Gambling Act Review White Paper

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I cannot give the noble Lord precise answers to that, but I will write to him with the details I am able to furnish at this point.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, while I welcome most of the White Paper, why was there only scant and brief reference in it to the National Lottery and society lotteries, which are an incredibly important part of raising money for charity, particularly society lotteries, which raise a great deal of money for good causes in local areas? They face a major disadvantage compared to the National Lottery because of the limits placed on them: for example, the current legal limit for society lotteries is a maximum prize of £25,000 or 10% of the draw proceeds, plus a strict annual limit. There are even tighter limits on smaller society lotteries. Why can we not bring society lotteries in line with the National Lottery, so as to encourage more local people to support these really good local causes?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My noble friend is right to point to the importance of society lotteries for fundraising, and indeed of the National Lottery. As Minister for Heritage, I have the privilege of working with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which distributes many millions to excellent causes across the United Kingdom. The National Lottery is unique and has its own regulatory framework, with player protection at its heart. There are bespoke levers for player protection purposes, licence conditions, the Gambling Commission’s duties and powers and conditions of approval for individual National Lottery games. Evidence shows that National Lottery games are associated with the lowest risks of problem gambling of all gambling products considered, but we have still raised the age for taking part in the National Lottery to 18, to make sure that we continue to afford the protections to the youngest players which all noble Lords want to see.