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Written Question
Gambling Commission: National Institute of Economic and Social Research
Friday 16th June 2023

Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the reasons for which the the Gambling Commission contracted with the National Institute of Economic and Social Research to research the costs and benefits of gambling, with a focus on gambling-related harm; and what the cost of that contract was to the Gambling Commission.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

I apologise for the delay in responding to this question.

The Gambling Commission did not sign a contract with the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NiESR). In this case, NiESR was a recipient of £140,050 in regulatory settlement funding.

Regulatory settlements are a possible outcome of Gambling Commission enforcement action and may include a financial amount paid by the operator for socially responsible purposes which address gambling-related harms. The Commission does not take possession of regulatory settlement funds at any time and the money is paid directly from the operator(s) to the organisation delivering the approved project.

More information on this process and the destinations of regulatory settlement funding is available at the Commission’s website.


Written Question
Horse Racing: Betting
Tuesday 31st January 2023

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 had discussions with the (a) British Horseracing Authority and (b) Gambling Commission on the impact of (i) affordability checks and (ii) personal data requirements on the horse racing levy.

Answered by Paul Scully

In preparing the gambling white paper, the government is giving full consideration to the impact of proposals, including on the Horserace Betting Levy, and ministers and officials have held regular meetings with both the British Horseracing Authority and the Gambling Commission. The white paper which we will publish in the coming weeks, and any subsequent consultations, will include the necessary assessments of impacts. Government has also committed to review the Horserace Betting Levy by 2024 to ensure the sport is suitably funded for the future.


Written Question
Gambling
Tuesday 13th December 2022

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, with reference to the Answer of 3 October 2022 to Question 51665 on Gambling: Addictions, if she will ask the Gambling Commission to publish its assessment of the Public Health England report on social and economic costs associated with gambling-related harms.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Gambling Commission is not required to produce an assessment of the work of other public bodies, and, unless formally requested to do so, it is not required to provide formal advice to the Department on its views regarding particular pieces of research or evidence. However, DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling, and this has included the Public Health England evidence report.


Written Question
Gambling: Suicide
Tuesday 13th December 2022

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, with reference to her Answer of 3 October 2022 to Question 51665 on Gambling: Addictions, for what reasons the Gambling Commission did not inform her Department that it considered Public Health England’s estimate of the number of suicides in England associated with problem gambling to be inaccurate.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Gambling Commission is not required to produce an assessment of the work of other public bodies, and, unless formally requested to do so, it is not required to provide formal advice to the Department on its views regarding particular pieces of research or evidence. However, DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling, and this has included the Public Health England evidence report.


Written Question
Gambling: Addictions
Monday 3rd October 2022

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, on what date the Gambling Commission advised her Department of its opinion that Public Health England’s cost estimates associated with harmful gambling were unreliable.

Answered by Damian Collins

DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling. The Commission has given the Department no formal advice or notification relating to the cost estimates in Public Health England’s evidence review on gambling related harm.

Protecting people from gambling harms remains a priority for the government and the Gambling Commission, and we will be led by the best evidence to ensure the right protections are in place.


Written Question
Football Governance Fan-led Review
Monday 26th September 2022

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, with reference to the Government response to the Fan-Led Review of Football Governance, published on 25 April 2022, CP 658, whether she still plans to implement the recommendations of that review; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022. We absolutely recognise the need for football to be reformed to ensure the game’s sustainability in the long term. We are now taking the time to consider the policy, but we remain committed to publishing a White Paper setting out our detailed response to the fan led review of football governance, and will set this out in due course.


Written Question
Football: Betting
Thursday 14th July 2022

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.


Written Question
Betting
Wednesday 13th July 2022

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.


Written Question
Sports: Colour Vision Deficiency
Tuesday 5th July 2022

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.


Written Question
Gambling: Taxation
Thursday 28th April 2022

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.