Camelot "concerned" over plans to boost society lotteries limits
Lottery operator worried over future fundraising potential
Camelot has voiced its reservations over new government plans that would allow society lotteries to sell more tickets and offer bigger prizes per draw.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) last week launched a consultation on its plans to increase the maximum draw prize from its current limit of £400,000 to £500,000.
The DCMS also asked for views on increasing the number of tickets society lotteries can sell to a value of £100 million per year and the amount they can raise per draw to £5 million.
However, Camelot has warned the increases could harm the National Lottery and its returns to good causes.
Speaking to EGR Compliance, Richard Hickson, head of policy & public affairs at Camelot said: “We fully support the work that traditional society lotteries – those smaller lotteries set up to raise funds for local causes – are doing. However, The National Lottery’s huge success to date has, in part, been because of this clear distinction between The National Lottery and society lotteries.”
“The emergence of industrial-scale society lotteries that operate nationally blurs this. We are concerned that these proposed changes to sales and prize limits further erode the distinction, putting returns to Good Causes and society at risk. We therefore look forward to responding to the consultation.”
Two of the biggest society lotteries in the UK, The Health Lottery and People’s Postcode lottery raised over £255m for good causes in 2016/17.
In a statement released on the DCMS website alongside the launch of the consultation, Tracey Crouch, minister for sport and civil society said: “Society lotteries make a vital difference to communities up and down the country. They raise hundreds of millions of pounds every year, supporting our veterans, lifeboats, hospices, air ambulances and many other great causes.”
“They are an important fundraising tool for charities and we want to ensure that both society lotteries and the National Lottery are able to thrive now and in the future.”