Operating costs of Lottery (FOI)

​​Request

Please aedvise what the costs were to third parties and overall that the Government of Jersey spent on the production and sale of the Christmas lottery from 2018 to 2023?

Response

The Government of Jersey has contracts in place that encompass both the Christmas lottery and the periodic scratch-card games that are issued through a year.  The attached table therefore represent the total costs of both the Christmas lottery and these scratch-card games:- 

Table.pdf

Points to note:- 

• Commission on Agency Sales is the amount paid to the Agent and is inclusive of the costs of distribution, retailer’s costs and Agent’s administration costs 
• The amount of commission paid is a set percentage of sales
• Printing is the cost of devising the games and delivery to the Government of Jersey, in addition to printing the game cards 
• Print costs are variable depending on the number of new games produced in the year rather than a direct link to sales
• Administration is the Government of Jersey’s costs relating to the games, which include the payment of the higher-value prizes, management oversight, preparation of the Report & Proposition for the States Assembly’s consideration of grants and accountancy. It is the net cost and includes a contribution from Guernsey toward the cost of running the draw and accounting.  
  

​It is too early to determine the overall costs for 2023, as the commission and administration costs have not yet been finalised. As such the information is not held and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. 

​Article applied 

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.