Article: Licences - Lotteries Article Body Legislation Under the Gambling Act 2005, the council issues a permit or licence for Small Society Lotteries only. This type of lottery is exempt from the requirement to be licensed by the Gambling Commission. Who can apply In order to apply, the applicant must be a society, established and conducted wholly or mainly for charitable purposes (including participation of, or in support of athletic sports or games or cultural activities) or other purposes which are not for private gain or those of any commercial undertaking. How to apply Before submitting your application, please read our Small Lottery Licence guidelines. Completed application forms, along with any accompanying documents, must be submitted to the council by post to the address below. Please ensure you enclose a cheque for the correct amount, made payable to Barnsley MBC. Your application will not be considered to be valid without receipt of the necessary payment. How to submit a return Completed returns forms, along with any accompanying documents, must be submitted to the council by post to the address below. . Supporting Information Purpose A small society lottery may be promoted for any of the purposes for which the promoting society is conducted. Proceeds The proceeds of one lottery may not exceed £20,000. The aggregate of proceeds from lotteries promoted wholly or partly during that year may not exceed £250,000. Maximum Prize It must not be possible for the purchaser of a ticket in a small society lottery to win (whether in money, moneys worth or partly one and partly the other) more than £25,000. Distribution of proceeds The arrangement for a small society lottery must ensure that at least 20 per cent of the proceeds of the lottery are applied to a purpose for which the promoting society is conducted. Tickets There is no price limit on tickets but they must all cost the same, and the possible proceeds must not exceed £20,000. The tickets must:- identify the society, state the price of the ticket, state the name and an address of a member of the society who is designated, by persons acting on behalf of the society, as having responsibility within the society for the promotion of the lottery, or, if there is one, the external lottery manager and either state the date of the draw or enable the date of the draw to be determined Registration In relation to the registration of a society, the relevant local authority is the local authority for the area in which the principal premises of the society are situated. The promoting society of a small society lottery must, throughout the period during which the lottery is promoted, be registered with a local authority. Under paragraph 47 of Schedule 11, a local authority must refuse an application for registration if, in the previous five years, the applicant has had an application for a gambling operating licence refused or, following a review, has had an existing licence revoked by the Gambling Commission because it thought that :- the licensed activity was being carried out in a manner inconsistent with the licensing objectives; a condition of the licence was breached; the licensee failed to cooperate with a review; or the licensee was unsuitable to carry out the licensed activity. A gambling operating licence may also be revoked for other reasons, but only these reasons constitute a basis on which registration of small society lotteries must be refused. Under paragraph 48 of Schedule 11, a local authority may also refuse an application if: the applicant is not a non-commercial society; a person who will, or may, be connected with the promotion of the lottery has been convicted of a relevant offence (as defined under section 126 and schedule 7 of the Act); or information provided in or with the application for registration is false or misleading. Filing of records The promoting society must send to the local authority with which the society is registered a statement containing information regarding each lottery. This statement must be supplied to the local authority within the period of three months beginning with the day on which the draw, or last draw, in the lottery takes place. This statement must be signed by two members of the society who are appointed for the purpose in writing by the society, or if it has one, its governing body, and it must be accompanied by a copy of the appointment. It is an offence not to submit a statement for each lottery held. Written records of any unsold or returned tickets should be retained by the society for a period of one year from the date of the lottery draw. Contact information The Licensing Section Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Regulatory Services PO Box 602 Barnsley S70 9FB Our office hours are 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday. Telephone: 01226 772468 Fax: 01226 775699 Email: regulatoryservices@barnsley.gov.uk Application Forms Small Society Lottery Application Form (MS Word 60kb) Small Society Lottery Application Form (PDF 114kb) Small Society Returns Form (MS Word 557kb) Small Society Returns Form (PDF 87kb) Fees The fee payable with an initial application for registration is £40. All registrations expire on 31st December, irrespective of when they were issued. The annual fee payable for an ongoing registration is £20, and this is payable within 30 days of the expiry date otherwise the registration will lapse. The council provides a number of methods for making payment of licence fees. Further information Definition of 'Society' The registration will be for the society, or any separate branch of such a society, on whose behalf a lottery is to be promoted. The society must be a non-commercial organisation. Section 19 of the 2005 Act defines a society as non-commercial if it is: (a) For charitable purposes (as defined by section 2 of the Charities Act 2006) (b) For the purpose of enabling participation in, or of supporting, sport, athletics or cultural activity (c) For any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain The society must have been established for one of the permitted purposes, and the proceeds of any lottery must be devoted to those purposes. It is not permissible to establish a society whose sole purpose is to facilitate lotteries - it must have some other purpose. Definition of a Lottery Under the Gambling Act 2005, there are two categories of lotteries, simple and complex: An arrangement is a lottery if: (a) persons are required to pay in order to participate in the arrangement; (b) in the course of the arrangement one or more prizes are allocated to one or more members of a class, and (c) the prizes are allocated by a process which relies wholly on chance. An arrangement is a lottery if: (a) persons are required to pay in order to participate in the arrangement; (b) in the course of the arrangement one or more prizes are allocated to one or more members of a class; (c) the prizes are allocated by a series of processes, and (d) the first of those processes relies wholly on chance. Raffles A raffle can be held at a private function without a licence, providing the tickes are only sold at the function and the draw takes place during the event. All tickets sold must be of equal value, for example do not offer tickets at 25p each or 5 for £1. If alcohol is included as a prize, no tickets can be offered to any person under the age of 18. Tombolas and information stalls These can be held in the town centre pedestrian area at no charge, requiring no licence, however a site must be booked through the town centre manager. The charity or organisation can provide its own table but must have Public Liability insurance. No cash donations can be accepted unless the charity or organisation holds a Street Collection licence for that day. Exempt Lotteries Other types of lotteries which fall into an exempt category are incidental non-commercial lotteries, a private society lottery, and a work lottery or a residents lottery. Rollover A lottery may include a rollover only if each lottery, which is affected by the rollover is also a small society lottery promoted by or on behalf of the same society. Selling of tickets Tickets may not be sold by any person under the age of 16 years or to any person under the age of 16 years. Tickets may be sold from a kiosk, in a shop and door-to-door. They may not be sold in a street, which is defined as including any bridge, road, lane, footway, subway, square, court or passage (including passages through enclosed premises such as shopping malls).