December news update

Welcome to the National Lottery Commission’s latest news update. If you want to receive this update by email, send your details to us at  info@natlotcomm.gov.uk. 

Message from Dr Anne Wright CBE, Chair of the National Lottery Commission

On behalf of everyone at the Commission I’d like to wish you an enjoyable Christmas break. We look forward to the year ahead and continuing our work to ensure the Lottery remains fair and safe and can be trusted by players across the UK.

Half-yearly sales and returns to good causes

We have just published the latest quarterly report to show how much has been raised for good causes since 1 April 2009. This is the second full quarter of the third licence period and so far £709 million has been raised for good causes. This is an increase of over £65 million when compared with the previous half year. Of this increase, over £45 million is a consequence of the improved terms we achieved in the third licence through a highly effective competition process. This is in line with our estimate that the third licence would generate an extra £60 to £100 million each year for good causes.

You can find the report on our website. If you would like to see the games’ sales reports visit Camelot’s website.

Scams awareness campaign

The Commission has been working with the Office of Fair Trading to raise awareness of lottery scams. Each year these scams cost the British public an estimated £260 million. The Commission provides detailed advice on its website to help provide the public with greater understanding of the dangers of these scams.

15th Anniversary of the National Lottery

November marked the 15th Anniversary of the National Lottery and the amazing impact it has had on life in the UK; from the smallest community project to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, one of the biggest urban regeneration projects this country has ever seen.

Throughout its history it has had a dedicated, independent regulatory framework working to ensure that the Lottery is fair, its players are protected and to maximise the funds for the good causes. It is under this set-up that Lottery has flourished and continues to go from strength to strength and we strongly believe that the independent oversight functions we carry out now need to continue however they may be organised in future.

Our Chief Executive, Mark Harris made a statement on the anniversary of the first National Lottery draw. You can read it on our website.

Enforcement Policy Consultation closing date

Our consultation on our draft enforcement policy closed on 1 December 2009. The Enforcement Policy explains our enforcement approach for the 2009-2019 licence and how we can keep making sure the National Lottery is run fairly and safely. Thank you to all those who sent in submissions to the consultation. You can find more information and download the consultation document here.