MPs seeking views on preferred National Lottery provider

MPs sitting on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee have launched a plea for submissions around the Gambling Commission’s announcement that Camelot will no longer run the National Lottery.

The call has been made as part of the Committee’s inquiry into the National Lottery, after the Commission announced that Allwyn Entertainment is the preferred applicant to run the lottery from 2024.

The Committee is looking at the process behind licensing the lottery as well as scrutinising Allwyn Entertainment’s candidature.

“To ensure the best outcome for the National Lottery and the many good causes it supports, it is vital that the process to find an operator is run in a fair, open and transparent way,” said DCMS Committee chair Julian Knight.

“We will be scrutinising the Gambling Commission’s process in awarding the licence to Allwyn and how future competitions might be better run. We would welcome submissions from anyone with an interest in the process and in lotteries in general.”

The Committee's deadline for accepting evidence is 1 April.

The Gambling Commission received four bids to run the lottery, from Allwyn, Camelot, Sisal Sap and The New Lottery Company. This is the highest number of applications since the first National Lottery licence was awarded in 1994.

“Our priority was to run a competition that would attract a strong field of candidates. Having received the most applications since 1994, it is clear that we've achieved just that.

“I am confident that the success of the competition will lead to a highly successful fourth licence – one that maximises returns to good causes, promotes innovation, delivers against our statutory duties, and which ultimately protects the unique status of the National Lottery,” said Commission chief executive Andew Rhodes.

Allwyn’s bid chairman Keith Mills added: “The National Lottery is a national treasure, and we are honoured to have been chosen as its future custodian. With the Gambling Commission having put its trust in us, we can immediately start to enact our exciting plans to deliver The National Lottery back to the heart of our country.

“We will do this by rekindling the meaning The National Lottery has for each of us, whether as individuals or as part of the communities we live in; whether we play The National Lottery or not.”

Allwyn already runs lotteries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece and Cyprus as well as Italy.