Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the National Lottery age limit increase to 18 will not take effect until April 2021 for online play and October 2021 for all other lottery products.

The legislative change for the increase in the National Lottery age limit will come into force on 1st October 2021. However, this date is the final backstop at which changes can be introduced and I expect the operator to make changes sooner where possible. In this regard, I am pleased that the operator is planning to introduce changes for online channels by early April 2021, and in the retail sector over the course of the summer.

The National Lottery is a hugely complex operation. This change will affect over 44,000 retailers across the UK and as a result it is important that we strike a balance between making this change quickly and giving businesses the time they need to ensure a smooth transition.