UK National Lottery licence to be reviewed by National Audit Office
The public spending watchdog will review the Gambling Commission’s oversight of the new National Lottery licence.
Key takeaways:
- The National Audit Office intends to review how the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have designed and awarded the fourth National Lottery licence, how they oversaw the transition from Camelot to Allwyn, and preparations to inform future lottery licensing arrangements.
- The report is expected in spring 2027.
UK.- The UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has begun a review of the current National Lottery licence. It intends to examine whether the Gambling Commission’s oversight is delivering the best possible returns for good causes after Allwyn UK took over operation of the lottery in February 2024.
The 10-year licence is the fourth since the lottery’s inception in 1994 and the first not to have been won by Camelot. Allwyn won the Gambling Commission’s tender, seeing off competition from Sisal and Northern & Shell/The New Lottery Company (TNLC). It later bought Camelot.
In April, the High Court dismissed a legal challenge brought by TNLC against the Gambling Commission’s decision and its handling of the tender. The Court of Appeal later dismissed the operator’s request for an appeal, ending its chances of claiming compensation.
As part of its successful bid, Allwyn pledged to increase funding for good causes from £30m to £60m each week, equivalent to roughly £3.2bn annually over the course of the licence. That target has yet to be achieved, with contributions during 2025, the first full year of Allwyn’s stewardship, reaching approximately £1.7bn.
Gambling Commission statistics showed that £377.2m was raised for Good Causes between April and June 2026, representing a decline compared with the same period in previous years.
The NAO’s investigation is expected to conclude in spring 2027. The watchdog said its assessment will focus on how the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have carried out their responsibilities in relation to the National Lottery licence, including how they designed and awarded the licence, how they oversaw the transition from Camelot to Allwyn, and preparations to support the delivery of the licence through to 2034 and inform future lottery licensing arrangements.
