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Against the odds – charity lotteries are in fighting mode

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 3 Apr 2008

Charity lottery operators have discovered their voices over the past few years – and the government seems to be listening. New laws brought in under the Gambling Act 2005 have gradually trickled down into legislation, which will culminate this September when the new licence regime is introduced for all gambling operators. But the operators have not sat quietly during the process.

One of their concerns was over the fees that all society lotteries would be charged for taking credit card payments by the phone or via the internet. Under the new licensing regime, such ‘remote’ activities require a separate licence, which will cost a minimum of £2,372 whatever the size of the society, on top of the licence fee these lotteries must pay for their non-remote paperbased operations.

Following lobbying by a group of charity lottery operators, on 5 March Sports Minister Richard Caborn confirmed in a letter to the chairman of The Lotteries Council that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had reassessed the price of the fees. Remote licence fees for society lotteries will now be the same as for non-remote licences – £348, £692 and £1,392 depending on each lottery’s turnover.

However, operators still have concerns that the technical standards needed for a ‘remote’ licence are beyond the reach of a normal charity lottery and are designed for online gambling operations. The Gambling Commission is due to meet with sector representatives to discuss the concerns before the consultation on the standards closes on 30 March.

Confusion also still surrounds the application process for personal management licences (PML) for lottery managers and when they apply to charity lotteries. Some small-scale lotteries with less than three managers have received mixed messages from the Gambling Commission over whether they require a PML. A panel discussion about the new licence system at The Lotteries Council annual conference on 8 March highlighted the grey area. With the deadline of 29 June to apply for PMLs approaching, a representative from the Commission told delegates it was working to clarify the matter.

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