Agenda item

Graham Rose, Senior Policy Officer

a.    presented a report to provide an update on the progress with implementation plans for the Lincoln Community Lottery (LCL) and to provide the proposed criteria for the acceptance of good causes.

b.    advised that Gatherwell had been appointed as External Lottery Manager on a two year contract.

c.    referred to paragraph 3 of the report and gave an overview of the actions that had been completed and the next steps in the process.

d.    outlined the mechanics of how the lottery would work and advised that for every £1 spent, the purchaser could allocate 50% towards their chosen good cause and a further 10% would go into a central pot for the City of Lincoln Council to allocate, if the purchaser did not choose a good cause the central pot would get the full 60%.

e.    suggested other criteria for allowing a ‘good cause’ to join the lottery as detailed at Appendix A of the report.

f.     referred to Appendices B and C of the report which set out 3 boundary areas for consideration and advised that it was recommended that a 6 mile boundary be adopted.

g.    proposed that a panel of at least 2 members plus officers be formed to agree the good causes accepted onto the lottery and suggested that they also considered the appropriate distribution of funds from the central pot on a quarterly basis.

h.    referred to appendices D to L and advised that Gatherwell had provided 5 policies, 1 draft GDPR policy and 3 terms to cover all aspects of implementation.

i.      invited members’ questions and comments.

Question: Would a national charity be eligible if they had a local branch but their funds were kept in a central pot of money not local to Lincoln?

Response: If the charity had a local branch and they could guarantee that the money was spent locally, then they would meet the eligibility criteria, and this would be included in the terms of reference of the members’ panel.

Question: What would the Community Fund be spent on?

Response: Members could recommend how the funds from the central pot could be distributed, there were no specific causes identified at the moment.

Question: If 50% of the £1 spent would go to the chosen good cause and 10% go to the central pot, what would the remaining 40% be used for?

Response: It would be used to run the lottery, it would go towards prizes, VAT which could be claimed back and used to cover operating costs and to Gatherwell for running the lottery on behalf of the Council.

Question: Would there be any extra staffing costs?

Response: No there would be no additional staffing costs. 

Question: How would players of the lottery purchase tickets?

Response: Gatherwell would run the lottery on behalf of the council and would take all payments either online or over the telephone.

Question: How much take up was expected?

Response: Based on comparisons of other lotteries that had been set up in similar areas to Lincoln, it could potentially have 100,000 participants in 5 years if the 6 mile radius was adopted.

Question: What would happen if the take up was lower than expected?

Response: There would be no cost to the Council, Gatherwell would be taking all of the risks.

Question: How would the lottery be promoted?

Response: There would be a press release, a launch event for good causes, an article in Your Lincoln, and a social media campaign. There would be bolt on prizes on the first draw and it was recommended by Gatherwell to have bolt on prizes for draws every 6 months. Also, the good causes will carry out a lot of the promotion themselves.

Question: Was there a limit to the number of good causes?

Response: No there was no limit.

Question: Could members be provided with details of the lottery so that they could recommend good causes.

Response: Once the lottery had been to Executive, full details would be circulated to all members.

RESOLVED that

1.    The policies and terms at Appendices D to L of the report be noted and referred to Executive for approval.

2.    The 6 mile boundary be supported and referred to Executive for approval.

3.    The criteria for good causes be supported and referred to Executive for approval.

4.    It be recommended that the Member Selection Panel be comprised of the Portfolio Holder for Social Inclusion and Community Cohesion and the Chair of Audit Committee.

5.    A review of the Lincoln Community Lottery be brought back to Policy Scrutiny Committee 12 - 18 months from implementation.