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Society Lottery election manifesto calls for raft of policies to better support charity lotteries
Melanie May | 6 June 2024 | News
The Lotteries Council is calling on the next government to implement a raft of policies to support the fundraising work of charity lottery operators across the country, including the removal of the annual sales cap, and the ‘ten percent rule’.
In its sector manifesto for the upcoming general election, it highlights that society lotteries in Britain currently raise over £420 million for charities, and calls for removal of the £50 million annual sales cap. Last raised by the Conservative Government in 2020, it says this would free up an additional £175 million for charities over the next parliament.
The manifesto is also calling for removal of the ‘ten percent rule’ which states that the maximum prize cannot be more than ten percent of the value of the tickets in any one draw. It proposes that the market set its own limit with multi-million prizes remaining the sole preserve of the National Lottery.
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If the next parliament opts to proceed with a mandatory gambling levy to support problem gambling initiatives, the manifesto also calls on MPs to zero-rate charity lotteries and maintain contributions on a voluntary basis, which is already proposed for the National Lottery. The Lotteries Council believes it unfair that their member operators are tied up in a framework designed for high-risk commercial gambling when they are low risk and not-for-profit.
The manifesto also calls for the incoming government to proceed with DCMS’s proposed consultation on regulating million-pound prize draws, which the manifesto says prove hard for consumers to distinguish from not-for-profit charity lotteries.
Lastly, the manifesto calls for reform of the remote gambling licence regime. The Council is calling for the £250,000 full remote licence threshold to be significantly increased or abolished and for audit requirements to be made less onerous.
Commenting, Lotteries Council Chair, Tony Vick said:
“Against a challenging backdrop for charitable fundraising, society lotteries continue to provide resilient funds for good causes across Great Britain. Despite our mission, we remain mired in all sorts of needless bureaucracy, as well as the growth of unfair, unregulated competition from million-pound prize draws.”
Lotteries Council Chair of Public Affairs, Nick Cook added:
“Our manifesto provides a raft of common sense solutions, mainly requiring secondary legislation, which together could generate hundreds of millions in charitable funding over the lifetime of the next parliament. Crucially, the forthcoming parliament must deliver action, in addition to warm words of support.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.