National Lottery: the NAO is reviewing Allwyn's fourth licence

Spring 2027 is the publication window the National Audit Office has set for its study of the fourth National Lottery licence, the 2024 to 2034 contract the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) awarded in 2022 to Allwyn Entertainment Limited, holder of the Commission's licence to run the National Lottery.

The work-in-progress page, published on October 12, 2026 and modified the same day, asks whether the Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport designed, awarded and oversaw that licence to maximise returns to good causes. Allwyn replaced Camelot on February 1, 2024. Players and funded projects are who the result touches, and by spring 2027 the operator will be about three years into a 10-year term. The page does not move the licence.

A spring 2027 slot, not a finished report

Nothing on the page is a finding. The National Audit Office (NAO) marks the work as in progress and names spring 2027, with no day and no month.

The page does not support a verdict on Allwyn's sales, or a case to remove the licence before any report exists.

What the study will ask of two public bodies

Scope on the page is aimed at the Commission and the department, not at a commercial case against the operator.

Scope text says Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The label says Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. We read the mismatch as a draft, not a second department.

The handover the Commission recorded

Allwyn Entertainment Limited is the licensee the NAO page names. The 2022 award is described there as the first change of operator since the lottery was established in 1994. On February 1, 2024 the Commission said the fourth licence had come into effect, with Camelot the outgoing operator.

"The Fourth Licence by design will mean more of every pound spent on the National Lottery will go to Good Causes whilst still making sure it is safe to play," said Andrew Rhodes, then chief executive of the Gambling Commission, on February 1, 2024.

That notice described an Incentive Mechanism. Unlike before, every National Lottery product would return money to good causes at the same level, and Allwyn's profits would rise only if those returns rose. It also stated a cumulative figure for the years since 1994, not a result of Allwyn's term: more than £48 billion for more than 685,000 good causes. That is the Commission's figure from February 1, 2024.

Participant protection is the prior duty

Returns are not the first duty the NAO records. Propriety comes first, then protection of participants' interests. Maximising returns is subject to both. A new operating model, meant to raise returns and give the operator more room to innovate, does not sit above that protection duty.

Players are who that second duty names. Scoring the licence only on cash for projects would miss the constraint on the page. Separate from this study, the Commission is still enforcing against other operators, including the Rank Group settlement with the Gambling Commission over failures at its casino venues.

Who is named to carry out the work

Director Simon Bittlestone leads the study, with Study Manager Callum Saunders named beside him. The page gives no biography, no hearing date and no list of papers.

On February 9, 2026 the Commission announced that Andrew Rhodes would leave on April 30, 2026. The notice credited him with overseeing implementation of the fourth licence, and said Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Gardner would cover the transition. We reported Andrew Rhodes's exit from the Gambling Commission when that date was set. The NAO page names neither official.

FAQ

Q: When will the National Audit Office publish?
A: The page schedules the study for spring 2027. It does not give a calendar day, and it does not say the licence pauses while the work is done.

Q: Does this study replace the Gambling Commission or remove Allwyn?
A: No. The NAO is the public spending audit body, not the gambling regulator. The Gambling Commission regulates the National Lottery. Allwyn has held the fourth licence since February 1, 2024, and the page does not announce a new award or a suspension.

Q: Why does player protection appear in a study about good causes?
A: Because the NAO page records the Commission's duties in order. Propriety and participants' interests come first. Maximising returns is subject to those duties.

"This study will examine whether the Gambling Commission has designed, implemented and overseen the fourth National Lottery licence effectively to maximise returns to good causes and deliver long-term public value," the National Audit Office states on its work-in-progress page for the fourth licence.

This article is informational analysis only and is not gambling or financial advice. Figures are as attributed in the text.

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