It could be you – Calderdale Council lottery is given the green light and this is how it will work

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet have given the go-ahead for a council lottery scheme to be developed and it is possible you might be able to be buying your first ticket by early next year.

A lottery is one of a number of measures first raised at Budget Council at the start of the year as alternative ways in which, in cash-strapped times for councils, money to pay for services can be raised and good causes helped.

Councillors are considering a model in which tickets will cost £1 with 60 per cent going to good causes and the rest towards prizes and administering the scheme.

The council hopes it can make £50,000 savings each year by running the lottery and discussions have already been held with a lottery management company licensed by the Gambling Commission.

Cabinet also agreed the council should explore further other money raising ideas ranging from Crowdfunding and paying voluntary extra Council Tax to philanthropy.

It would not be a total leap in the dark – around 50 local authorities already run their own lotteries including Aylesbury Vale and Harrogate, and one could be established in Calderdale by early next year, probably with an initial first year loss and set up costs which will have to be factored in.

Leader of the Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) said: “There is probably a practical opportunity in Calderdale for these methods of funding around cultural and leisure activities.”

For example, he, said, it could allow potential of popular events to be maximised, such as the popularity of BBC television series Gentleman Jack resulting in extra visitors to Bankfield Museum at Boothtown, Halifax.

Cabinet member for Regeneration and Resources, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said as funding begins to dry up including Government Support Grant the council had to explore other methods of raising funds for services but do so with care.

“We have to think very carefully abut other sources of funding that might be available to us and explore them very thoroughly,” she said.

Coun James Baker (Lib Dem, Warley) said he welcomed the moves including the lottery which his party had suggested in their 2018 Budget proposals.

“The rationale is we are facing unprecedented cuts. Perhaps some of the other ideas could be looked at in scrutiny,” he said.