Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are player protections in place for people using Camelot UK Lotteries Limited's (a) website and (b) phone application to participate in the National Lottery.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Under the terms of the current National Lottery Licence the operator is required to implement player protection strategies to prevent underage and excessive play, which must be approved by the Gambling Commission, as regulator of the National Lottery.
For new game proposals and changes to existing games, the operator must provide the Gambling Commission with a range of information, such as assessments of the risks associated with certain product characteristics, a broader assessment by the operator’s game design governance group and relevant academic research.
In addition, the Gambling Commission conducts regular, detailed monitoring to identify risks to players, and where appropriate, undertakes strategic reviews of areas of the portfolio which are identified as higher (but not necessarily high) risk. For example, in 2020, the Gambling Commission commissioned research to better understand the players of Online Interactive Instant Win Games. The research found an association between players of Interactive Instant Win Games at the £10 price point and some problem gambling behaviours. As a result of this research, the operator suspended the sale of £10 Online Interactive Instant Win Games, which followed the removal of the £10 scratchcard in 2019.
In December 2020, the government increased the minimum age for the National Lottery as a precautionary measure to ensure the protection of young people. These changes were introduced for all games in April 2021, both for online and retail sales.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2021 to Question 188089, if he will publish the declared profits of Camelot UK Lotteries Limited in 2020-21; and if he will publish a breakdown of profits (a) generated online and (b) via sales in retail premises in each year since 2010.
Answered by John Whittingdale
In line with the conditions of the Third Licence, the operator of the National Lottery is required to publish its Annual Report and Accounts for 2020/21 by 7th October 2021. At this point, the information requested in question 1(a) will be available.
In response to question 1(b), total profit figures are not itemised in this way. However, the 2019/20 annual report of the current operator reported that digital sales accounted for 31.1% of total sales, up from 25.4% in 2018/19.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish information on online sales by Camelot UK Lotteries Limited by whether that sale was made (a) on the website and (b) via the phone application.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The table below shows sales data, broken down by draw-based games and instant win games, which includes both scratchcards and online instant win games. Sales are not publicly reported at a more granular level, therefore it has also not been possible to differentiate between sales on the website or the mobile application.
| Draw-based games sales (£m) | Instant win game sales (£m) |
2009/10* | 4,761 | 1,541 |
2010/11 | 4,389 | 1,436 |
2011/12 | 4,778 | 1,726 |
2012/13 | 4,915 | 2,062 |
2013/14 | 4,595 | 2,141 |
2014/15 | 4,646 | 2,629 |
2015/16 | 4,663 | 2,952 |
2016/17 | 4,020 | 2,902 |
2017/18 | 4,101 | 2,835 |
2018/19 | 4,083 | 3,125 |
2019/20 | 4,536 | 3,368 |
* 2009/10 covers a 14 month period due to the third Licence beginning on 1st February 2009.
The 2019/20 annual report of the current operator shows that digital sales accounted for 31.1% of total sales, up from 25.4% in 2018/19.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish sales figures by Camelot UK Lotteries Limited by (a) draw-based, (b) Instant Win and (c) scratchcard sales for each year since 2010; and whether those sales were made (i) online and (ii) offline.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The table below shows sales data, broken down by draw-based games and instant win games, which includes both scratchcards and online instant win games. Sales are not publicly reported at a more granular level, therefore it has also not been possible to differentiate between sales on the website or the mobile application.
| Draw-based games sales (£m) | Instant win game sales (£m) |
2009/10* | 4,761 | 1,541 |
2010/11 | 4,389 | 1,436 |
2011/12 | 4,778 | 1,726 |
2012/13 | 4,915 | 2,062 |
2013/14 | 4,595 | 2,141 |
2014/15 | 4,646 | 2,629 |
2015/16 | 4,663 | 2,952 |
2016/17 | 4,020 | 2,902 |
2017/18 | 4,101 | 2,835 |
2018/19 | 4,083 | 3,125 |
2019/20 | 4,536 | 3,368 |
* 2009/10 covers a 14 month period due to the third Licence beginning on 1st February 2009.
The 2019/20 annual report of the current operator shows that digital sales accounted for 31.1% of total sales, up from 25.4% in 2018/19.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to establish an independent investigation into the collapse of (a) Football Index and (b) Footstock.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government is taking the collapse of BetIndex Ltd (the operators of Football Index) and the concerns of those affected very seriously. On 20 April we announced an independent review of the regulation of the Football Index product. The review will take an objective look at the decisions and actions of the Gambling Commission and any other relevant regulators, to provide a clear account of how the company’s activities were regulated, identify if there are potential areas for improvement and inform our Review of the Gambling Act 2005. More information can be found in a Written Ministerial Statement on Regulation of Football Index, available at:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-04-20/hcws929
While we appreciate that the situation regarding Footstock has also affected some British customers, it would not be straightforward to include the regulation of both companies in the scope of an independent review. As significantly more customers in Britain were affected by its collapse, the review will focus on Football tIndex. We hope the insights from the investigation will inform how novel products are regulated in future.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allowing pilot events to enable a limited number of people to watch cricket matches.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We want the British public to be able to get back to doing the things they love safely - including going to sports events. But we recognise the challenges that events face to operate in a way that ensures the risk of transmission is sufficiently low while maintaining commercial viability.
Public safety is our main priority and decisions will be made working with local Directors for Public Health for all pilot events included in the Events Research Programme. The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venues, and activities so that findings will support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors. However the point of the Events Research Programme is not to enable people to watch sport, but to gather evidence.
We will ensure that interim results gathered from Events Research Programmes are fed into policy development swiftly to avoid missing reopening opportunities because of insufficient data. The ERP will align its work with other reviews, including covid status certification and social distancing, to ensure the latest research findings are taken into account.
Under the government's roadmap out of lockdown, cricket grounds will be able to admit fans from Step 3, and not before 17th May.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the Tourism Recovery Plan.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We intend to publish the Tourism Recovery Plan in late spring.
We are continuing to hold discussions across Government and with stakeholders, including via the Tourism Industry Council, to assess how this plan can support the sector’s short and long term recovery from the pandemic.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the proposal by The Independent Game Developers’ Association to introduce a video games investment fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS’ Creative Industries Economic Estimates show that the UK video games industry contributed an estimated £2.9 billion to the UK economy in 2019, up from £0.4 billion in 2010, and its headcount has grown to 27,000, a 47% increase since 2013.
I am pleased that in 2021/22 my Department will be continuing to fund the UK Games Fund, which provides valuable support to early stage games development businesses and talented graduates throughout the UK. We continue to consider what further actions we can take to underpin the games sector’s vital contribution to the UK’s future economic success.
We are looking closely at industry’s most recent proposals, including The Independent Game Developers Association’s (TIGA) updated proposal for the creation of a new, large scale video games investment fund. My officials have met with TIGA to discuss this in more detail and are willing to continue talking with TIGA, Ukie and their industry colleagues as they develop their proposals further.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Tourism Recovery Plan on the review of Destination Management Organisations.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) is an important element of the Tourism Recovery Plan. Both pieces of work will be important for setting out the tourism sector’s recovery from the pandemic.
The independent review of DMOs in England will examine how best to structure and support DMOs at a local and regional level in order to deliver the Government’s tourism policy priorities and support economic growth.
The lead reviewer, Nick de Bois, is conducting the review over Spring 2021, before evaluating his findings and submitting a written report, including his recommendations, to the DCMS Secretary of State by Summer 2021. The review launched in March.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that heritage sites will be able to open in line with the timeframe outlined in the roadmap out of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government has been running four policy reviews to inform the roadmap. The following are supporting the safe reopening of indoor attractions:
Social Distancing Review to understand when and under what circumstances social distancing guidance can be lifted or amended
COVID Certification Review to understand the case for introducing certification and the mechanics of a certification programme.
Events Research Programme, led by DCMS, aims to build evidence on the risks associated with transmission and the extent that mitigation measures could address risk of transmission at events. The programme aims to start in April, with pilot events carried out across a range of settings, sectors, venue types, and activity types; many of which are applicable to Heritage sites. The shortlist of pilot events will take into account a range of requirements needed to test different science-led criteria, including but not limited to - indoor and outdoor settings, small and large venues, seated and standing events, different forms of audience participation, transport to events, duration, and ventilation.
In addition, the online Heritage Working Safely Guidance has been updated following each adjustment to COVID regulation, including the recent Roadmap steps. This guidance is for people who work or volunteer in Heritage locations, and aims to help the sector understand how to make their workplaces COVID secure for employees and visitors. This has been produced by DCMS and Historic England.