NAO Launches Probe Into Gambling Commission’s Lottery Oversight
The spending watchdog is turning its attention to the body that oversees every UK-licensed casino, sportsbook and lottery product. The National Audit Office has opened a formal review of how the Gambling Commission handled the award of the fourth National Lottery licence, a process that handed the keys to Allwyn UK back in 2024.
What’s been released
The UK’s National Audit Office has launched an inspection into the fourth National Lottery licence, reviewing whether the oversight of the Gambling Commission is on par to maximise returns to Good Causes.
The 10-year licence officially came into force in 2024 under the management of gambling conglomerate Allwyn UK, which replaced previous licence holder Camelot and its tenure as an operator since the lottery launched in 1994.
In the fourth National Lottery license, the UKGC introduced a new operating model that provides the lottery’s custodian with more flexibility, and this was the first time that the license went to a company other than Camelot since the lottery was established in 1994.
The switch has not been a smooth one:
the review follows Allwyn’s failure to meet pledges made during the 2022 bidding process, including a promise to boost charity funding to £38bn over a decade, with last year’s contributions totalling £1.7bn and quarterly figures hitting a near-decade low.
What’s changed
The NAO’s investigation has been set up with the aim of establishing whether the Gambling Commission, which regulates the National Lottery, has implemented the licence effectively to maximise returns to good causes.
The probe will investigate whether the Gambling Commission designed the process effectively to maximise returns to good causes and deliver long-term public value.
Three strands sit at the centre of the work:
whether the Gambling Commission established the right conditions for the Fourth Licence, how effectively it oversaw its implementation and how the Commission and DCMS could improve future lottery licensing.
Despite early media framing, the NAO’s investigation does not specifically target Allwyn, and the Gambling Commission’s role sits at the heart of the study.
On the operator side,
Allwyn has faced criticism due to falling sales and resulting hits to good causes cash, while the former contract holder’s chair has claimed the Czech operator won the bid on unrealistic projections; Allwyn itself has highlighted the intense litigation it faced after the award as a reason for delayed implementation, alongside heavy investment it has made into the UK.
Timing-wise,
the investigation will be completed by spring 2027 and is set to be conducted by NAO director Simon Bittlestone and study manager Callum Saunders.
The review will mean intense scrutiny of Allwyn and the Gambling Commission, raising the prospect of executives from both being called before MPs on the public accounts committee to explain why the Lottery has fallen short of Allwyn’s promises.
Where it fits
For the casino side of the UK market, the National Lottery sits in its own regulatory lane, but the body steering this review is the same one that licenses every slot studio and operator covered on this site.
The Lottery remains the single biggest contributor to Britain’s charity sector, with its donations funding sport, arts, heritage, health, education and environmental projects.
Any findings that reshape how the Commission designs and polices major licences could, in time, filter through to how it approaches oversight elsewhere in its remit.
The timing also lands amid wider political interest in the Lottery’s structure:
the NAO’s intervention comes after reports that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is pushing for the Lottery to be among a slew of struggling companies targeted for nationalisation under Andy Burnham.
None of this changes what UK players can currently access through licensed casino apps and sites, but it is a reminder that the regulator setting the rules for game launches, RTP disclosure and licence conditions is itself now under the spotlight.
Sources
- SBC News – National Lottery licence to be evaluated by UK watchdog
- Next.io – National Lottery award faces review by public spending watchdog
- iGaming Express – NAO Opens Allwyn Lottery Investigation
- Yahoo News – National Lottery investigated by public spending watchdog
- InterGame Online – UK National Lottery licence investigation opened
- Gambling News – UK National Audit Office to Investigate How UKGC Handled the Fourth National Lottery License
- Global Gaming Insider – National Audit Office looking into Gambling Commission lottery oversight
- News Minimalist – National Lottery faces watchdog probe over falling charity donations
