4th National Lottery Licence

Government Transformation and Service Delivery

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £174.5m
Published schedule: 16/11/2018 – 31/05/2026
NISTA delivery confidence: AMBER
Senior responsible owner: John Tanner

What the project is for

The 4th National Lottery Competition Programme is responsible for ensuring the continuation of the National Lottery on the expiry of the 3rd Licence at the end of January 2024. This involved designing a new licence fit for the future and selecting an operator via a competitive application process who is able to continue to develop the National Lottery as a public asset in order to maximise the returns to good causes whilst also ensuring the highest standards of propriety and player protection.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, NISTA's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 25/26-Q3 increased from RED to AMBER.This is primarily due to the following factors‚ during 25/26, Allwyn were able to successfully complete both Retail (RCO) and Digital Cutover (DCO) activities bringing the project in line with expected deadlines. Following AELs delivery of DCO in January 2026 the Programme increased from AMBER to GREEN (25/26-Q4).

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's end-date at 25/26-Q4 increased from 31/12/2025 to 31/05/2026. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ Following Allwyn's Implementation Notice issued in November 2024, Fully Implemented Commencement was expected to be delivered by late 2025. Allwyn delivered digital cutover on the weekend of 24/25 January 2026 and the Commission's Board determined that they had delivered Fully Implemented Commencement on 19 March 2026. There are some final closure activities taking place between mid March and the end of May 2026 before the NISTA Gate 5a and Programme closure.

Cost

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 increased from £154.8m to £168.2m (£13.4m). This is primarily due to the following factors: • 4NLR budget was increased by £8.36m: o Delay to Full Implementation causing BAU an Implementation to run in parallel o aspects of regulation have proved more complex and therefore more resource intensive for Licensing than anticipated o Retention of additional roles that were once considered to be required for bedding in period only, with additional support around enforcement, finance, and stakeholder management/project delivery o Increased contingency primarily to account for situations where additional legal resources or external advice is needed. • Programme and Recoverable Implementation Costs (RICs) budget was increased by £5.02m , we are currently working within the FBC Scenario 2 resource and timeline (RICs completion forecast 31 Jan 27), scenarios 3 & 4 increase the Programme by c2 months each. The increase was required to accommodate Allwyn’s delay in testing and loss of contingency time and not being able to deliver Full Functionality by the Fall Back Delayed Date in Feb ‘25 Please note figures referenced in the narratives were entered as nominal and the system automatically converts them to Real Terms.

Benefits

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained the same as last year at 20643.