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 (a) she, (b) Ministers or (c) officials in her Department have met with representatives of the Horseracing Bettors Forum to discuss the forthcoming Gambling white paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ministers and officials have meetings with various stakeholders to support ongoing work and policy development. There has also been a wide-ranging series of meetings to support the ongoing Gambling Act Review which was launched in December 2020 with a Call for Evidence. Records of ministerial meetings are published quarterly and are available on gov.uk.
Ministers have not had meetings with representatives of the Horseracing Bettors Forum. However, officials will be meeting the organisation to discuss the Gambling Act Review 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, what discussions the Gambling commission has had with the information commissioner's office on the legality of requesting personal financial statements by licensed bookmakers for affordability checks.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Gambling Commission takes care to ensure it operates within all relevant data protection rules and engages with the Information Commissioner’s Office when necessary. Its consultation and call for evidence on Remote Customer Interaction sought to build on existing requirements for how operators identify and intervene where customers may be at risk of harm, including by spending more than they can afford, and called for evidence specifically on the important issue of balancing data protection and consumer protection.
The Commission published an interim update setting out its next steps in this area and committed to engage stakeholders on concerns around consumer privacy in a further consultation on more detailed proposals. The interim update is available at:
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 he will commit to supporting the introduction of a registration and licensing regime for gambling affiliates.
Answered by John Whittingdale
All gambling adverts, wherever they appear, must be socially responsible and are subject to strict controls on content and placement to protect children and vulnerable people from harm. Codes are published by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which covers online and non-broadcast spaces, and by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), and these are administered by the Advertising Standards Authority. The standards set by the CAP apply to gambling affiliates, and operators are liable to enforcement action from the Gambling Commission if their affiliates’ marketing activities do not comply with the rules. The Commission has worked closely with the ASA on the issue of affiliates in recent years and has tightened its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).
I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley on the 24th June to Question 18509.
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 report by the House of Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry, entitled Gambling Harm: Time for Action, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recommendations in that report on reviewing the restrictions placed on land-based casinos operating under the Gaming Act 1968.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals, including representatives of the land-based casino sector. We are considering all the evidence received carefully and aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year outlining conclusions and next steps.
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 evidence his Department holds on the potential effect of the opening of land-based casinos as a result of the passing of the Gambling Act 2005 on levels of problem gambling.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals, including representatives of the land-based casino sector. We are considering all the evidence received carefully and aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year outlining conclusions and next steps.
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 plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to modernise regulation of land-based casinos as part of the wider review of gambling laws to ensure they are fit for the digital age.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals, including representatives of the land-based casino sector. We are considering all the evidence received carefully and aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year outlining conclusions and next steps.
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 progress the Gambling Commission has made on its recent call for evidence on Remote Customer Interaction; and what steps the Government plans to take to consider the findings from that call for evidence in its review of the Gambling Act 2005.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Gambling Commission’s consultation and call for evidence on Remote Customer Interaction closed on 9 February and received over 13,000 responses. The Commission is reviewing that evidence and intends to publish an interim update on progress and to set out the next steps in due course.
Government remains in close contact with the Commission as this progresses, and the Commission is sharing key evidence with the Department on this and other topics which may be relevant to our Review of the Gambling Act 2005. Our call for evidence closed on 31 March 2021, and we are currently carefully considering all the evidence submitted.
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 steps his Department is taking to tackle the grey market in gambling; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Jurisdictions in which there are not clear rules about the legality of gambling, particularly online gambling, are often referred to as grey markets. There is no grey market in Great Britain, where operators are forbidden by law from providing gambling facilities to British consumers unless they are licensed by the Gambling Commission and abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people. Any operator offering facilities to gamble without the appropriate licence from the Gambling Commission is committing an offence under the Gambling Act 2005.
Ministers and officials engage regularly with stakeholders and details of ministerial meetings are available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905167/DCMS_Ministerial_meetings__1st_January_to_31st_March_2020.csv/preview
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 discussions his Department has had with the Gambling Commission on the effect of the grey market in gambling on the gambling industry.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Jurisdictions in which there are not clear rules about the legality of gambling, particularly online gambling, are often referred to as grey markets. There is no grey market in Great Britain, where operators are forbidden by law from providing gambling facilities to British consumers unless they are licensed by the Gambling Commission and abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people. Any operator offering facilities to gamble without the appropriate licence from the Gambling Commission is committing an offence under the Gambling Act 2005.
Ministers and officials engage regularly with stakeholders and details of ministerial meetings are available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905167/DCMS_Ministerial_meetings__1st_January_to_31st_March_2020.csv/preview