The latest grants by the Lottery Charities Board bring into serious question the priorities of those who distribute cash for good causes. Yesterday we reported how the bid by St Leonard's Hospice for a £1 million grant was rejected by the board. Today the board announced that £183,033 has been awarded to a travellers advice and support centre in the city.

We are not for one moment suggesting that York Travellers' Trust is an unworthy cause. What we do question is whether this scheme, or the £30,000 awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to a project examining the significance of pop music in York, appear to be considered more worthwhile than the redevelopment of the hospice.

There is an incontrovertible and widespread need for the work of St Leonard's Hospice. It brings comfort to the dying and to their relatives. It ministers to the needs of those with terminal illnesses regardless of status or race.

This remarkable work is funded entirely through voluntary donations. Now the hospice wants to expand, to help more people in better surroundings. Few causes are more deserving. And yet the Lottery Charities Board has thrown out its bid, with no initial public explanation.

The only reason we even know the application was rejected is because hospice managers told us. Lottery fund administrators only publicise the successful bids.

The whole system is shrouded in secrecy. Lottery trustees are making decisions about what to do with millions of pounds of our money and yet remain totally unaccountable. The Lotteries Board only gave reasons why they had decided that the travellers would be winners but the hospice patients would be losers after being questioned by the Evening Press.

The unelected members of these quangos wield a huge amount of publicly funded power. Their decisions can make or break good causes. It is arrogant of them toavoid systematic public scrutiny.

The time has come for the Government to open up the system. Lottery boards should be required to publish the minutes of their meetings. A list of all applications, and the boards' reasons for rejection and approval for each one, should also be made public.

Councils are required to do just this for planning applications. Even the Bank of England now publishes the minutes of its monthly interest rate meetings. There is no reason why lottery boards should remain impenetrable.

Unlike the lottery jackpot, cash for good causes is not awarded by the fickle finger of fate. It would be nice to know exactly how the winners are chosen.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.