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The fourth licence competition

The Gambling Commission is the UK’s independent, statutory body responsible for awarding licences to run the National Lottery and tasked with regulating it to ensure safe and fair play. The current licence is due to expire in 2023.

As part of our responsibility as a regulator, we have three overriding statutory duties and the team will make sure these will underpin the fourth licence competition:

  • ensuring the National Lottery is run with propriety
  • ensuring that participants’ interests are protected
  • (subject to those two duties) doing our best to secure that the proceeds from the National Lottery are as great as possible.

Whilst the Gambling Commission is responsible for managing the competition, and regulating the National Lottery, the distribution of funds will continue to be separate, undertaken by independent distribution bodies, overseen by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) (opens in new tab) – our sponsoring department.

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The opportunity

Last updated: 25 August 2021

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