Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to review the regulation of Prize Draws as part of the Gambling Review.

The framework for society lotteries is set out in the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act). Section 14 of the Act generally defines a lottery as requiring payment to participate, an outcome determined wholly by chance, and the allocation of prizes.

Large society lotteries are subject to strict sales and prize limits, and operate under a licence issued by the Gambling Commission. They are also required to provide a minimum return to good causes.

Some products, such as prize competitions and free draws may resemble lotteries but do not meet the definition of a lottery under section 14 of the Act. This might be due to a free entry route or because there is an element of skill involved. Since free draws do not meet the definition of a lottery, they are not considered gambling for the purposes of the Act and the Gambling Commission has no regulatory responsibilities for these products, but it does monitor the boundary between them and society lotteries to ensure that products are regulated when required by the Act.

The Government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 in December 2020 with the publication of a Call for Evidence. We received over 16,000 responses, and we are considering all the evidence carefully. The Review is wide-ranging and evidence-led, and aims to make sure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We are currently carefully considering all submitted evidence and a white paper will be published in the coming weeks.