*Revised 1994

LOTTERIES AND AMUSEMENTS ACT 1976

As amended by the National Lottery Etc. Act 1993

Note for the Guidance of Local Societies

The Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 as amended by the National Lottery Etc. Act 1993 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), authorises the conduct of small lotteries (ie, draw, sweepstake, etc.) by societies for raising money for charitable, sports and other similar purposes otherwise than for private gain.

A) LOTTERY RUN BY SUCH A SOCIETY IS NOT UNLAWFUL IF:

(a) registered with the District or Borough Council.

(b) conducted in accordance with the Act.

(c) Promoted in accordance with a scheme approved by the society.

(d) either –

 (i) the total value of tickets or chances to be sold is £20,000 or less;
and
  
 (ii) the cumulative total of tickets or chances to be sold in any one calendar year is less than £250,000, or

 (iii) the scheme is registered with the Gaming Board of Great Britain  before any tickets or chances are sold:

(e) promoted in Great Britain.

 These notes will now deal with each of the five requirements in more detail, though in a case of difficulty the society should contact the local authority with whom it is registered or refer to the Act and the Regulations under that Act.

(a) REGISTRATION

A society establishment for one or more of the following purposes shall register with the District Council if it intends to run a lottery.  The purposes are:-

 (i) Charitable purposes;

 (ii) Participation in or support of athletic sports or games or cultural activities;

 (iii) Any other purpose provided it is not for private gain nor purposed of any commercial undertaking.

FEES and ADDRESS FOR APPLICATION

Applications for registration should be made to the local authority within whose area the office of the particular society is situated.  Application forms are available from offices of the local authority and when completed should be returned to the authority, together with the statutory fee for £35.00.  This is the fee for first registration, the renewal fee due on 1 January in every year is £17.50.  Societies which have offices within Great Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Immingham or the surrounding areas should apply for registration to the Licensing Section, North East Lincolnshire Council, Cleethorpes Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes, DN35 8LN.

A certificate of Registration will be issued by the local authority to the society, unless the local authority consider registration should be refused, either because the society does not appear to be eligible for registration, or because some person has been convicted of an offence committed in connection with a lottery promoted or proposed to be promoted on behalf of the society.

B CONDUCT OF LOTTERIES

The Act legalises only lotteries promoted for raising money to be used for the purposed of a registered society, but the following conditions must be observed:-

 (i) The promoter of the lottery must be a member of the society authorised in writing by the governing body of the society to act as such;

 (ii) No ticket or chance may be sold at a price exceeding £1.00.

 (iii) The price of every ticket or chance must be the same, and the price of any ticket must be stated on the ticket;

 (iv) Every ticket shall specify the name of the registration authority with which the society is registered; the name of the society; the name and address of the promoter; the prize of the ticket and the date of the lottery.

 (v) No person may participate in the lottery except after paying of the whole price of the ticket or chance, and no money received for or on account of a ticket or chance shall be returnable;

 (vi) The previous £2,000 limit on the value of a prize which could be offered in a society lottery promoted under local authority registration was abolished on 3 May 1994.  The value of the tope prize is now limited by the rule that no more that 50% of the proceeds should be used to buy prizes and the biggest prize offered will come out of that sum.

 (vii) Prizes may be donated to a lottery at reduced costs of free of charge, but the value of any donated prize must not exceed £25,000.

 (viii) The whole proceeds after deducting sums lawfully appropriate on account of expenses and for the provision of prizes must be applied to the purposes of the society;

 (ix) No ticket or chance shall be sold to persons under 16 years of age;

 (x) No ticket or chance shall be sold to any person in any street, except if the sale is by a person in a kiosk or shop premises having no space for customers;

 (xi) No ticket or chance shall be sold by means of a vending machine;

 (xii) No ticket or chance shall be sold by a person visiting any other person’s home in the discharge of any official, professional or commercial function not connected with lotteries;

 (xiii) Submit a return to the issuing authority after the lottery has been held (see more detailed notes regarding this);

 (xiv) Limits are now imposed on the size of lettering to be used on tickets, notices or advertisements if a person is promoting or assisting in the promotion of a lottery for reward, the size of lettering not exceeding the smallest type used on the ticket, notice or advertisement;

 (xv) Tickets shall not be supplied prior to sale in a form enabling winning tickets to be identified;

 (xvi) A lottery prize shall not be dependent upon the purchase of more than one ticket or chance;

Any breach of the conditions may be an offence, and the promoter may also be prosecuted for the offence.

C SCHEME

The condition with regard to this are contained in the Lotteries Regulations 1977. The scheme should specify the name and address of the society, the purpose for which the society is established, duration of the scheme (which may not exceed 3 years), the maximum number of lotteries to be promoted under the scheme in any one period of 12 months, the proportion of the whole proceeds (not more than half) of any lottery promoted under the scheme which may be appropriate for the provision of prizes.  I have prepared a form which societies may wish to use when deciding upon a scheme.

 D VALUE OF TICKETS OF CHANCES

A society’s lottery is unlawful, even though the society may be registered with the local authority, if the total value of tickets or chances to be sold in any lottery exceeds £20,000.
However, should a society wish to sell more than £20,000 worth of tickets or chances in a lottery, the society should apply to the Gaming Board of Great Britain before launching a lottery.

E PROMOTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

Tickets or chances in a society’s lottery may only be sold in Great Britain.

F RETURNS

When a lottery has been held, the promoter must send a return to the local authority not later than the end of the third month after the month in which the prize winners were ascertained.

Forms of Return are available on request at the offices of the local authority.  The Return must be certified by two members of the society (not the promoter) being persons of full age appointed in writing by the society.

The Return should show:

(i) Copy of scheme under which the lottery was promoted;

(ii) The whole proceeds of the lottery;

(iii) Sums appropriated on account of expenses and prizes out of the proceeds;

(iv) Purpose or purposes to which proceeds applied;

(v) Date of lottery.

Failure to send in a Return or knowingly make a false or misleading statement constitutes an offence and may be liable for prosecution.

Tote Double

The legal requirements of the Act are – that it is not lawful to carry forward any monies allocated for distribution as prizes, so that in order to comply with these requirements on the date of the draw, numbers should be drawn until prizes are won.