Face of Nation : Culture minister Mims Davies announced a consultation on the issue in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
She told MPs: “The age of 18 is widely recognised as an age one becomes an adult, gaining full citizenship rights and the responsibilities.
“At present, all lotteries can be played from 16 – one of the very few age limits for gambling under-18 products.”
Ms Davies described how the consultation would explore three options: retaining the current minimum age of 16; raising the mimumim age to 18 for National Lottery scratchcards and online instant win games; or raising the minimum age to 18 for all National Lottery games.
Hinting the government might favour action on scratchcards and instant win games rather than a complete raising of the age limit, Ms Davies added: “My initial view is based on the evidence reviewed so far, so it is that such a split could be the best approach.
“But we do know the risk of harm is slightly higher for instant win games than it is for draw-based games such as Lotto.
“Therefore I am keen to seek further evidence in this area and hear what others think given that the National Lottery matters so much to so many people, including hearing from the operators, distributors and retailers about any potential impacts and benefits of the change.” The consultation will run until 8 October.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the action is to “ensure that young people are rightly protected from the potential risks of gambling-related harm”, but added these “remain very low on all National Lottery games”.
Labour MP Carolyn Harris, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling related harm, “thoroughly supports” the government consultation.
She told Sky News she was “really concerned” about the online scratchcards offered by the National Lottery, adding: “You can’t buy cigarettes at the age of 16, but gambling can be just as dangerous.”
Ms Harris suggested online National Lottery games and scratchcards “normalises” gambling and can be an issue for anyone with a problem.
“To be 16 and be able to do that is dangerous,” she said. The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling – who provide independent advice to the Gambling Commission, the industry’s watchdog – called for a review of the age limit on National Lottery instant win games and scratch cards in a report last year.
They also highlighted how gambling was more prevalent among 11-15-year-olds than skateboarding.
The ability of under-18s to buy lottery tickets and scratchcards has been described as an “historical accident”, with the ABSG saying they would not recommend keeping the same rules if starting “from scratch”.
Gambling Commission figures from 2016 revealed 23% of 16-24-year-olds have participated in a National Lottery draw in the past 12 months, with 26% having used scratchcards. A Gambling Commission spokesperson said: “We would encourage people to take part and provide their views on this consultation.”
A spokesperson for Camelot, who own the National Lottery, told Sky News: “We have no issue with a government review of the age limit for buying National Lottery products and are happy to assist in any way we can to help inform the decision.”
It has previously been suggested any move to increase the age limit the National Lottery might not take place before 2023, when Camelot’s current licence expires.
