Registration of Small Lotteries under the Gambling Act
2005
The Gambling Act 2005, which repeals the Lotteries and Amusements
Act 1976, establishes a licensing regime for large non-commercial
society and local authority lotteries to be administered by the
Gambling Commission (licensed lotteries) and maintains a
registration system for small non-commercial society lotteries to
be administered by licensing authorities (exempt
lotteries).
If you wish to make an application for a Small
Lottery Registration please click on the links below to
download the relevant application form and notes:-
Definition of Lottery
A lottery is an arrangement which satisfies the
statutory description of either a simple lottery or a complex
lottery under section 14 of the Act.
An arrangement is a simple lottery if:
1. persons are required to pay to participate;
2. one or more prizes are allocated to one or more members of
a class; and
3. the prizes are allocated by a process which relies wholly
on chance.
An arrangement is a complex lottery if 1-3 above apply and the
first of those processes relies wholly on chance.
Definition of Society
A society is the society or any separate branch of such a society
on whose behalf a lottery is to be promoted and it must be a
non-commercial organisation. A society is non-commercial if
it is established and conducted:
1. for charitable purposes;
2. for the purpose of enabling participation in, or of
supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity, or
3. for any other non-commercial purpose other than that of
private gain.
Registration
Societies which run small society lotteries, ie, where the total
value of tickets to be put on sale per single lottery is £20,000 or
less and the total aggregate value of tickets to be put on sale for
all their lotteries in a calendar year does not exceed £250,000,
must register with the local authority in the area where their
principal office is located throughout the period during which the
lottery is promoted.
Application for registration must be in the prescribed form,
be accompanied by the registration fee of £40.00 and, unless it is
cancelled, the registration will run for an unlimited period.
An annual fee of £20.00 will be payable before each anniversary of
the registration. The registration may be cancelled by the
authority if the annual fee is not paid.
Administration and Returns
The Act requires that a minimum proportion of the money raised by
the lottery is channelled to the goals of the society that promoted
the lottery. The limits are as follows:
- at least 20% of the lottery proceeds must be applied to the
purposes of the society;
- no single prize may be worth more than £25,000;
rollovers between lotteries are only permitted where every lottery
affected is also a small society lottery promoted by the same
society and the maximum single prize is £25,000;
every ticket in the lottery must cost the same and the ticket fee
must be paid to the society before entry into the draw is
allowed.
Paragraph 39 of Schedule 11 to the Act sets out the information
that the promoting society of a small society lottery must send as
returns to the licensing authority with which it is registered
following each lottery held. The information that must be
submitted is as follows:
- the arrangements for the lottery, specifically the date on
which tickets were available for sale or supply, the dates of any
draw and the value of the prizes, including any donated prizes and
any rollover;
- the proceeds of the lottery;
the amounts deducted by the promoters of the lottery in providing
prizes, including prizes in accordance with any rollovers;- the amounts deducted by the promoters of the lottery in respect
of costs incurred in organising the lottery;
whether any expenses incurred in connection with the lottery were
not paid for by deduction from the proceeds and, if so, the amount
of expenses and the sources from which they were paid; and
the amount applied to the purpose for which the promoting society
is conducted - this must be at least 20% of the proceeds.
Paragraph 39 also requires that returns must:
1. be sent to the licensing authority no more than three
months after the date of the lottery draw; and
2. be signed by two members of the society, who must be aged
eighteen or older, are appointed for the purpose in writing by the
society or, if it has one, its governing body, and accompanied by a
copy of their letters of appointment.
Lottery Tickets
A purchaser of a small society lottery ticket must receive a
document which identifies:
1. the name of the promoting society;
2. the price of the ticket (must be the same for all tickets -
£2 maximum limit has been removed);
3. the name and address of the member of the society who is
designated as having responsibility for promoting small lotteries;
and
4. the date of the draw (or enables the date to be
determined).
Small society lottery operators should maintain written
records of any unsold and returned tickets for a period of one year
from the date of the lottery draw and these should be available for
inspection by the licensing authority.
Lottery tickets may only be sold by persons over the age of 16
to persons over the age of 16. They should not be sold in a
street (this includes any bridge, road, lane, footway, subway,
square, court or passage, including passages though enclosed
premises such as shopping malls). They may be sold from a
kiosk, in a shop or door-to-door.
Prizes
Prizes awarded can be either cash or non-monetary. The amount
of money deducted from the proceeds of the lottery to cover prizes,
combined with any running expenses incurred, must not comprise more
than 80% of the total lottery proceeds. Donated prizes would
not be counted as part of this 80%, but should still be declared on
the return following the lottery draw.
To download a return form click the link
below:-
Gambling Commission
Further information, including the Gambling Commission’s
publication ‘Lotteries and the Law (2005 Gambling Act)’ which
offers advice on promoting and running lotteries, is available on
their website:
http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/.
Completed Forms
Completed application forms for a Lottery Licence together
with the relevant documents and fee should be returned either in
person or by post to the Licensing Group.
Contact Information
Phone: 0845 050 4434 Ext 7481 or 7484 (Fax:
01539 740300)
Post: Public Health & Licensing Group, Community Services
Directorate, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal LA9
4UQ