Troubled year for the lottery

Lottery Under the Spotlight

The lottery operator, Camelot, is on course to raise more money than expected for good causes, according to the annual report of the watchdog body, Oflot.

The amount of cash pouring into the good causes fund is now set to reach 30 per cent of sales over Camelot's seven-year license period. The head of Oflot, Peter Davis, said, "The future is bright for the National Lottery and its benefits for Britain."

His optimistic assessment follows a troubled year for Camelot, whose directors have been under attack for taking big bonuses out of the lottery's profits.

Heritage Secretary ordered directors to give up bonuses

The Heritage Secretary, Chris Smith, is reviewing Oflot's powers. He has questioned whether Mr Davis, who gave Camelot its operating license, should also have the job of regulating it.

The Government has made clear it intends to award the next contract for running the lottery, due in 2001, to an operator working on a non-profit basis. Mr Davis's own contract expires next year, and there are doubts whether it will be renewed.

Besides the row over directors' pay, Camelot has also been suffering from falling sales. The lottery's directors were earlier ordered to give up their bonuses, worth a total of £2.3 million. After some wrangling, they agreed to hand over "undisclosed sums" to a confidential charity trust.

Davis: "Very successful year"

Lottery regulator Peter Davis defends Camelot's record Dur. 4'10"

Mr Davis insists that he has been tough as Camelot's regulator, but calls in his report for more power to tackle license breaches. The most serious problem last year was Camelot's failure over installing scratchcard verification terminals in shops.

Mr Davis argues that it was inevitable that Camelot, as a private sector operator, would make profits and make decisions about how to spend those profits.

"It's not for me to intervene in the shareholders' decision about how much the directors get paid," said Mr Davis.

He added: "We have raised nearly £1.5 billion for good causes and taken the total for good causes to over £3 billion since we launched."