Politicians demand retailer PoS lottery changes

A new report on Lottery funding by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has asked the Government to take action to “reverse the recent decline in sales".

PAC chair and MP Meg Hillier blamed Camelot for “tinkering with the format of the Lottery” and said there had been “a fall in positivity towards the Lottery brand” due to a lack of awareness about how the Lottery supports good causes.

To reverse this, the report called for Camelot to do more to “communicate the contribution to good causes from each type of game to customers at the point of sale".

This could include additional advertising material in shops, on tickets and online. The report expects the changes to be in place by September.

Camelot operations director Duncan Malyon told RN that the company is looking to bring back posters advertising how much each individual store has raised for good causes as part of its £20m investment in retail that began this year.

Read the full interview with Malyon where he explains what improvements retailers can expect to see in store as part of this £20m investment.

The Government’s interest in the Lottery’s performance was spurred by last year’s 9% sales decline that led to a 15% drop in funding for charities. Camelot is forecasting further sales reductions in 2018 that are likely to further reduce charity funding.

To improve ticket sales, the report also calls on the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to promote the importance of the National Lottery in supporting community organisations.

Rebuilding the Lottery brand was a key aspect of Camelot’s strategic review published in late 2017. The report claims that Camelot told MPs that it had “an ambition to get back on national television,” suggesting televised draws could be reintroduced.

The committee also referenced increasing pressure on the DCMS to raise the age restriction on Lottery tickets from the current age requirement of 16. The DCMS said child lottery gambling was “certainly something we are interested in and looking at”.

Despite the PAC holding Camelot responsible on many points, it conceded that declining participation for draw-based games is “a global trend”, and that there is increased competition from operators like the Health Lottery.

Camelot told the committee that it is looking to turn around its sales decline by growing sales by £400m over the next two years.

Read more: How Camelot plans to turn around declining sales