Paul Sweeney named interim chair of UK National Lottery Community Fund
Sweeney has been appointed to the position for a year.
UK.- Lucy Frazer, the UK secretary for culture, media and sport, has appointed the civil servant Paul Sweeney as interim chair of the UK National Lottery Community Fund. He has been assigned to the position until August 1, 2021, to give the Department for Culture, Media and Sport time to find someone to fill the position on a permanent basis.
Sweeney takes up the post amid the transition of the National Lottery from Camelot UK to Allwyn, whose 10-year licence begins in February next year. It will be the first time in the lottery’s 30-year history that it has changed hands. Allwyn has acquired Camelot UK from the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Fund (OTTP) to ease the transition.
Allwyn has made much of its promise to direct more funds to good causes, so Sweeney’s oversight is likely to be in the public eye. He has previously spent time as the chair of the National Lottery Community Fund’s Northern Ireland Funding Committee, coordinating investment in good causes in the region.
He has a background working with not-for-profit bodies in Northern Ireland, including as director of the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust from 1987 to 1994 before he joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) on secondment.
From there, he served as deputy secretary in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, permanent secretary in the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure and permanent secretary in the Department of Education. He has held trustee roles at groups focusing on regeneration, culture and young people.
The High Court has rejected a claim for damages made by International Game Technology (IGT) lodged in relation to the Gambling Commission’s tender for the fourth National Lottery licence.
Last September, the Gambling Commission awarded the lottery to the Czech Republic’s Allwyn, resulting in Camelot UK losing its three-decade position as operator of the UK National Lottery. Camelot launched a legal appeal against the decision and was accompanied by IGT, its technology provider.
