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Priority 1 - Completing the competition for the Fourth National Lottery licence

Since its launch in 1994, the National Lottery has raised more than £43 billion for 660,000 good causes, transforming lives through its contribution to the arts, sport, heritage, and communities up and down the United Kingdom (UK).

The Gambling Commission is the UK’s independent, statutory body responsible for awarding the licence to run the National Lottery. In relation to the National Lottery, the Secretary of State for Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Commission share three Statutory Duties:

  1. That the National Lottery is run, and every lottery that forms part of it is promoted, with all due propriety.
  2. That the interests of every participant in a lottery that forms part of the National Lottery are protected.
  3. Subject to these, to do their best to secure that the net proceeds of the National Lottery are as great as possible.

The third National Lottery licence is due to expire on 31 January 2024 and in March 2022, the Commission named Allwyn Entertainment UK (“Allwyn”) as Preferred Applicant for the fourth National Lottery licence.

We will continue to monitor the current National Lottery licence holder’s performance, applying increasing focus on the end-of-licence management and transition from the third to the fourth National Lottery licence.

We also expect to continue to receive and assess marketing investment proposals until the end of the third licence. Finally, we will progress our work relating to the licence extension, considering and agreeing the associated incremental costs with the operator.

To ensure a smooth transition between the third and fourth National Lottery licences, the Full Business Case for the fourth National Lottery was approved by DCMS in January 2022 and by HM Treasury in February.

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Priority 2 - Responding to the Government's White Paper on the Gambling Act

Last updated: 7 April 2022

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