Society lotteries: ‘We support good causes too’

Plans to increase the annual sales limit on society lotteries will not affect National Lottery grants for the arts, MPs have heard. 

At a DCMS Select Committee evidence session on Tuesday (26 June), MPs queried whether raising the annual sales limit to £100m would present a competitive risk to the National Lottery’s Good Causes fund, 20% of which goes to the arts.

Chair of the Lotteries Council Tony Vick told MPs society lotteries, which raise funds for non-commercial causes including, in some instances, cultural activities, “do not see themselves as competing but rather complementary” to the National Lottery.

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Vick pointed to the Health Lottery, which gives 20p to health projects for every £1 spent on a ticket.

“[Current National Lottery operator] Camelot said the 2011 Health Lottery launch would be the death knell and severely impact the amount they raised for good causes, yet all evidence is completely to the contrary.”

The Lotteries Council comprises of more than 400 society lotteries at present, though the largest do not support culture. Society lotteries provide considerably less funding than the National Lottery, but give unrestricted grants.

“It’s often the funding charities [that] need to exist,” Health Lottery Promoter Donald Macrae said.

“This is an important distinction that has been missed in the adversarial approach from Camelot. We would rather see it as a collaborative venture to try and help good causes where there is room for both.”

Decline in good cause funding

MPs questioned why society lotteries’ returns to charity have fallen by 10% when ticket sales have grown.

Labour MP for Eltham Clive Efford said: “The market has expanded, prizes have increased – yet proportionately donations dropped [from] 53% to 44%, suggesting no guarantee that when you increase prizes and money going in, good cause funds increases.” 

Macrae countered: “The National Lottery hasn’t hit that percentage in years.”

Society lotteries’ contribution to good causes like the arts has increased four-fold since 2011, Macrae added.

He and others giving evidence to the committee accused Camelot of being territorial and said efforts to collaborate for the benefit of charitable causes had been unsuccessful.

“They haven’t been the easiest to work with in the sector and we would really like to see a change,” Macrae said.

“We hope that whoever ends up winning the franchise sees a more positive way of working together with society lotteries.”

Camelot has raised £45bn for good causes since 1994.

New national operator

The hearing follows the announcement of a new National Lottery operator who has pledged more funding for good causes.  

Last month, Europe’s largest lottery operator Allwyn, formerly known as Sazka, secured the next 10-year licence, due to start in February 2024. The Czech-owned company usurped Camelot, which has operated the National Lottery since its inception, as the Gambling Commission’s favourite after it presented a plan to double charitable donations to £38bn over the licence term.

Camelot quickly issued legal proceedings against the commission for the loss of the £80bn licence earlier this month.

Last year, the National Lottery Distribution Fund delivered £363m to arts organisations, but Camelot has come under fire for raking in almost £50m in profits while returning a dwindling amount of real-terms funding to good causes.

In March, Arts Council England Chief Executive Darren Henley noted the funding decrease at a House of Commons hearing. 

"We have been clear that, for the fourth licence, when asked what our position is, we want to see it completely tied to the distributor's profitability," he commented.