Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will include steps to ban free bets and other inducements to gamble in the upcoming gambling White Paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gambling Commission requires operators to take steps to remove the name and details of self-excluded individuals from any marketing databases used by the company or on behalf of the company. Failure to do so is a breach of their licence conditions. If licence conditions are found to have been breached, the Commission has a range of sanctions available from issuing an official warning to imposing financial penalties or additional licence conditions, suspending a licence and revoking a licence. Ministers and officials in DCMS meet regularly with the Gambling Commission to discuss a range of regulatory issues, including investigatory and enforcement work.
In the case of communications sent from Sky Vegas to self-excluded individuals on the 2nd November, the operator has reported itself to the Gambling Commission and taken immediate steps to prevent any further breaches. The Commission will carry out a thorough investigation and determine whether regulatory action should be taken.
As part of our wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act the government is looking closely at promotional offers and inducements offered by gambling operators, along with other forms of advertising and marketing and the Gambling Commission’s powers and resources. A White Paper setting out our next steps and proposals for reform will be published in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, (a) what sanctions apply to gambling companies which breach license terms by failing to remove self excluded people from marketing communications and (b) whether those sanctions will be increased as part of the upcoming Gambling White Paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gambling Commission requires operators to take steps to remove the name and details of self-excluded individuals from any marketing databases used by the company or on behalf of the company. Failure to do so is a breach of their licence conditions. If licence conditions are found to have been breached, the Commission has a range of sanctions available from issuing an official warning to imposing financial penalties or additional licence conditions, suspending a licence and revoking a licence. Ministers and officials in DCMS meet regularly with the Gambling Commission to discuss a range of regulatory issues, including investigatory and enforcement work.
In the case of communications sent from Sky Vegas to self-excluded individuals on the 2nd November, the operator has reported itself to the Gambling Commission and taken immediate steps to prevent any further breaches. The Commission will carry out a thorough investigation and determine whether regulatory action should be taken.
As part of our wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act the government is looking closely at promotional offers and inducements offered by gambling operators, along with other forms of advertising and marketing and the Gambling Commission’s powers and resources. A White Paper setting out our next steps and proposals for reform will be published in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with sports bodies on front-of-shirt gambling advertising.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of Terms of Reference and a Call for Evidence. The Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The call for evidence included questions on the appropriate mechanism for recouping the societal and regulatory costs of gambling, as well as the benefits and harms surrounding gambling advertising, including football sponsorship. We are carefully considering over 16,000 submissions we received, evidence from ministerial and official meetings with stakeholders, and other more recent evidence including the Public Health England evidence review which was published last month. Details of ministerial meetings can be found here.
We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and vision for the sector in due course, and this will include an indication of how any changes will be implemented, whether by legislation or other means.
Alongside the Review, regulators are continuing to raise standards and increase protections for players. Working closely with the Gambling Commission, the Information Commissioner’s Office recently published a report confirming it is possible under data protection law to share data safely and securely between online operators to help prevent gambling related harm. We expect the industry to proceed to trial its planned single customer view solution and will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when a Single Customer View system will be introduced for remote gambling.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of Terms of Reference and a Call for Evidence. The Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The call for evidence included questions on the appropriate mechanism for recouping the societal and regulatory costs of gambling, as well as the benefits and harms surrounding gambling advertising, including football sponsorship. We are carefully considering over 16,000 submissions we received, evidence from ministerial and official meetings with stakeholders, and other more recent evidence including the Public Health England evidence review which was published last month. Details of ministerial meetings can be found here.
We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and vision for the sector in due course, and this will include an indication of how any changes will be implemented, whether by legislation or other means.
Alongside the Review, regulators are continuing to raise standards and increase protections for players. Working closely with the Gambling Commission, the Information Commissioner’s Office recently published a report confirming it is possible under data protection law to share data safely and securely between online operators to help prevent gambling related harm. We expect the industry to proceed to trial its planned single customer view solution and will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory smart levy on the research, education and treatment of gambling addiction.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of Terms of Reference and a Call for Evidence. The Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The call for evidence included questions on the appropriate mechanism for recouping the societal and regulatory costs of gambling, as well as the benefits and harms surrounding gambling advertising, including football sponsorship. We are carefully considering over 16,000 submissions we received, evidence from ministerial and official meetings with stakeholders, and other more recent evidence including the Public Health England evidence review which was published last month. Details of ministerial meetings can be found here.
We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and vision for the sector in due course, and this will include an indication of how any changes will be implemented, whether by legislation or other means.
Alongside the Review, regulators are continuing to raise standards and increase protections for players. Working closely with the Gambling Commission, the Information Commissioner’s Office recently published a report confirming it is possible under data protection law to share data safely and securely between online operators to help prevent gambling related harm. We expect the industry to proceed to trial its planned single customer view solution and will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of which areas of gambling reform do not require primary legislation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of Terms of Reference and a Call for Evidence. The Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The call for evidence included questions on the appropriate mechanism for recouping the societal and regulatory costs of gambling, as well as the benefits and harms surrounding gambling advertising, including football sponsorship. We are carefully considering over 16,000 submissions we received, evidence from ministerial and official meetings with stakeholders, and other more recent evidence including the Public Health England evidence review which was published last month. Details of ministerial meetings can be found here.
We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and vision for the sector in due course, and this will include an indication of how any changes will be implemented, whether by legislation or other means.
Alongside the Review, regulators are continuing to raise standards and increase protections for players. Working closely with the Gambling Commission, the Information Commissioner’s Office recently published a report confirming it is possible under data protection law to share data safely and securely between online operators to help prevent gambling related harm. We expect the industry to proceed to trial its planned single customer view solution and will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish the gambling white paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of Terms of Reference and a Call for Evidence. The Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. The call for evidence included questions on the appropriate mechanism for recouping the societal and regulatory costs of gambling, as well as the benefits and harms surrounding gambling advertising, including football sponsorship. We are carefully considering over 16,000 submissions we received, evidence from ministerial and official meetings with stakeholders, and other more recent evidence including the Public Health England evidence review which was published last month. Details of ministerial meetings can be found here.
We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and vision for the sector in due course, and this will include an indication of how any changes will be implemented, whether by legislation or other means.
Alongside the Review, regulators are continuing to raise standards and increase protections for players. Working closely with the Gambling Commission, the Information Commissioner’s Office recently published a report confirming it is possible under data protection law to share data safely and securely between online operators to help prevent gambling related harm. We expect the industry to proceed to trial its planned single customer view solution and will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make a statement on the progress of the gambling review.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Review of the Gambling Act 2005 was launched on 8 December with a wide-ranging Call for Evidence, which closed on 31 March. We received c.16,000 submissions to the Call for Evidence from a range of stakeholders and members of the public. We are considering all submissions carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform by the end of the year.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 for the implications of his policies of reports of gambling operators taking bets over social media and messaging platforms to avoid gambling regulations and social responsibility schemes.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Gambling operators are only allowed to provide facilities in the way their Gambling Commission licence and licence conditions allow. If an operator is able under the terms of its licence to accept bets via a messaging platform or social media, it must abide by all the regulatory controls of its licence. Requirements include the need for checks so it is clear who is placing the bet, systems to identify those at risk of harm, and compliance with GDPR regulations on data collection and retention.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 on the potential effect of Esports Betting on gambling-related harm.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We continue to work with the video games industry, other government departments, and relevant regulatory bodies to ensure games are enjoyed safely. We launched a call for evidence in September to understand players’ experiences with loot boxes and to examine evidence of potential harms. This received over 30,000 responses and we have been working to evaluate fully the evidence gathered. The response will be published in the coming months and will set out preferred actions and potential solutions to any issues identified from the evidence.
The government regularly engages with the Gambling Commission and other bodies to discuss emerging trends, including esports betting. Esports betting is regulated with the same protections as any other sports, and operators must abide by the same regulation and license conditions.
Data from the Gambling Commission’s quarterly surveys shows that in the year to December 2020 9% of adults reported they had ever bet on esports with money or items. Further details can be found at: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/taking-a-more-in-depth-look-at-online-gambling#ref-4 The government does not collect statistics on the player base of people opening loot boxes, playing social casino games or accessing twitch gaming streams.