# Society Lottery election manifesto calls for raft of policies to better support charity lotteries

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/06/06/society-lottery-election-manifesto-calls-for-raft-of-policies-to-better-support-charity-lotteries/
- Published: 2024-06-06T09:07:00+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**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](https://lotteriescouncil.org.uk/)
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.”

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