UK to review cap on charity lottery sales

Some UK charities are close the cap on sales for society lotteries.
Some UK charities are close the cap on sales for society lotteries.

The DCMS undersecretary for Sports and Media has pledged to make a decision before the summer recess.

UK.- The DCMS undersecretary for Sports and Media, Stephanie Peacock, has announced that the government will finally decide whether to accept charities’ calls to scrap the sales cap for society lotteries. A decision will be made before the summer recess, with a debate scheduled for July 11.

The minister made the pledge during the second reading of Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain‘s private members’ bill, which proposes to “allow unlimited charitable fundraising from licensed lottery sales.”

Charities have long called for the current £50m limit on lottery ticket sales to be scrapped to allow more funds to be raised for charitable causes. Back in 2021, the then charities minister Nigel Huddleston said a review was underway to evaluate a potential 100 per cent increase in the sales limit, but the proposal did not advance.

The People’s Postcode Lottery would be a major beneficiary of any change. It manages lotteries for 20 postcode trusts, which in turn provide funding for various charities. It estimates that the removal of the cap on ticket sales could generate an extra £175m over five years.

However, the DCMS stresses that it hasn’t yet decided on Chamberlain’s proposal. Peacock noted that while some large operations were close to the cap, most society lotteries operated well below the current limit. The department has commissioned independent research to assess the impact of removing the cap since some evidence has suggested that increases in ticket sales do not necessarily lead to a proportional increase in funding for the charities that benefit. It expects the study to be complete by the end of February.

Meanwhile, the DCMS began hearings yesterday to evaluate progress on the gambling white paper recommendations published in April 2023. At the same time, Gambling Commission has launched a new consultation on proposed reforms, this time related to new technical standards for gaming machines.

The proposed changes would affect the regulator’s Gaming Machine Technical Standards (GMTS), Gaming Machine Testing Strategy (testing strategy) and the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). All stakeholders, including consumers, gambling businesses and testing houses are invited to share feedback.

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