Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Charity Lottery Fundraising Caps

05 July 2023 · 5 other contributors · 8,154 words

Opened by Wendy Morton Con Aldridge-Brownhills

Responding minister: Stuart Andrew

Culture, Media & Sport

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Wendy Morton raised concerns about charity lottery fundraising caps in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Ms Morton is concerned about the heavy regulatory burden on charity lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005, including annual sales caps and prize limits.
  • These regulations have resulted in over 400 million a year being generated for charities but also restrict funding to well-known charities like Girlguiding and Keep Britain Tidy.
  • Ms Morton urges the Minister to remove the annual sales cap on charity lotteries to ensure a level playing field with unregulated prize draws.

Key requests to Government

Ms Morton urges the Minister to remove the annual sales cap on charity lotteries without delay and ensure a level playing field with unregulated prize draws. She also suggests that lifting these caps could be beneficial for charities at no cost to the Treasury or taxpayers, making it worthy of consideration by the Chancellor ahead of the autumn statement.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Wendy Morton Con Aldridge-Brownhills

Ms Morton is concerned about the heavy regulatory burden placed on charity lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005, including annual sales caps and prize limits. She notes that these regulations have resulted in over £400 million a year being generated for charities and good causes but also restrict funding to well-known charities like Girlguiding and Keep Britain Tidy. The People's Postcode Lottery is cited as an example of an operator with more than 40 individual gambling licences due to annual sales limits, creating significant administrative burden.

Other contributors (5)
  • Alex Davies-Jones Lab Pontypridd

    The MP highlighted the importance of charity lotteries, especially during a cost-of-living crisis. She mentioned that in her constituency, several local charities and community groups have received significant funding from the People's Postcode Lottery, such as £25,000 to Miss Tilley's CIC and funding to other organizations like All Stars Gymnastics club and Rhondda Cynon Taf Scouts. The MP criticised the Government for not properly supporting charity lotteries despite their vital role in providing unrestricted and ongoing funding to charities.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Jim Shannon supported the debate on charity lotteries and highlighted their benefits in Northern Ireland. He noted that stricter gambling regulations prevent the People's Postcode Lottery from operating there but expressed hope for its future availability. Shannon emphasized the importance of maintaining regulatory protections while allowing charities to raise more funds.

  • Kim Leadbeater Lab Spen Valley

    Welcomed the debate and highlighted that charity lottery sales limits hinder fundraising, citing examples from People's Postcode Lottery. Emphasised that these caps do not impact consumer behaviour or national lottery sales but hinder charitable growth. Raised concerns about charities' financial struggles due to cost of living crisis: 59% fear reduced donations, 71% worried about increased service demand, and 35% believe their organisations will struggle to survive. Cited local projects in Batley and Spen funded by People's Postcode Lottery showing significant community support.

  • Marion Fellows SNP Na h-Eileanan an Iar

    Supports the removal of charity lottery sales limits, highlighting the benefits to charities and local businesses. Mentions a £7.9 million draw in Wishaw that benefited many players. Cites examples of local charities benefiting from over £100,000 raised through charity lotteries. Quoted Dame Laura Lee's statement estimating potential losses of nearly £200 million for UK charities and over £4 million specifically for Maggie's.

  • Patricia Gibson SNP North Ayrshire and Arran

    Ms Gibson expressed support for removing the cap on charity lottery fundraising, highlighting that charities in her constituency have received over £319,000 from lotteries. She cited examples such as the Royal Voluntary Service and the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, which has received £4.1 million so far. She noted that the People's Postcode Lottery report highlighted charities losing millions due to fundraising caps.

Government Response

Stuart Andrew

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for securing this debate and I thank everybody who has taken part. It has been good to take some time out from the complexities of the gambling White Paper and the questions about levies, betting terminals, casinos and loot boxes, and instead hear about and discuss the fantastic work of the society lottery sector, which includes organisations such as air ambulances, hospice lotteries, Age UK, the Royal British Legion, and many others. Through my role, I have seen at first hand the real impact that funding from charity lottery players has in supporting a huge range of good causes, often alongside grants from the national lottery. The Government legislated in 2020 to introduce reforms, significantly increasing the annual sales limit for society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million and the draw sales limit from £4 million to £5 million. Since then, more than 1,500 responses have been received following a comprehensive consultation, enabling lotteries to offer a prize of up to £500,000. However, I continue to bear in mind that there may be a tipping point and an evidence-based approach is always the right one. In recent months, I have learned about the complexities of transitioning from one national lottery licence to another and transitioning for the first time to a new operator. The objective for the lottery sector is for the national lottery and society lotteries to thrive together, but we need to ensure that the regulatory requirements placed on society lotteries are proportionate to their size. Despite a five-fold increase in the annual sales limit in 2020, I understand that what the People's Postcode Lottery returned to good causes did not increase by nearly the same amount. There is a desire for us to be clearer about when any such review may take place, so I will ask officials in the Department to consider the matter in more detail with the Gambling Commission and provide an update in the autumn to those who have attended this debate.

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