The reason for this is the early success of theNational Lottery, which generated £260m in its first five weeks - far more than was thought possible by those who first dreamt it up. The Millennium Commission is due to receive 20 per cent of the net proceeds of the lottery, but what that actually means in terms of round numbers is anyone's guess.Both staff and commissioners, perhaps infected with lottery fever, are making wild estimates. "We have no idea how much money we'll get in our first year," says acting chief executive Heather Wilkinson. "It could be £160m." Heather Couper, one of the commissioners, says: "It could be £300m." Robin Dixon, another commissioner, ventures: "It could be £400m."Michael Montague, meanwhile, displays all the fervour of a commentator at the Grand National "We've passed through the fog We are in the haze The hypothetical will move towards the actual.

We are proceeding towards the sunshine."Yes, but are they really? Observers who have been keeping a close watch on the Millennium Commission are increasingly concerned that preparations may not be as advanced as the commissioners would like to make out. There is a worry that the impending deadlines - 30 April for receiving applications, July for a shortlist of projects, September for the first approval of funds - are approaching so fast that crucial questions are being ignored. "They are trying to run before they can crawl," says the chief executive of one leading British charity Chris Smith, for all his approving noises, agrees. "The whole thing has an air of chaos."THE MILLENNIUM COMMISSION was inaugurated in February 1994. Initially the intention was to mark the change-over to the new millennium on 31 December 2000, but it quickly became evident that the rest of the country would be celebrating on 31 December 1999. Formally appointed by the Queen, the nine commissioners had their names put forward by a gang of rival civil servants jockeying for position.

"There was a lot of debate about the list," says one commissioner "A lot of government departments wanted to get their oar in. And in the end political correctness [came to] predominate."The commissioners can finance any project they want Limitations on their remit are largely self-imposed. They say that they prefer not to fund refurbishments - even on a major scale - nor do they want to do construction which should normally be undertaken by the government, of prisons, say, or hospitals and schools. Nor, as a rule, will they fund schemes that could be financed elsewhere, although they promise to be flexible when considering individual projects.It is perhaps inevitable that perceptions of the Commission should still be fuzzy. Much of its work has been behind the scenes, and, not surprisingly, there is still precious little to show for the effort.