UK National Lottery Contributed 11% Less to Good Causes in Q4, 2021

Britain’s Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced the National Lottery Good Causes figures for the last quarter of the previous fiscal year (January-March 2022). It turns out the funding for good causes and charities continues to decline.

The Money Donated by the Lottery Declined

The commission said that the money raised by the National Lottery sits at around $609 million. This number is 3.4% lower than the one in Q3 and demonstrates a 10.9% year-on-year decline compared to Q4 of the previous year when the lottery raised $74 million more.

Analysts say that the lowering of the sum donated to charities is caused by the drop in National Lottery sales. According to the UKGC, the lottery has seen a 0.8% decline in its overall sales, which has, in turn, affected the money it could donate. Furthermore, the lottery’s EuroMillions sales plummeted by 22.4%. While interest in other games soared, it wasn’t enough to cover up for those losses. Additionally, there were fewer unclaimed prizes than in the previous quarter.

The total money that the National Lottery put into good causes throughout the 2021/22 fiscal year is almost $3 billion, according to the Gambling Commission.

Some Propose Donations Based on Fixed Percentage

As of now, the British National Lottery does not have a fixed percentage of its earnings that it must donate to good causes. However, some have argued that this must now change. Parliament member and former Conservative Party leader Ian Duncan Smith is one of the most vocal advocates for a fixture of the income percentage the lottery must donate. He noted that Camelot, the former National Lottery operator, has been donating less and less in the past decade. Smith pointed out that Camelot donated 23% of its revenues in 2021 – five percent less than what it donated in 2010.

The UKGC has decided to choose Allwyn (formerly Sazka Entertainment) as the National Lottery operator. This has prompted more demands about establishing a fixed percentage of money to go to good causes.

Camelot used to occupy the position of a National Lottery operator for 13 years. When it eventually lost to Allwyn, it appealed the decision and opted to take the UKGC to court for allegedly playing favorites.

Allwyn is scheduled to take over the National Lottery starting in 2023 but there are some concerns about the operator. This is because its owner, the Czech billionaire Karel Komarek, is known to have ties with the Russian gas giant Gazprom. In the light of the war in Ukraine, some people remain reserved about Allwyn and its alleged ties with Russia.