Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to develop a mechanism for the statutory gambling levy to enable new forms of gambling to be (a) assessed and (b) levied at an appropriate level.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We launched a consultation on the structure, distribution and governance of the levy in October to ensure the government has the best available evidence to make implementation of the levy effective, transparent and proportionate. The consultation closes on 14 December. Legislation requires the levy to be paid by all Gambling Commission licensees, including on forms of gambling licensed in the future, to provide sustainable, ring-fenced funding for research, prevention and treatment (RPT) of gambling-related harms.
It is important that the new levy system provides sufficient long-term stability as the new arrangements come into force, while providing scope for the government to intervene should issues arise. We think a five year review period strikes an appropriate balance. However, we are keen to receive the best available evidence on this point through the consultation.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of reducing the review period for statutory levy rates on gambling operators and the distribution of funds to every three years, to allow for changes in the gambling landscape to be appropriately accounted for.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We launched a consultation on the structure, distribution and governance of the levy in October to ensure the government has the best available evidence to make implementation of the levy effective, transparent and proportionate. The consultation closes on 14 December. Legislation requires the levy to be paid by all Gambling Commission licensees, including on forms of gambling licensed in the future, to provide sustainable, ring-fenced funding for research, prevention and treatment (RPT) of gambling-related harms.
It is important that the new levy system provides sufficient long-term stability as the new arrangements come into force, while providing scope for the government to intervene should issues arise. We think a five year review period strikes an appropriate balance. However, we are keen to receive the best available evidence on this point through the consultation.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the reasons for International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach's intervention in the voting process that led to the award of the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing at the meeting of the International Olympics Committee in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The voting procedures to award the hosting of Olympic Games are a matter for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The British Olympic Association are our representatives to that forum, operating independently of the government.