Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 implementing a levy on bookmakers' profits from football bets to distribute to (a) the English Football League and (b) grassroots football.
Answered by Damian Collins
The Government currently has no plans to introduce a requirement for gambling operators to pay a fee or levy to football or other sporting bodies. The Government invests millions into grassroots sport facilities via the Football Foundation alongside the Football Association and the Premier League. In addition to the £18m of government support this provides annually, in 2021 the government announced a further £25m investment to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities across the UK to ensure that every community in the country has access to the sports pitches they need by 2030.
The recent Fan Led Review of Football Governance stressed the importance of greater financial redistribution throughout the football pyramid. We are working with the football authorities to ensure an appropriate solution on financial distributions is found, which will protect the financial health of all football clubs throughout the football pyramid.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has instructed the Gambling Commission to impose rules or guidance on betting operators to subject their customers to affordability checks.
Answered by Damian Collins
The Gambling Commission is the independent regulator for the gambling industry. As part of its responsibilities it issues a social responsibility code, including the requirement that operators identify and interact with customers who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing harm.
In 2021, the Gambling Commission closed a consultation and call for evidence on Remote Customer Interaction, including the specific issue of affordability checks. In its consultation response, the Commission confirmed it will conduct a further consultation on specific steps operators should take to tackle three key risks associated with financial harm. The response can be found here.
The Government cannot issue instructions to the Commission on how it fulfils its statutory duties or what to include in its guidance and codes, but we have worked closely on this issue in the run up to publishing our white paper on the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure any proposed changes are joined up.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions officials in her Department have had with representatives of sports governing bodies on awareness of colour blindness and steps to differentiate team colours.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My department has not had any recent discussions with representatives of sports governing bodies on awareness of colour blindness and steps to differentiate team colours. However, I welcome the English Football League’s (EFL) recent decision to allow clubs to wear away kits at home games next season in order to aid colour-blind people in differentiating teams. This will benefit players, staff, officials and spectators.
The Government recognises there are barriers which exist and prevent some people from taking part and we want to continue to do all that we can to tackle these. We will continue to work with our arms length bodies, Sport England and UK Sport, and sector partners to encourage sport bodies to make sport more accessible to spectators, participants and the workforce.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the relative impact of a statutory levy to fund research, education and treatment into gambling addiction on land-based operators who carry fixed costs and support large numbers of local jobs in their venues, as compared to online operators.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act called for evidence on how best to recoup the regulatory and societal costs of problem gambling. We will publish a white paper outlining our proposals for reform and vision for the sector in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of alternatives to a statutory levy on casinos to fund research, education and treatment of gambling addiction.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act called for evidence on how best to recoup the regulatory and societal costs of problem gambling. We will publish a white paper outlining our proposals for reform and vision for the sector in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to review the regulation of Prize Draws as part of the Gambling Review.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The framework for society lotteries is set out in the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act). Section 14 of the Act generally defines a lottery as requiring payment to participate, an outcome determined wholly by chance, and the allocation of prizes.
Large society lotteries are subject to strict sales and prize limits, and operate under a licence issued by the Gambling Commission. They are also required to provide a minimum return to good causes.
Some products, such as prize competitions and free draws may resemble lotteries but do not meet the definition of a lottery under section 14 of the Act. This might be due to a free entry route or because there is an element of skill involved. Since free draws do not meet the definition of a lottery, they are not considered gambling for the purposes of the Act and the Gambling Commission has no regulatory responsibilities for these products, but it does monitor the boundary between them and society lotteries to ensure that products are regulated when required by the Act.
The Government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 in December 2020 with the publication of a Call for Evidence. We received over 16,000 responses, and we are considering all the evidence carefully. The Review is wide-ranging and evidence-led, and aims to make sure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We are currently carefully considering all submitted evidence and a white paper will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make a comparative assessment of the regulation of Society Lotteries and Prize Draws.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The framework for society lotteries is set out in the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act). Section 14 of the Act generally defines a lottery as requiring payment to participate, an outcome determined wholly by chance, and the allocation of prizes.
Large society lotteries are subject to strict sales and prize limits, and operate under a licence issued by the Gambling Commission. They are also required to provide a minimum return to good causes.
Some products, such as prize competitions and free draws may resemble lotteries but do not meet the definition of a lottery under section 14 of the Act. This might be due to a free entry route or because there is an element of skill involved. Since free draws do not meet the definition of a lottery, they are not considered gambling for the purposes of the Act and the Gambling Commission has no regulatory responsibilities for these products, but it does monitor the boundary between them and society lotteries to ensure that products are regulated when required by the Act.
The Government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 in December 2020 with the publication of a Call for Evidence. We received over 16,000 responses, and we are considering all the evidence carefully. The Review is wide-ranging and evidence-led, and aims to make sure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We are currently carefully considering all submitted evidence and a white paper will be published in the coming weeks.