Charity lottery sales limits: Letter to UK Government

To: Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy

From: Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

I am writing to you to outline the Scottish Government’s position on society lottery sales limits and to ask your department to review these limits.

The Scottish Government welcomes the contribution that society lotteries make to Scotland. As a vital part of the ‘giving landscape’, they have raised millions for local, national and international good causes. We understand that sales limits impact on the society lottery sector and on the charities they exist to support, not least by resulting in unnecessary regulation, duplication of effort, and in some cases restricting the funding available to charities. In our view, sales limits only serve to limit the positive impact society lotteries have in raising money for good causes.

In an economic climate where the charity sector is facing both a challenging fundraising environment and is responding to increased needs from the communities they support, we believe it is incumbent on the UK Government to undertake a review which includes evidence from across the charity law landscape to ensure that any limits imposed are evidence-based and cognisant of the potential impacts on charities in receipt of funding.

We were advised by the previous UK Government that there were no immediate plans to increase the society lottery sales limit, but that the Gambling Commission would carefully monitor and analyse the wider impact of the previous limit change to determine its effect over time.

I would appreciate if you could confirm the current Government position on society lottery sales limits and I would encourage action is taken to revise these fundraising restrictions, allowing the sector to continue to flourish.

I look forward to working with you on this matter.