Lord Butler of Brockwell

For management and staffing purposes the Prime Minister’s Office is part of the Cabinet Office. There are 235 permanent civil servants employed by the Cabinet Office and allocated to the Prime Minister’s Office. As was the case under the previous Administration, information about Special Adviser numbers will be published in the Annual report on Special Advisers, and party political appointments are not a matter for the Government.

The Government is committed to strengthening protections for those at risk of gambling harm. We continue to monitor the best available evidence that assesses the impact of consumer protection measures when making future policy decisions.

Alongside monitoring the best available evidence, we have commissioned a robust evaluation of a subset of the measures introduced through the Gambling Act Review, including socially responsible incentives. We expect the findings of that evaluation to be published by the end of this year. This work will be supported by the statutory gambling levy, which directs 20% of its funding toward independent research to fill critical gaps in the evidence base. This will also include a proportion of funding for the Gambling Commission to direct further research in line with the licensing objectives.

The Government is committed to ensuring games are enjoyed safely and responsibly by everyone and that, where they contain loot boxes, there are appropriate protections in place for players of all ages.

To improve those protections, industry-led guidance was published in 2023 with a 12-month implementation period after which DCMS commissioned independent academic research into its effectiveness. We will publish the research in the near future, alongside our next steps.