Allwyn has responded to calls for Northern Irish gambling laws around lotteries to be changed, claiming that such changes could impact charity fundraising efforts.
The operator of the National Lottery released a statement following the introduction of a private members bill to the Northern Irish Assembly by Sian Mulholland, an Alliance Party MLA for North Antrim.
In an X post, Mulholland explained that her Lotteries for Communities Bill aims to “change the legislation that governs society lotteries to allow these society lotteries to function in Northern Ireland, which will create a whole new stream of funding for the community and voluntary sector”.
Mulholland’s proposal would allow organisations like the People’s Postcode Lottery to operate in Northern Ireland, a move she argues would generate millions more for local charities.
Allwyn, however, which has been operator of the UK-wide National Lottery since February 2024 under a 10-year licence, asserts that changes would negatively impact the National Lottery funds in Northern Ireland.
“The National Lottery changes lives in Northern Ireland every day. It has so far made more than £1.5bn in National Lottery funding for charities, individuals and organisations,” said Gillian Taylor, Director of Communications at Allwyn UK.
“It has created 195 millionaires and every day supports around 1,500 mostly local shops generating much needed footfall, sales and income for shopkeepers at the heart of the community, helping to keep them alive in a way that online-only lotteries like The People’s Postcode Lottery cannot and will not.
“These proposals will cost millions of pounds to National Lottery-funded charities and retailers. As experience in Great Britain shows the operation of industrial-scale society lotteries has reduced the funding for National Lottery Good Causes and the public purse by £1bn over 10 years.”
The Alliance MLA’s Bill is indicative of a wider political trend in Northern Ireland which has seen attempts to modernise the region’s gambling framework, which has been governed by the 1985 Order on Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements’ for over four decades.
Progress has been sluggish, however, despite most MLAs appearing to recognise that Northern Ireland needs to modernise its gambling framework to include online betting and gaming. An All-Party Group (APG) on gambling harms, for example, made 57 recommendations on how Northern Irish betting regulations can be improved.
Mulholland’s lottery proposals would add to these recommendations and plans. However, Allwyn – the biggest lottery stakeholder in the UK and a major contributor to charitable funds with a target of doubling weekly good cause funds from £30m to £60m by the end of its 10-year licence – argues that the lottery framework does not need changes.
Taylor continued: “The Northern Ireland lottery framework has successfully delivered National Lottery funds to places that really need it for 30 years in a sustained, long-term way with local funders who are part of their local communities and who understand their needs.
“It is a model that really works. We believe that changing this landscape – with the possible introduction of the People’s Postcode Lottery and other industrial scale society lotteries – puts all of that long-term stability at risk.”