Licensing

Lotteries

The Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976, controls the conduct of small lotteries and raffles by societies raising money for charitable, sports and other similar purposes not for personal or commercial gain.

The society on whose behalf the lottery is promoted must register with us if their Head Office is in Barking and Dagenham.

Documents and application forms

Lotteries Application Form - Word 518K

Lotteries Application Form - PDF 52K

Lottery Promoters Return Form PDF 30K

Ending a Registration Form PDF 43K

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Registering a society

Under the Lotteries and Gaming Act 1976, the society on whose behalf the lottery is promoted must register with us if:

The societies lotteries sell tickets whose value in a single lottery is no more than £20,000
The value in 1 year is no more than £250,000

If a society wishes to run lotteries that exceed these amounts they must register with the Gaming Board. They will be held under that registration for 3 years whatever the size of the lottery.

Registration checklist

So we can make sure you are keeping to all the relevant requirements, send us the following immediately:

A copy of the letter authorising the promoter and the society members authorised to sign returns. (The letter must give their names, home address, signatures and the positions they hold)
Any returns due
A copy of the lottery scheme rules
The names and addresses of authorised people from your society and their positions
A sample ticket
A copy of your society's rules or constitution

Society requirements

Since April 1994, the National Lottery Act 1993 has given us authority to inspect societies' records. From our inspections we have found that societies are not meeting the requirements of the National Lottery Act 1993.

Because of this we have decided to issue details of the relevant requirements to each society.

Tickets

a) No ticket (or chance) in a lottery can cost more than £1.

b) The price of each ticket (or chance) must be the same.

c) Every ticket sold should show:

Your society's name and address
The name and address of the person or company promoting the lottery (the promoter)
The date of the lottery
The price of the ticket; and
Our name and address to show the local authority you are registered with

Promoter

a) The promoter must be a member of your society.

b) The promoter must have written permission, from your society's governing body, to act as the promoter.

c) The promoter must send us a return for each lottery held as set out in rule 4, Returns.

Society rules

a) People must pay the full cost of every ticket for, or chance in, a lottery.

b) You must not refund the cost of a ticket or chance under any circumstances.

c) People taking part in a lottery will not have to pay any amount other than the cost of a ticket or chance.

d) The prize in a lottery must not be more than:

£25,000; or
10% of the total value of tickets or chances sold (whichever is greater)

e) There is no limit on the number of lotteries you can hold in a year.

f) You cannot take more than the following amounts from the money raised from a lottery.

Up to 55% of the proceeds as prizes
Up to 35% of the proceeds to cover expenses (including commission which should not be more than 12% of the total expenses)

However, the total of prizes and expenses must not be more than 80%. So at least 20% of the total amount raised must go for the benefit of your society.

g) Your society must have been set up, and be run:

For charitable purposes
To take part in or to support sports or cultural activities; or
For purposes other than those described above but which are not commercial or intended to make a profit

h) Your society must register with the local authority whose area its office or head office is in.

i) You must give us details of the people authorised to act for your society.

Returns

a) Within the 3 months after a lottery, the promoter must fill in and send us a return (as provided by us) showing:

The date of the lottery
The whole proceeds of the lottery
The amounts taken from the proceeds for expenses and prizes
Details of any expenses met from sources other than the proceeds of the lottery; and
What the remaining proceeds were used for

b) The return must be signed by 2 other members of the society who:

Are aged 18 or over; and
Have been appointed, in writing, by the society's governing body

The promoter must give us the names and home addresses of those members and details of the positions they hold in the society.

c) With each return, the promoter must send us a copy of the scheme rules the lottery was promoted under (see rule 5, Lottery scheme rules) and a copy of the governing bodies written authority for:

The promoter to act as such; and
2 other named members of the society to sign the return

Lottery scheme rules

Your society must have lottery scheme rules, which set out the following:

Your society's name and address
Our name and address (as the local authority you are registered with)
The date of your registration
Your registration number
The date of, full details of, and changes to the scheme
The maximum number of lotteries you will promote in any 12 months from 1st January
The percentage of the proceeds (up to 55%) you will use to provide prizes, and an acknowledgement that a higher percentage may be used only in the following circumstances:
- If the proceeds of the lottery fell short of the amount reasonably expected
- If the extra deduction is made in order to meet an obligation to provide in connection with the tickets or chances sold
- If the total amount deducted for prizes is not more than the amount that could have been taken out of the proceeds of the lottery if it had raised the amount reasonably expected
- Whether all or any of our councillors or employees can buy tickets for or chances in your lottery

Relevant acts

These guidelines aim to help you meet the requirements of relevant laws. If you want full details of all your obligations, refer to:

The Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 (as amended); and
The Lotteries Regulations 1993