Issue - meetings

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the establishment of a Council lottery for a one year trial be approved.

(ii)        That a progress report be submitted after year one to agree the continuation or cessation of the lottery.

(iii)       That the procurement of an external lottery management company to provide the expertise to establish a lottery and be responsible for the day-to-day running of this service be approved.

(iv)       That the Director of Community Services be authorised to approve the award of the management contract.

REASONS

(i)            To raise funding for local voluntary and community groups.

(ii)        To allow the Council to determine if the lottery is raising sufficient funding for local good causes.

(iii)       To provide expertise to the council and advice and support to local good causes that join the scheme.

(iv)       For expediency.

The Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing submitted a report recommending that the Council establish a Council lottery to raise money for local good causes.  The scheme would provide a sustainable source of funding for local causes, as well as raising additional income for the Council’s community grants fund.  The lottery could also provide a legacy for the Year of Culture, as groups that ran events as part of this initiative who wished to continue beyond 2019 could apply to be part of the scheme and receive ongoing income to support cultural events.

It was proposed that the scheme would operate on a one year trial basis, followed by a progress report to allow a review of its success.  In common with other established council lotteries, the lottery would be run in conjunction with an external lottery management company which would be responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme and would share the operational risk with the Council.

Details of the operation of the proposed lottery were reported.

It was noted that the money the Council received from the lottery would be used to cover the running costs of the scheme (e.g. marketing and promotion) to ensure that it was self-funding.  However, this was likely to be a small fraction of the total money raised and the majority of the money the council received would be redistributed via the community grants fund and would be in addition to the existing budget for this fund.

It was acknowledged that lotteries were a form of gambling and controls would be put in place by the external lottery management company to ensure that potential high risk players were identified and that under age players could not access the lottery.  The lottery website and all literature would also make reference to the support that was available from Gamble Aware, an independent charity that funded research, education and treatment services to help to reduce gambling-related harms.

The Community and Wellbeing Policy Development Advisory Group supported the proposal.  Concerns raised regarding gambling were addressed within the report, as outlined above.

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the establishment of a Council lottery for a one year trial be approved.

(ii)        That a progress report be submitted after year one to agree the continuation or cessation of the lottery.

(iii)       That the procurement of an external lottery management company to provide the expertise to establish a lottery and be responsible for the day-to-day running of this service be approved.

(iv)       That the Director of Community Services be authorised to approve the award of the management contract.

REASONS

(i)            To raise funding for local voluntary and community groups.

(ii)        To allow the Council to determine if the lottery is raising sufficient funding for local good causes.

(iii)       To provide expertise to the council and advice and support to local good causes that join the scheme.

(iv)       For expediency.