NB: It is entirely your responsibility to ensure your lottery meets all legal requirements, and for an exact interpretation of this Act then a qualified Lawyer should be consulted.

This guide is solely intended as an aid to customers and Pal-Printing can not accept any liability for any error made in its preparation.

Brief Notes for Guidance of Societies

To be covered by the Act, the society, club or such like must be conducted mainly for - Charitable purposes; Support of athletic sports or games or cultural activities; or neither for private gain nor any commercial undertaking.

Applications for registration should be made to the local authority, with the statutory fee, each year,
The total value of tickets or chances to be sold is to be £10,000 or less: with no prize to exceed £2,000 in amount or value .

Expenses (exclusive of prizes) may not exceed the expenses actually incurred or 25% of those proceeds, whichever is the lesser, unless it is shown that the proceeds were reasonably less than the sum estimated.

CONDITIONS

a) The promoter of the lottery must be a member of the society and authorised in writing.

b) No more than 52 lotteries in any period of twelve months, but when the date of two or more society lotteries is the same and the total value of tickets does not exceed £45,000 then all those lotteries shall be treated as one.

c) The date of any lottery can not be not be less than seven days after any previous lottery, except that the date of a lottery promoted for the purpose of selling tickets mainly to person attending a particular sporting event may be less than seven days after a previous lottery.

d) No ticket may be sold more than three months before the date of any previous lottery.

e) Every ticket and every notice or advertisement of a lottery must specify the name of the society, the name and address of the promoter and date of the lottery.

f) Every ticket in a lottery must also specify the name of the registration authority with which the society is registered under the Act.

g) No ticket or chance in a lottery may be sold by or to a person under 16 years of age;

h) No ticket may be sold by a means of a vending machine, or to a person in any street and no ticket may be sold in any licensed betting office, any premises used mainly for providing amusements with prizes and/or by means of slot machines, or in any bingo or gaming club.

i) No ticket or chance may be sold by a person when visiting any other person at his home in the discharge of any official, professional or commercial function not connected with lotteries.

j) No ticket may be sold at a price exceeding £1.00; the price of every ticket must be the same and must be stated on the ticket.

k) No person may be admitted to participate in a lottery in respect of a ticket except after payment to the society of the whole price of the ticket, and no money received for a ticket may be returned.

l) The whole proceeds after deducting sums for expenses or prizes, must be used for the society.

m) The provision of prizes must not exceed one half of the whole proceeds, unless the proceeds fell short of the sum estimated.

n) The winning of a prize depends on the purchase of one ticket in the lottery.

o) The society must comply with the provisions in the Lotteries Regulations 1977 (S.I. 1977 No. 256), as amended by the Lotteries (Amendment) Regulations 1981 (S.I. 1981 No 109) and the Lotteries (Amendment) Regulations 1988 (S.I. 1988 No. 2161). Any breach of these conditions constitutes an offence for which the promoter (unless the contravention took place without his knowledge) and any person who is party thereto will be liable for prosecution, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Act.

RETURNS

When a lottery has been held, the promoter must send a return to the local authority, not later than the end of the third month after the date of the lottery. Forms of return are available on request at the offices of the local authority and must comply with the terms of Part II of Schedule 1 to the Act. The return must be certified by two full age members of the society (other than the promoter) appointed in writing by the society. Failure to send a return in accordance with the statutory provisions constitutes an offence, and any person who knowingly gives or certifies any false information in such a return, also renders him liable to prosecution.