Burnham Eyes Nationalisation of National Lottery
Andy Burnham, the newly elected MP for Makerfield and a frontrunner to become the next Labour Prime Minister, is considering a major change for all National Lottery players: nationalising the game. According to sources, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is pushing for the National Lottery to be among the companies nationalised under a future Burnham government.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is already running a public consultation on the lottery's future. This comes amid growing dissatisfaction with Allwyn, the current operator that took over from Camelot, regarding its stewardship of the lottery.
Allwyn's Performance Under Scrutiny
The National Lottery is on course to generate about £84 billion in sales under Allwyn by the end of its 10-year licence. A spokesperson for Allwyn previously stated: “We are on track to double the contribution to good causes from £30 million a week to £60 million a week by the end of the 10-year licence in 2034.”
Despite these projections, concerns persist about the distribution of funds. Baroness Twycross, Minister for Museums, Gambling and Heritage, said upon launching the consultation: “We have to be honest; while the impact of this funding has been life-changing, the way it is distributed is showing its age. The current funding model was built for a world that has long since passed us by. It is a model rooted in a different era, too often reliant on centralisation, with decisions about where this money goes being made in distant rooms, far from the communities who know their needs best.”
Proposed Shift in Funding Model
Baroness Twycross added: “We need to flip that model, and as we look towards the next thirty years, we want to ensure the National Lottery is not just something that happens to people, but something that is driven by them. This isn’t just a review; it’s about fundamentally re-evaluating how good cause funding is distributed and ensuring that the voice of the whole country is heard.”
The consultation aims to address longstanding criticisms that lottery funding is too centralised and disconnected from local communities. Nationalisation would represent a radical shift, potentially bringing the lottery under direct state control for the first time since its launch in 1994.
