Introduction

The Gambling Act 2005 authorises small lotteries to be run by societies to raise money for charitable, sports or similar purposes, other than for private gain.

If you are a member of a non-commercial society that holds lotteries, you will need to register with us. To run a small society lottery, you need to make an application for a small society lottery registration under the Gambling Act 2005.  The application form must be accompanied by the relevant fee and there is an annual renewal fee if you wish to continue the registration.

Definition of a lottery

A lottery is a game which involves:

• you paying to take part
• one or more prizes allocated to one or more members of a class
• prizes allocated by a process which relies wholly on chance

This includes raffles where the tickets are sold in advance of the draw.

Only societies established for the following reasons can register for lotteries:

• charitable purposes
• people to take part in, or support, sport or cultural activities
• any other non-commercial purpose other than those for private gain

Lotteries that only take place at an event, such as a fete, fundraising dinner or fair, are known as ‘incidental lotteries’ and do not need a registration.

A small society lottery must not have ticket sales worth:

• more than £20,000 for a single draw
• more than £250,000 in a calendar year

If you plan to exceed these limits, you will be classed as operating a large lottery and this must be licensed by the Gambling Commission. You can find the application forms in the section below. The initial registration cost is £40 and valid for twelve months from the date of issue. It can be renewed if an annual fee of £20 is paid before the expiry of the registration.

Once you have registered with the Gambling Commission, you must promote all further lotteries of any size held during that year and the following three years under the Board’s registration. You will not be able to change to local authority during that time.

Lottery conditions

The following conditions apply in cases of lotteries where the total value of tickets or chances to be sold is £20,000 or less.

• no single prize may be worth more than £25,000
• at least 20% of the proceeds must be applied to the purposes of the society
• rollovers between lotteries are only permitted where every lottery affected is also a small society lottery, promoted by the same society and the maximum single prize is £25,000
• every ticket in the lottery must cost the same and the ticket fee must be paid to the society before entry into the draw is allowed

To apply for this licence please complete the application form below.

Apply

Submit your lottery returns

A completed lottery return needs to be submitted within three months after the lottery was drawn. This allows us to assess whether financial limits are being followed and to make sure that any money raised is used for the right intentions.

You will need to include the following with the return:

• Signatures of two adult members of your society who have been appointed in writing – electronic signatures are acceptable. A copy of the appointment must be uploaded or sent to us with the return
• The dates when the tickets were available for sale or supply
• The date the draw took place and value of prizes, including donated prizes and any rollover
• The total proceeds from the lottery or lotteries
• The amount that has been deducted for prizes and the costs incurred in organising the lottery, not including the registration fee
• All donated prizes. However, do not include them as part of the cost of prizes section as the society hasn’t bought them out of the proceeds.
• Any expenses that were incurred in connection with the lottery and deducted from the proceeds. State the amount of expenses and the source they were paid from.

The lottery return must not include any sums given to its charitable purpose that exceed its net proceeds as the additional sum did not form part of the total proceeds. For example, if the total proceeds were £100, the expenses were £20 and the cost of the prizes were £30, the maximum amount that can be given to the charitable purpose of the lottery is £50. It may be decided to donate £100, but only £50 came from the lottery with the other £50 coming from another revenue source.

Fees and charges

Current fees and charges can be found on our Fees and charges page.

Public Register

The Gambling Act requires us to maintain a register of premises licences issued, permits issued and temporary use notices issued.

Please visit Public registers page for more information.

Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles (Licensing Policy)

Somerset Council are required to produce a Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles.

Contact us

Please contact us at licensing.south@somerset.gov.uk for more information or support.