have a UK committee to deal with larger and more far reaching projects.

As far as the local communities are concerned we do our very best to listen to what they have to say and to identify those communities in greatest need and those which have not got their fair share of our funds. Our local teams then go into these communities and liaise with agencies, local authorities, umbrella voluntary organisations to explain how local groups can apply for grants. We try to be responsive, transparent and open with the community.

Question: Can you foresee a time when the community get more of a say or more consultation over where lottery money goes?

Lady Brittan: In the future we will target our money where it makes the greatest impact in the areas of greatest need. We already have a clear objective to help those at greatest disadvantage and to improve the quality of life in the community. So by sticking to those objectives but by targeting our money at the local level, I think we are able to get closer to the community.

Question: Do you take account of where the money comes from?

Lady Brittan: Applications coming in from areas of need and areas of deprivation will be a top priority rather than considering where the money has been spent on lottery tickets. We need to consider the long-tern effects of our grant giving and look at social and economic trends. If we were simply to accept that a certain constituency was spending x amount and so we would give back x amount, we couldn't attempt to make a difference in a strategic way. And we also have to be completely fair - we assess applications on merit. We would not give special treatment to a bid from a constituency where a disproportionately large amount is spent on the lottery.

Question: There were previous criticisms that there wasn't enough openness or accountability in your distribution of funds - do you think you have addressed these criticisms?

Lady Brittan: Our application forms and indeed our assessment procedures are very accessible, indeed you can find the assessment manual on our website. We are as open and accessible as we can be in terms of answering questions, being visible locally, giving feedback to unsuccessful applicants. We have a complaints procedure and we have an independent complaints reviewer.

Our information is accessible to those with visual impairments and learning difficulties, and it is in a number of minority community languages. Our forms will soon be available electronically to make it easier to apply for those with PCs.

Question: Less than five pence in the pound spent on a lottery ticket goes to charities - do you think enough lottery money is going to charities?

Lady Brittan: That is always a matter for politicians because the National Lottery Act laid down the percentage going to the good causes. All I can say is that the demands on our money are considerable and we can only fund something like one in three to four projects, so from our point of view more money would always be welcome.

Questions: MPs are an important means for you to get your message out to the communities - they can tell local charities in their constituency about you and how to apply to you for funds - do you think MPs fully understand who you are, what you do and how their constituents could benefit from you?

Lady Brittan: Many MPs have an understanding of the work of the lottery distributors because they have a particular interest in the sectors which benefit from lottery funding - arts, sport, heritage and charities. Equally, many MPs have strong links with the voluntary sector and support our grant giving. Others would like to see their constituency getting a "fair share".

Each MP is informed by letter of groups in their constituencies who have received grants. We organise regional briefing meetings, we give information to MPs with specific interests, for instance those involved with overseas aid are sent details of our international programme, we place feature articles in the House Magazine and we answer all letters from politicians. Where we can, we like to involve MPs in our publicity events such as the opening of a community centre or the first outing in a minibus funded by us.

We would like all politicians, MPs, MSPs, Assembly members to act as ambassadors and conduits of information. If, for instance, they know of community groups in their constituencies which could benefit from our grants, then they should suggest they apply to us. MPs can't influence our decisions, but they can help to increase understanding of our role and what we do. This way their constituents benefit and we benefit because more people understand our purpose. And that, of course, is why we're now called Community Fund.