Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 March (HL15103), which gambling operators reported regulatory investigations or findings into other activities in other jurisdictions in (1) 2021–22, (2) 2022–23, (3) 2023–24, and (4) 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested relating to gambling operators and their overseas operators could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating gambling in Great Britain. It is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and for authorities in those jurisdictions to investigate if they are not.
The compliance with legal requirements in overseas jurisdictions is a question for the respective judicial authorities to investigate if operators are not compliant. Where a licensee is found to be operating illegally, the Commission may consider their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 March (HL15103), which gambling operators have been found to be operating illegally since 2020; and whether the licences of those operators to offer gambling services in Britain have been withdrawn.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested relating to gambling operators and their overseas operators could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating gambling in Great Britain. It is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and for authorities in those jurisdictions to investigate if they are not.
The compliance with legal requirements in overseas jurisdictions is a question for the respective judicial authorities to investigate if operators are not compliant. Where a licensee is found to be operating illegally, the Commission may consider their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 March (HL15103), which gambling operators have substantial customer bases outside of Britain; and in which jurisdictions those customer bases are.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested relating to gambling operators and their overseas operators could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating gambling in Great Britain. It is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and for authorities in those jurisdictions to investigate if they are not.
The compliance with legal requirements in overseas jurisdictions is a question for the respective judicial authorities to investigate if operators are not compliant. Where a licensee is found to be operating illegally, the Commission may consider their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 March (HL15103), what criteria they expect gambling operators to use to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested relating to gambling operators and their overseas operators could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating gambling in Great Britain. It is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and for authorities in those jurisdictions to investigate if they are not.
The compliance with legal requirements in overseas jurisdictions is a question for the respective judicial authorities to investigate if operators are not compliant. Where a licensee is found to be operating illegally, the Commission may consider their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the findings of Raffaello Rossi, Edoardo Tozzi and Agnes Nairn published in Psychology and Marketing on 7 March, what assessment they have made of the adequacy of gambling protections for children, including the extent to which gambling content marketing is (1) appealing to children, (2) obviously identifiable as advertising, and (3) effectively countered by currently used educational interventions.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government notes the findings of Raffaello Rossi, Edoardo Tozzi and Agnes Nairn published in Psychology and Marketing on 7 March. We remain committed to protecting children and young people from gambling related harm.
Operators must ensure that advertising is not targeted at children. In October 2025, the Advertising Standards Authority updated their guidance to rule that personalities or influencers with under-18s social media followings totalling at least 100,000 across all platforms is indicative of strong appeal to children and young people, and gambling advertisements cannot be promoted through these channels. We continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders on gambling protections for children.
As part of the Statutory Gambling Levy, the Office for Health, Inequalities and Disparity (OHID, are developing a robust spread of measures of gambling harm prevention activity, and are utilising a ‘test and learn’ approach to prevention activity such as gambling education.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many invitations they have made to local authorities to submit proposals under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007; when any such invitations were made; and what the outcome of each invitation was.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has issued two invitations to local authorities to submit proposals under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007. One in 2008, that resulted in a shortlist of 199 proposals and one in 2010. The 2010 invitation remains open. The department does not hold data on the total number of proposals made since 2010, or on the ultimate outcome of these proposals.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government which charities they have met with to discuss the commissioning process for new independent provision of gambling harms research, prevention and treatment; and what impact, if any, those discussions have had on the commissioning process.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All Ministerial meetings are declared in the respective quarterly transparency return.
The lead commissioning bodies for research, prevention and treatment who hold responsibility for commissioning decisions have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders as part of their programme development. Both the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and NHS England have communicated regularly with a wide variety of charities in the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to set out timings and requirements for their grant processes.
DCMS remains confident that the levy commissioning processes are being administered appropriately and that all funding decisions will be made on the basis of assessed need, value for money and the ability of applicants to deliver effective, evidence-based interventions.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the timetable for the consultation on advertising by unlicensed gambling operators is; and when they plan for any legislative or regulatory changes as a result of that consultation to take effect.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The consultation on banning unlicensed gambling operators from sponsoring sports will launch in spring 2026. We will determine the best timing for any ban to come into effect through consultation.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the white label system in enabling foreign gambling operators to access British consumers without direct vetting by the Gambling Commission; and whether they plan to reform or abolish the white label system.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are not considering banning sponsorship activities conducted under a British gambling licence, which includes promotion of products and services subject to a white label arrangement with an appropriately licensed business. However, we will take note of responses relating to this issue during our consultation on banning unlicensed operators from sponsoring sport.
We are aware that there have been previous issues with white label partners acting in a manner that is not compatible with the Gambling Commission’s licensing conditions and codes of practice. A licensee is required to undertake due diligence of their white label partners and is held accountable for their actions.
We will work with the Gambling Commission to determine whether any action is required to further ensure that white label arrangements are sufficiently monitored and enforcement action taken where needed.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require British-licenced gambling operators to refrain from operating in overseas jurisdictions where they are not licensed.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. The Commission expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.
The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and for authorities in those jurisdictions to investigate if they are not. Where a licensee is found to be operating illegally, the Commission may consider their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.