Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 (a) national governing bodies and (b) sports rights holders on the potential sale of Newcastle United; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My Department has not held any discussions with sports national governing bodies or sports rights holders on the potential sale of Newcastle United Football Club. Any such sale is a matter for the parties concerned, and for the Premier League to assess under its Owners’ and Directors’ Test.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 has taken to set-up a fan-led review of football governance, including consideration of the Owners and Directors Test; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. It is vital they are protected which is why the government has given as much support as possible to support football clubs during these difficult times.
The government is committed to setting up a fan led review of football governance at an appropriate time, which will include consideration of the Owners’ and Directors’ test. We will continue to liaise closely with the football authorities as we develop the scope and structure of the review.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 Department for International Trade on the continued activity of beoutQ in broadcasting Premier League football; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My officials work closely with their counterparts in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Trade and Intellectual Property Office on matters relating to the protection of intellectual property rights around the world.
Our understanding is that beoutQ has ceased broadcasting, but we will remain vigilant in respect of any further instances of illegal broadcasting of Premier League football and other UK-owned intellectual property rights, at home and abroad.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the economic value of international sport broadcasting revenues to the UK economy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government recognises the valuable contribution of UK broadcasting and of domestic and international sporting events to the UK economy, as well as to the lives and wellbeing of its citizens. In 2018, the UK exported over £10bn of audiovisual services in total. The government has not made any specific estimate of the economic value of international sport broadcasting revenues to the UK economy.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to review the use of dormant betting accounts.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The dormant assets scheme enables money from dormant bank and building society accounts to be used for good causes. The government has recently launched a consultation on expanding the scheme to include a wider range of assets in the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors. Dormant betting accounts are not currently being considered as part of the expansion. The consultation invites comment on the government's proposals, including the range of assets proposed for inclusion. The consultation closes on 16 April and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-expanding-the-dormant-assets-scheme
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in which areas of the UK casinos are permitted under the Gambling Act 1968; how many casinos are permitted in each such area; and what the maximum size is of each such casino that is permitted.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Under the Gaming Act 1968, 186 casino licences were created in 53 permitted areas, generally the areas of former county boroughs with populations of over 125,000 at that time. These licences were preserved by transitional arrangements in the Gambling Act 2005 and the majority of casinos in Great Britain still operate by virtue of one of these converted licences. The local authority in which each casino is located is now the licensing authority under section 2 of the 2005 Act. 144 of the licences are currently in use.
There is no maximum size, but 1968 Act casinos which have a gambling area of 200m2 or more must offer a minimum non-gambling area equivalent to at least 10% of their total gambling area. The permitted areas, and the number of licences allocated to each, are as follows:
England
Birkenhead (1)
Birmingham (8)
Blackpool (4)
Bolton (2)
Bournemouth (3)
Bradford (3)
Brighton (3)
Bristol (5)
Coventry (4)
Derby (2)
Dudley (1)
Great Yarmouth (3)
Hove (1)
Huddersfield (2)
Kingston upon Hull (3)
Leeds (5)
Leicester (3)
Liverpool (7)
London (The area which is within the area specified in the licensing (Metropolitan Special Hours Area) Order 1961 - plus Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) (28)
Luton (3)
Lytham St Annes (1)
Manchester (9)
Margate (3)
Newcastle upon Tyne (3)
Northampton (4)
Nottingham (6)
Plymouth (2)
Portsmouth (3)
Ramsgate (1)
Reading (3)
Ryde (0)
Salford (2)
Sandown/Shanklin (0)
Scarborough (2)
Sheffield (5)
Southampton (3)
Southend-on-Sea (4)
Southport (1)
Stockport (2)
Stoke-on-Trent (2)
Sunderland (1)
Teeside/Middlesborough (3)
Torbay (1)
Walsall (3)
Warley (1)
West Bromwich (1)
Wolverhampton (3)
Scotland
Aberdeen (3)
Dundee (2)
Edinburgh (5)
Glasgow (9)
Wales
Cardiff (3)
Swansea (4)
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) voluntary and (b) statutory limits are imposed on the online purchase of (i) lottery tickets and (ii) scratch cards in relation to the (A) National Lottery, (B) Postcode Lottery, (C) Health Lottery and (D) other lotteries.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no statutory price or volume limits on the online purchase of lottery products.
The National Lottery operator has voluntarily set limits on both draw-based and instant-win games for players using its online services. It has set a spend limit of £750 per week and an account deposit limit of £350 per week. An account can play up to 75 instant win games per day. Players are also able to set personal, tighter limits if they so wish.
The People’s Postcode Lottery does not sell instant win games. It voluntarily limits on the online purchase of Lottery tickets to three entries per month, totaling £30.
The Health Lottery’s instant win games have a spend limit of £500 per day. Their draw-based game has a limit of £80 per person for any single lottery. Their QuickWin online game has a limit of £400 per week with a day cap of £75. All their online games have a deposit limit of £500 per day, and a restriction on deposits where the account balance exceeds £2000.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of imposing a maximum purchase price for fixed odds betting via scratchcards.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not have any plans to impose a maximum purchase price for scratchcards.
The 2016 Health Survey found that lottery products are low risk, with scratchcards having a problem gambling rate of 1.8%.
The Secretary of State’s directions to the Gambling Commission state that National Lottery games should have sufficient controls to prevent excessive play. They also require the Commission to ensure that the price of games, in the opinion of the Commission, are not unreasonably high.
The National Lottery’s player protection policies can be found in the Consumer Protection Strategy. Some society lottery operators also offer scratchcards, either physically through retailers or online. Society lottery operators are required to have and put into effect policies and procedures to promote socially responsible gambling.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is his policy for the Gambling Commission to remain the regulator for lottery licencing competition.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission is the UK’s independent statutory body responsible for awarding the licence to run the National Lottery. The current National Lottery licence expires in 2023, and the Commission remains on track to appoint an operator to take on the new licence from this date. The competition is expected to commence in the first half of 2020, with the successful applicant being announced in 2021.
The Commission is encouraged by the healthy level of market interest, from a wide range of interested parties, and will welcome as many applications as possible to the competition, including not-for-profit enterprises. I am looking forward to a robust competition that draws in a wide range of applicants to ensure the continued success of our National Lottery for the next 25 years and beyond.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that delays to the bidding process for the National Lottery licence will not affect the new license starting in 2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission is the UK’s independent statutory body responsible for awarding the licence to run the National Lottery. The current National Lottery licence expires in 2023, and the Commission remains on track to appoint an operator to take on the new licence from this date. The competition is expected to commence in the first half of 2020, with the successful applicant being announced in 2021.
The Commission is encouraged by the healthy level of market interest, from a wide range of interested parties, and will welcome as many applications as possible to the competition, including not-for-profit enterprises. I am looking forward to a robust competition that draws in a wide range of applicants to ensure the continued success of our National Lottery for the next 25 years and beyond.