National Lottery: Licensing

(asked on 5th March 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take with the Gambling Commission to ensure that the successful fourth National Lottery competition bidder delivers on undertakings made during the bid process.


Answered by
John Whittingdale Portrait
John Whittingdale
This question was answered on 12th March 2021

The Gambling Commission is responsible for designing the fourth National Lottery Licence, running the competition, selecting the winning application, and managing the operator in-licence.

DCMS and the Gambling Commission share three statutory duties: to ensure that the National Lottery is run with all due propriety, to protect players’ interests, and - subject to those - to maximise returns to good causes. It is upon these duties that the Commission has designed the evaluation criteria for the Fourth Licence competition. Applicants are free to innovate within the legal framework. The next licence will give the operator greater autonomy to make strategic decisions, providing the licensee with the flexibility to innovate while ensuring they meet high standards of player protection and propriety.

The winning applicant will be required to sign a number of agreements with the Gambling Commission to ensure that they deliver on the proposals in their bid.

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