The UK Government has launched a 12-week call for evidence on the future of National Lottery Good Cause funding, opening the first major review of the model in more than 20 years.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the review will ask players, organisations and communities where lottery funding should go, how it should be spent and how access can be improved.
The National Lottery has generated more than £53bn ($70.4bn) for good causes since its first draw in 1994.
The current model allocates funding across four statutory areas: 20% for arts and culture, 20% for sport, 20% for heritage and 40% for community projects covering charitable activity, health, education and the environment.
The call for evidence closes at midday on 23 September 2026 and is open to people aged 16 and over. It will also involve National Lottery distributor bodies, grant recipients and community organisations.
The review comes during Allwyn UK’s Fourth Licence period as operator of the National Lottery.
Allwyn took over from Camelot in February 2024 and has said it is aiming to increase Good Cause funding from around £30m a week to £60m a week by the end of the licence in 2034.
Latest Gambling Commission statistics show payments due to good causes reached £446.7m in Q4 2025-26, down 6.8% year-on-year but up 8.7% from the previous quarter. The last four quarters generated more than £1.8bn for good causes.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “The National Lottery is played by millions of people every single week. It is not just public money, it is literally the public’s money and they must be in the driving seat of how it is spent.”
Allwyn UK CEO, Andria Vidler, said: “People don’t just play The National Lottery for the chance to win, they play knowing that it supports a vast number of charities and good causes up and down the country.”
The review sits alongside wider DCMS activity across the UK gambling sector. In May, DCMS outlined the objectives of its new Illegal Gambling Taskforce, which will examine payments, advertising and cross-sector enforcement over a one-year period.
Around 23p from every £1 spent on National Lottery tickets goes to good causes, while 12p goes to Lottery Duty for the exchequer
