# Lotteries Council chief calls for faster reform of ‘outdated’ law

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/04/23/lotteries-council-chief-calls-faster-reform-outdated-law/
- Published: 2018-04-23T08:00:14+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Changes to the current legislation on society lotteries could help charities raise
more funds, Lotteries Council Chair Jo Bucci has said.**

Last month, the Institute of Fundraising, the Hospice Lotteries Association and 
the [Lotteries Council](https://www.lotteriescouncil.org.uk/) [wrote a joint letter](https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/about-us/news/joint-letter-to-the-government-on-charity-lottery-reforms/)
to Ministers, pointing out that three years had elapsed since an all-party report
of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee had backed raising the fundraising
limits imposed on charity lotteries and calling on the Government to speed up its
process to reform the law in this area. 

The three organisations are calling for the Government to:

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 * Increase the permissible amount of ticket sales for a single draw from £4 million
   to £10 million.

 * Increase the annual income cap on any society lottery from £10 million to £100
   million.

 * Increase prize values from £25,000 to £100,000 (for lotteries with less than 
   £250,000 in the draw).

 * Allow the aggregation of the 20% minimum charity contribution rule over an extended
   period for newly created lotteries,  as they have start-up costs in their early
   years.

According to the Lotteries Council, a government fear had been that reduced regulation
could impact on sales of National Lottery tickets. However, it says, recent modelling
by the Gambling Commission has shown that society lottery sales have had no significant
impact on National Lottery sales, while a report published earlier this month by
the all-party Public Accounts Committee said that the recent decline in National
Lottery income during 2016-17 was attributed to factors relating to the management
of the National Lottery and not to any competition from elsewhere.

Speaking at last week’s [Lotteries Council Annual Conference](https://www.lotteriescouncil.org.uk/events/annual-conference)
in Warwick, Bucci called on legislators to do more to help.

She said:

> “Despite the growth of our sector over the past year it remains a large frustration
> that we could be achieving even more for charities and good causes if it were 
> not for the out-dated law on society lotteries contained in the Gambling Act. 
> We are the only fundraising sector with limits on the amount we can raise for 
> good causes – something which does seem quite bizarre when we know so many good
> causes are in need of funds.”

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