Licence - lottery

The Gambling Act 2005 and the Small Society Lotteries (Registration of Non Commercial Societies) Regulations 2007 controls the conduct of small lotteries, raffles etc. by societies raising money for charitable, sports and other similar purposes, otherwise than for personal gain.

Carlisle City Council can register local societies (sports clubs, amateur groups, voluntary organisations) to hold lotteries to raise money. Registration can only be granted if the society is established and conducted wholly or mainly for one or more of the following purposes:-

Charitable purposes;
Participation in, or support of, athletic sports or games or cultural activities;
Purposes for which, not being described in the above, are neither purposes of private gain nor purposes of any commercial undertaking;

If the total amount of chances sold for any one lottery is less than £20,000 or the total for all lotteries held in a calendar year is less than £250,000 then the society must register with the Council.

If a society wishes to run lotteries which exceed these amounts they must register with the Gambling Commission and must promote all further lotteries (of whatever size) held in that or the three following calendar years under the Board's registration, and will not be able to change to a local authority registration during that time.

Application for registration must be made to the Council and a registration certificate may be issued unless:

the society does not appear to be established for the purposes for which a registration may be granted
the Gambling Commission have refused or revoked the registration of the society within the last five years (except where the refusal was on the grounds of non-payment of fees)
a person connected with a lottery has been convicted of:
an offence under sections 2 or 13 of the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976
an offence under paragraph 14 of Schedule 1, paragraph 14 of Schedule 1A, paragraph 8 or 9 of Schedule 2, or paragraph 12 of Schedule 2A to the Act, or paragraph 12 of Schedule 7 to the Betting and Gaming Act 1963
an offence under section 42 or 45 of the 1963 Act or,
an offence involving fraud or dishonesty
false information has been given by the society in connection with its application for registration.

If the Council propose to refuse to register a society they will first give the society an opportunity of being heard, and will eventually notify their decision to the society. If registration is finally refused the society has a right to appeal to the Crown Court, except where the Gambling Commission have refused or revoked the society's registration.

If the society is registered, the Council may subsequently decide that the registration should be revoked if the society no longer falls within the provisions of section 5 of the Act or if any person is convicted of an offence mentioned above. In such cases the procedure applicable to the refusal of a registration applies.

When applying for a registration the society must pay a registration fee of £40. Each registration expires 12 months after issue and if a society wishes to continue to be registered it must pay a renewal fee in the period of 2 months prior to the anniversary of the issue date. Currently the renewal fee is £20.

A society may employ an external lottery manager to undertake the running of a lottery on its behalf. The persons who may manage a society's lottery are:

a member of the society
an employee of the society
a company that is wholly owned by the society
a person certificated as a lottery manager by the Gambling Commission under section 2A to the Act
an employee of a certificated lottery manager acting in the course of his employment.

Applications for certification of lottery managers should be made to the Gambling Commission.

A member of the society must be nominated as the lottery promoter. Prior to holding the first lottery, the society must approve its own lottery scheme and notify the Council in writing.

Further Information

Copies of the Gambling Act 2005 and the Small Society Lotteries (Registration of Non Commercial Societies) Regulations 2007 and other legislation mentioned here may be obtained from Her Majesty's Stationery Office.