Macmillan Cancer Support, the RNIB, Scope and the Royal Voluntary Service have joined calls to relax the current regulatory requirements for society lotteries.
The charities have supported a joint submission to Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s inquiry into society lotteries by the Lotteries Council, the Institute of Fundraising and the Hospice Lotteries Association.
Their response calls for an increase in the annual income cap on society lotteries from £10m to £100m, and an increase in the permissible amount of ticket sales for a single draw from £4m to £10m.
It also calls for an increase in prize values from £25,000 to £100,000, or from 10 per cent of the proceeds to 50 per cent.
The sector bodies believe the 20 per cent minimum amount of proceeds to go to good causes should be aggregated to allow newly created society lotteries to spread the requirement over an extended period, possibly up to three years. This would remove barriers to entering the market and reduce the risk associated with setting-up and recruiting players, they say.
In a joined statement, the bodies say the launch of the CMS committee’s inquiry in July represented a step change in political focus, by putting the emphasis on whether there is a case for relaxing the regulatory requirement.
Clive Mollett, chair of the Lotteries Council, said: “It is fantastic that the Lotteries Council, the Institute of Fundraising and the Hospice Lotteries Association have had the chance to unite and make what we believe is a strong case for modest deregulation of society lotteries, that evidence suggests could increase significantly the amount raised for good causes.”
The inquiry follows a report by the Centre for Economic and Business Research, commissioned by the Lotteries Council and IoF, which suggested that progressive deregulation of the lotteries sector would boost the overall funds generated for good causes. It also concluded that deregulation would increase overall donations to good causes and “complement rather than detract from the National Lottery".
Gambling Commission figure show society lotteries raised a record £163m for good causes in 2012/13.
Peter Lewis, chief executive of the Institute, said: “At a time of decreased public funding and an increasing demand for services it is right that MPs are taking this opportunity to consider the role of Society Lotteries – we believe that there is real potential for them to make a bigger contribution to good causes in the UK and abroad.”
