More court action over National Lottery licence decision

 The decision to award the next National Lottery licence to Allwyn Entertainment is heading for the High Court. Both current licence holders, the Camelot Group and International Game Technology (IGT) have been told they can appeal the decision made earlier this year.

It was the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) that decided in March to make Allwyn their preferred applicant for the fourth National Lottery licence. The first three had all been granted to Camelot and Allwyn are due to take over in early 2024.

However, that decision has not pleased Camelot or IGT. Camelot has held the National Lottery licence since it began in 1994. They were only named the reserve applicant and will keep their licence if the deal with Allwyn doesn’t go ahead.

Further delay

April of this year saw Camelot head to the High Court to challenge the decision. The court decided to suspend the formal issuing of the new licence to Allwyn. Last month saw that decision overturned but the legal challenges are far from over.

Now we have reached the stage where there has been permission for Camelot and IGT to appeal the decision. The suspension lifted last month is now back in force. It’s expected the appeal hearing will be held in the week beginning 12 September.

Severe consequences

The UKGC are upset at this latest development. They believe that this delay will “present potentially severe consequences for the National Lottery.”. The UKGC added that this also “risks the National Lottery not operating to its full potential at the start of the fourth licence.”

Justin King is the chairman of Allwyn. He said that the company were “obviously disappointed” by the decision, He added that it risks the National Lottery’s ability to raise funds for good causes. Mr King has called on both Camelot and IGT to include good causes when calculating damages caused by the injunction if it is found it is improper.

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