[holding answer 16 March 2009]: Under the terms of the licence to operate the national lottery, Camelot is required to spend a minimum amount per annum on marketing national lottery games for the benefit of good causes. The annual levels are calculated according to a formula laid down in the licence. The minimum marketing expenditure (MME) for each financial year from 2005-06 is given in the following table.
Financial year Minimum marketing expenditure (£) 2005-06 75,000,000 2006-07 73,391,484 2007-08 74,527,248
As the commercial operator, it is at Camelot's discretion to spend in excess of the MME as required to ensure the effective promotion of national lottery games. Camelot have advised that quarterly breakdowns of promotional expenditure on national lottery games is considered to be a matter of commercial sensitivity and should not be released.
Camelot have advised that it is not possible to disaggregate expenditure on promoting Olympic lottery games from the rest of the portfolio as they consider that this information would be commercially sensitive.
(2) what the budget for the national lottery promotions unit is for 2008-09.
[holding answer 16 March 2009]: Between 1 April 2008 and 31 December 2008, the national lottery promotions unit (NLPU) spent £1,609,351 delivering public relations campaigns that enable the public to access information about lottery funding and the difference it is making to their communities.
All work is independently evaluated and assessed and in the period 1 April 2008 to 31 December 2008 it was estimated that the NLPU had delivered activity with a value of over £54,407,032 which represents a return on investment of 33:1. Figures for the last three months of the financial year are not yet available.
For the current financial year the national lottery promotions unit has a budget of £2,667,121.