Small society lotteries licence

You must register your lottery with us.

There are rules around small society lotteries that you must follow. These are as follows:

• At least 20 per cent of the lottery proceeds must be applied to the purposes of the society (the ‘good cause’)
• No single prize may be worth more than £25,000, even if it is donated.
• You cannot sell more than £20,000 of tickets in a single lottery, or £250,000 in any one year.
• You can roll over prizes to another lottery run by your society, but that prize cannot be worth more than £25,000.
• Every ticket in the lottery must cost the same and the society must take payment for the ticket fee before entry into the draw is allowed.
• You can sell tickets door to door, online, by telephone or face to face, but you cannot sell tickets in a street (including passages through shopping malls)
• You must send details of your lottery to us, no later than 3 months after the lottery is drawn. 

To apply complete the online application form.

Apply for a small society lotteries licence online

We'll aim to respond to your enquiry within 5 working days of receipt of your email.

If your application is complete and valid, we'll contact you to pay the gambling licence fee within the timeframe allowed under the legislation.

If your application is not complete or valid, we'll contact you about any outstanding requirements. Your application process will not start until we take payment.

You'll need to pay an initial registration fee of £40 and a renewal fee of £20 after the first year.

No. It is in the public interest that we must process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from us within a reasonable period, please contact us using the contact details provided.

Gambling Act 2005

The Gambling Act 2005 has 3 main objectives:

• Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime.
• Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way.
• Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

It also brought the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British regulation for the first time. A new independent regulatory body was created; the Gambling Commission, which is now the national regulator for commercial gambling in Great Britain.

The Act replaced the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1963, the Gaming Act of 1968 and the Lotteries and Amusements Act of 1976. In their place it created three separate categories of licence:

• Operating licences
• Personal licences
• Premises licences

Our approach to this area of work can be found in our Gambling Policy Statement.

• Read our Gambling Policy Statement

The Gambling Commission

The Gambling Commission came about as a result of the Act and regulates gaming and certain lotteries.

The Gambling Commission grants operating and personal licences for​ commercial gambling and people working in the industry. It will also regulate certain lottery managers and promoters.

The council as a Licensing Authority

Licensing Authorities are responsible for:

• Licensing premises for gambling (casino, bingo and betting premises - including tracks, adult gaming centres and family entertainment centres). The Act requires that (except in the case of tracks) only persons holding or have applied for an operating licence from the Gambling Commission may apply to the council for a premises licence.
• Administering Temporary Use Notices (notices given for the temporary use of premises for gambling purposes).
• Granting permits for gaming and gaming machines in clubs and miners' welfare institutes.
• Regulating gaming and gaming machines in alcohol licensed premises.
• Granting permits to family entertainment centres for the use of certain lower stake gaming machines.
• Granting permits for prize gaming.
• Administer occasional use notices for betting at tracks.
• Registering small societies lotteries.

Contact the team