About the National Lottery Commission

The National Lottery Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating the National Lottery.

We protect the integrity of the Lottery; protect players; and maximise funds to good causes. We also run the competition for the licence and select the operator of the Lottery.

The National Lottery Commission is a Non-Departmental Public Body, sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We operate at arm’s length from government and our decisions are independent. Our work is funded by the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) – the good causes portion of National Lottery ticket sales.

The coalition government announced in late 2010 that it intends merge the Commission with the Gambling Commission. In order to achieve cost savings, ahead of the merger we will be relocating from central London to the Gambling Commission’s office in Birmingham. The move will take place in January 2011.

Our seven Commissioners are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and meet each month to make decisions about new Lottery licences and other developments affecting the Lottery. They also appoint our full-time Chief Executive.

The Commission has the following powers:

• We run the competition process to select the operator of the Lottery.
• We make sure that the operator meets the conditions of the licence.
• We can take legal action if necessary. If the operator breaks the conditions of the licence, we can impose a financial penalty.Ultimately we could withdraw a licence, but that would only happen under extreme circumstances.

These are the words which come to mind when our staff think about the Commission © http://www.wordle.net/

Related Links

• Annual Reports

  The Commission’s Annual Reports from 2000/2001 onwards are available to download.

Related downloads

• Ensuring a fair Lottery for the Nation

  Download our introductory leaflet to get a better understanding of who we are and what we do.

  (pdf - 177kb)