Are there proposals to bring the U.K. National Lottery to Jersey when this will be done so that additional funds are available to cultural and heritage organisations in the Island

2.13  The Deputy of Grouville of the Minister for Economic Development regarding proposals to introduce the U.K. National Lottery to Jersey in the near future:

Would the Minister inform Members whether he intends to bring forward proposals to introduce the U.K. National Lottery to Jersey in the near future and if so, state when this will be done so that additional funds are available to cultural and heritage organisations in the Island that are currently suffering from a funding crisis?

Senator A.J.H. Maclean (The Minister for Economic Development): Can I ask my Assistant Minister to deal with this as he has been handling it?

The Connétable of St. Clement (Assistant Minister for Economic Development -

rapporteur):

If I could unilaterally decide to extend the U.K. National Lottery to Jersey that would have been done yesterday, but I am sure the Deputy understands that we have to reach agreement with the United Kingdom Government to achieve this. Discussions and negotiations are continuing with our counterparts in Guernsey. Unfortunately these discussions and negotiations are painfully slow and therefore I cannot say when, or even if, the National Lottery will be extended to Jersey.

1. The Deputy of Grouville :

That is hugely disappointing because this issue has been on the table as long as I can remember. The Camelot licence I believe now includes the provision to operate in the Channel Islands and given the crisis that we are suffering with our heritage and cultural venues, I would hope that the Economic Development Department and the Treasury are doing all that they can to speed up the facility to have the U.K. Lottery here. Could the Assistant Minister please give us some sort of assurance that he will do all that he can to speed up the process?

The Connétable of St. Clement :

Yes, I do agree with the Deputy that it is disappointing. Many years ago I was on the Gambling Control Committee with the then Deputy Breckon. We were working on this very subject at that time and we were hoping for an imminent result. Clearly, the timescale is totally out of our hands at the present moment but I am working with the officers of the department on a revamp of the Channel Islands Lottery, which I hope will be more exciting and, therefore, more profitable than the current lottery and hopefully we can bring a proposal for that early next year. Again, of course, we will be debating later this year the distribution of profits  from the Jersey part of the Channel Islands Lottery and its distribution and if it is felt by the States that other bodies such as heritage and cultural bodies should also benefit from the profits of the Jersey Lottery, that will be a matter for this debate.

2. Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:

I wonder if the Assistant Minister could tell the House what are the sticking points and what, as a betting man, would he say are the odds of getting this through? [Laughter]

The Connétable of St. Clement :

I am not a betting man and I have no ideas what the odds might be but, as always in these things, it is a matter of finance. If the National Lottery is going to be extended to Jersey, it has to be in our financial interests. In other words, we have to take a view that the financial benefit to charity, cultural, heritage and the States would be better than the current Channel Islands Lottery. Until we can get agreement with the U.K. on that basis, then the lottery will not be extended.

3. Senator S.C. Ferguson:

Has the Minister's department made an attempt to quantify this? What sort of amount would be available to organisations in Jersey and will the distribution be made by the existing Lottery Board in the U.K.?

The Connétable of St. Clement :

All of these things are a matter of negotiations. Clearly, Jersey would expect to receive from the sale of National Lottery tickets in Jersey the 12 per cent duty which is currently levied to the United Kingdom Government and the 14 per cent which is given to good causes. I would also expect, and I would be reluctant to do it any other way, that the amount to good causes would be distributed in Jersey, by Jersey, and not by a body in the United Kingdom.

4. Senator A. Breckon:

Following on from that, I wonder if the Assistant Minister could confirm that the issue of raising tax by the United Kingdom Government in Jersey is a sticking point which has fallen between the Treasury and her Majesty's Customs and Excise, and also can he confirm that at the moment it is not allowable for the good causes money to be paid outside the jurisdiction of which Camelot have got so, therefore, they are the barriers? Could he confirm that?

The Connétable of St. Clement : No, I will not.

5. Deputy K.C. Lewis :

I think that question has been largely answered. At present Jersey residents are preventing from accessing the National Lottery. Is the Assistant Minister happy that this is human rights compliant?

The Connétable of St. Clement :

Yes. I do not think there is any human rights issue here. Of course, some and I would suggest many Channel Islanders do take part in the National Lottery and many people travel to the United Kingdom frequently and buy tickets I am sure, and many people have relatives in the United Kingdom and they buy tickets on their behalf. It could be argued, I suppose, that if the duty on those sales were transferred from the United Kingdom Government to the Jersey Government, the U.K. could marginally lose out, but I suspect that the ticket sales would vastly increase if the National Lottery were extended. I can assure Members that we will continue our negotiations and our discussions with the appropriate U.K. departments.

6. The Deputy of Grouville :

As the local lottery has suffered enormously upon the introduction of the National Lottery we are currently in a lose-lose situation. I believe the 2 stumbling blocks are those that were mentioned by Senator Breckon and it is something that Treasury and the Economic Development Department need to address. Again, I would ask for the assurance of the Assistant Minister that this will be addressed in short order so that some of our cultural and heritage venues can benefit.  Thank you.

The Connétable of St. Clement :

I can confirm that although I am enthusiastic that the National Lottery should be

extended to Jersey, it has got to be on sensible and proper terms. I can assure the Deputy that we will continue those negotiations and discussions in conjunction with

our counterparts in Guernsey, but I would also say that while initially the Channel Island  Lottery did suffer,  it has, in recent  years, held up particularly well. The Association of Jersey Charities, I know, are delighted with the donation that they get from the profits of that and I am hoping, with a revamp, perhaps later next year that we could see profits increasing even further and a bit more excitement brought into the Channel Islands Lottery.