Culture, Media and SportsWritten evidence submitted by the Lotteries Council
About the Lotteries Council
Formed in 1979, the Lotteries Council is the umbrella organisation for charity (also known as society) lotteries in the UK, comprising 315 members. The Council’s membership includes everything from small specialist fundraisers to large scale External Lottery Managers (ELMs).
In 2011–12, charity lotteries donated a record £126 million to good causes, which is equal to 42% of all proceeds. This constitutes a record £24 million growth in donations by charity lotteries in the UK in comparison to the previous year.
Charity lotteries are focused on ensuring the amount of money going to good causes increases year on year, working alongside the National Lottery in providing crucial support to grass roots organisations and charities alike.
Response to Merger Proposal
The Gambling Commission has been a central figure in helping charity lotteries raise a record £126 million in 2011–12 for which they should be commended.
The Lotteries Council is broadly supportive of a merger between the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission in principle. There are potential benefits and opportunities for the charity lottery sector that could come about through a merger.
However, we do have a key concern about how the newly merged body will reconcile the different strategic objectives of the Gambling Commission as a licensing authority that regulates gambling, and the National Lottery Commission as a regulator that exists to maximise National Lottery funds.
Our members have expressed some concern in relation to this, due to our experience of the contrasting approaches that the Gambling Commission and National Lottery Commission took when the variations on the monetary limits were increased by the UK Government in 2009. The Gambling Commission took a constructive and progressive approach to the regulation of charity lotteries in supporting the increase in monetary limits, whereas the National Lottery Commission were against this move.
Were these strategic priorities to be reconciled, the Lotteries Council would support a merger that could help improve relations within the sector.
Variation of Monetary Limits—DCMS Review
DCMS was due to instruct the Gambling Commission to take forward a review of the variation of monetary limits in 2012, but this has not yet been delivered. The review would have looked at the “impact of the revised limit against the licensing objectives”, with the results being used as the foundation for considering a further revision of prize limits.
Given our members’ success in fundraising for good causes in 2012, we would urge the Committee to press DCMS to present a reasonable timetable for the review’s implementation, and believe this should take place prior to any merger. The rationale behind this is that this process is long overdue and would mostly likely be further delayed as a result of the proposed merger.
It is the view of our members that if a further increase of monetary limits was to take place, this would unlock millions of pounds in additional funding to good causes the length and breadth of Great Britain. As such, there should be no further delay in starting this review process.
May 2013