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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his priorities are for the Fourth National Lottery Licence Competition.

The Government and the Gambling Commission share three statutory duties in respect to the National Lottery, which will inform the competition and licence design. These are to ensure that the interests of all players are protected, ensure the Lottery is run with all due propriety, and, subject to these, that returns to good causes are maximised.

The Gambling Commission is running the competition for the next licence, and is following best practice from across the public sector for competitions of this nature. The Gambling Commission is also providing updates on the fourth licence competition. The latest version on their 4NLC website is available at https://www.4nlc.com/PDF/4NLC-Programme-Update.pdf

I welcome the Gambling Commission’s fair and transparent approach to running a competition process that maximises the opportunities for innovation and creativity whilst protecting the special status of the National Lottery. In particular I am looking forward to a robust competition that draws in a wide range of bidders to ensure the continued success of our National Lottery for the next 25 years and beyond.