National Lottery: Contribution to Good Causes

Lord Foster of Bath Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The fourth licence requires Allwyn to contribute to research, prevention and treatment for gambling-related harm, or we will make a payment of £1.6 million annually, which triples the amount given under the third licence.

[Lord Foster of Bath (LD)]

My Lords, further to that point, the Government will be well aware that almost half of National Lottery income now comes from instant win games, including scratchcards, which, unlike weekly draws, have a notable risk of gambling harm. It is welcome that Allwyn has introduced a limit of 10 scratchcards per shop visit, but does the Minister agree that this is wholly inadequate, since it allows determined gamblers to make repeat visits, even on the same day? Does she agree that Allwyn should be required to do more, and to have independent published verification of compliance?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

Allwyn is introducing further measures compared to the previous licence. The noble Lord will be aware that while some players do experience gambling harm, that experienced by National Lottery players is the lowest of all gambling products. Allwyn is also implementing further protections. As was noted, this includes introducing a maximum of 10 scratchcards per transaction, as of last October, and an extensive mystery shopper programme to test retailers’ enforcement of the age-verification measures. We are clear that protecting participants is an overriding statutory duty of the Government and the Gambling Commission. It is embedded within the fourth licence, with a significantly strengthened requirement on the operator to protect people exposed to the National Lottery as well as those directly participating in it, which goes further than under previous licences.