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Written Question
Charities: Lotteries
Friday 11th February 2022

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has plans to review statutory provisions for charity lotteries.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Society lotteries are subject to limits on how much they can sell per draw and annually, as well as on the maximum prize they can offer.

In March 2020, we legislated to increase the per draw sales limit for large society lotteries from £4 million to £5 million, to increase the maximum prize limit from £400,000 to £500,000, and to raise the annual sales limit from £10 million to £50 million.

We are currently reviewing the impact of these changes.


Written Question
Gambling
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Gambling Commission has made of the accuracy of the estimated number of problem gamblers.

Answered by John Whittingdale

As part of the Gambling Commission's duty under the Gambling Act 2005 to advise the government on gambling in Great Britain and provide an effective regulatory function, they collect gambling participation and problem gambling prevalence data via surveys of adults in Great Britain, principally the Health Surveys and quarterly telephone surveys. The data are published as official statistics and they are produced in accordance with the standards set out by the Government Statistical Service in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The Health Surveys use a face to face methodology; and historically this methodology has provided the best means of delivering a random probability sample, which means every household listed on the Postcode Address File (a list of every point in the UK to which mail is delivered to) is given an equal chance of being selected to take part in the survey. Random probability sampling is generally regarded as the best method to achieve accurate population estimates. The Health Surveys include the PGSI and the DSM-IV screens for problem gambling, and a combined score from both presents an accurate picture of problem gambling. However, some challenges exist with the Health Surveys such as its relative infrequency so the Commission supplement the data with a quarterly telephone survey.

The quarterly telephone survey is currently the Gambling Commissions’ main measure of gambling participation (in the last four weeks) and is intended to supplement the high quality but less frequent prevalence measurement through the Health Surveys.. Telephone interviewing is a widespread method of running a nationally representative survey of a cross-section of the population. The short form PGSI screen is used within the telephone survey to measure problem gambling and the prevalence data compares reasonably closely to the Health Survey figures. However, there are a number of criticisms of telephone surveys, not least that it relies on respondents having telephone access (landline or mobile).

Having recognised some of the challenges above and as part of the Gambling Commissions’ ambition to improve the quality and robustness of their statistics, they have recently consulted on proposals to change the research methodology used to collect gambling participation and problem gambling statistics. The consultation responses indicated a high level of agreement with the proposals, and the Gambling Commission are in the process of commissioning a pilot to test a new approach. Their full response to the consultation is available here https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/print/participation-and-prevalence-research
Written Question
British Red Cross: Finance
Friday 16th April 2021

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the amount of Government funding donated to the British Red Cross Charity in the last ten years.

Answered by Matt Warman

The Government does not make donations to charities. Such funding, whether for a specific restricted purpose or unrestricted, would be classified as a grant.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales publishes charities’ annual returns from the last five reporting years. This includes a breakdown of funding that includes income from government grants and income from government contracts. The most recently published annual return covers the financial period up to 31 December 2019.

The British Red Cross Society has received £147 million in government grants in total over the past five reporting years. A breakdown by financial period end date is below:

  • 31/12/2015 - £32.5 million

  • 31/12/2016 - £22.3 million

  • 31/12/2017 - £33.7 million

  • 31/12/2018 - £22.1 million

  • 31/12/2019 - £36.4 million

The British Red Cross Society also receives income from government contracts. Over the five reporting years described above, the British Red Cross Society received a total of £226.3 million income from government contracts.

This information is published on the Charity Commission for England and Wales website here: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/220949/financial-history


Written Question
Charities: Lobbying
Tuesday 13th April 2021

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to restrict charities who receive public money from engaging in lobbying activities.

Answered by Matt Warman

The Government Grants Functional Standard already includes a requirement for departments to ensure grant agreements provide a clear description of how funding should be spent which precludes the use of public money in paid for lobbying. This is to ensure that public money is used for its intended purpose.

Funded charities can use other funding sources to undertake non-party political activities and campaigning that supports their charitable purpose.


Written Question
Lotteries
Monday 1st February 2021

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions the Gambling Commission has deemed the expenses of a society lottery to be unreasonable.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Gambling Commission monitors the expenses of society lotteries through the regular reporting required of operators by their licences.

Gambling Commission will discuss any concerns with operators as they arise. Society lottery operators are able to make changes to address concerns raised by the Commission. The number of instances where this occurs is not recorded by the Commission, but it has not had any cases where discussions with operators have resulted in formal action related to unreasonable expenses.


Written Question
Gambling: Coronavirus
Thursday 31st December 2020

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his Answer of 30 November 2020 to Question 122915 on Gambling: Coronavirus, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adult gaming centres re-opening in tier three areas.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government, with advice from SAGE, reviewed the impact of the previous tiering arrangements and decided that unfortunately stricter rules on tier 3 closures would be necessary to have an impact on the rate of transmission in very high alert areas. This led to the decision that all hospitality and indoor entertainment venues in tier 3 areas would have to close, including casinos, bingo halls and adult gaming centres. SAGE advice is independent and published on a regular basis on: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies

The government has continued to engage with the land-based gambling sector throughout the pandemic, including with its trade associations the Betting and Gaming Council, Bacta and the Bingo Association. The Minister for Sports, Heritage and Tourism has had a series of roundtable discussions with the industry to discuss the impact of Covid-19, including representatives from two of Britain’s largest AGC operators. DCMS officials have been in regular contact with the representative trade associations and fed their views into the government decision-making process, and they are continuing to do so.

Government has set out an analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of the tiered approach, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach. As on previous occasions, local data packs have also been published.

Epidemiological data and projection models on local restriction tiers, including commentary on individual tier allocation decisions, can also be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938964/Coronavirus_England_briefing_26_November.pdf.


Written Question
Gambling: Coronavirus
Thursday 31st December 2020

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his Answer to Question 122916, if he will publish the evidence supporting the decision to close adult gaming centres in tier three areas.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government, with advice from SAGE, reviewed the impact of the previous tiering arrangements and decided that unfortunately stricter rules on tier 3 closures would be necessary to have an impact on the rate of transmission in very high alert areas. This led to the decision that all hospitality and indoor entertainment venues in tier 3 areas would have to close, including casinos, bingo halls and adult gaming centres. SAGE advice is independent and published on a regular basis on: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies

The government has continued to engage with the land-based gambling sector throughout the pandemic, including with its trade associations the Betting and Gaming Council, Bacta and the Bingo Association. The Minister for Sports, Heritage and Tourism has had a series of roundtable discussions with the industry to discuss the impact of Covid-19, including representatives from two of Britain’s largest AGC operators. DCMS officials have been in regular contact with the representative trade associations and fed their views into the government decision-making process, and they are continuing to do so.

Government has set out an analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of the tiered approach, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach. As on previous occasions, local data packs have also been published.

Epidemiological data and projection models on local restriction tiers, including commentary on individual tier allocation decisions, can also be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938964/Coronavirus_England_briefing_26_November.pdf.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Gambling
Wednesday 9th December 2020

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what evidential basis of the rate of covid-19 transmission in adult gaming centres informed the decision not to allow those centres to reopen in tier three covid-19 local lockdown areas.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government, with advice from SAGE, reviewed the impact of the previous tiering arrangements and decided that unfortunately stricter rules on tier 3 closures would be necessary to have an impact on the rate of transmission in very high alert areas. This led to the decision that all hospitality and indoor entertainment venues in tier 3 areas would have to close, including casinos, bingo halls and adult gaming centres. SAGE advice is independent and published on a regular basis on: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies

The government has continued to engage with the land-based gambling sector throughout the pandemic, including with its trade associations the Betting and Gaming Council, Bacta and the Bingo Association. The Minister for Sports, Heritage and Tourism has had a series of roundtable discussions with the industry to discuss the impact of Covid-19, including representatives from two of Britain’s largest AGC operators. DCMS officials have been in regular contact with the representative trade associations and fed their views into the government decision-making process, and they are continuing to do so.

Government has set out an analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of the tiered approach, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach. As on previous occasions, local data packs have also been published.

Epidemiological data and projection models on local restriction tiers, including commentary on individual tier allocation decisions, can also be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938964/Coronavirus_England_briefing_26_November.pdf.


Written Question
Gambling: Coronavirus
Tuesday 8th December 2020

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he had with adult gaming centres on covid-secure measures prior to the decision to close those centres under tier three covid-19 restrictions.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government, with advice from SAGE, reviewed the impact of the previous tiering arrangements and decided that unfortunately stricter rules on tier 3 closures would be necessary to have an impact on the rate of transmission in very high alert areas. This led to the decision that all hospitality and indoor entertainment venues in tier 3 areas would have to close, including casinos, bingo halls and adult gaming centres. SAGE advice is independent and published on a regular basis on: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies

The government has continued to engage with the land-based gambling sector throughout the pandemic, including with its trade associations the Betting and Gaming Council, Bacta and the Bingo Association. The Minister for Sports, Heritage and Tourism has had a series of roundtable discussions with the industry to discuss the impact of Covid-19, including representatives from two of Britain’s largest AGC operators. DCMS officials have been in regular contact with the representative trade associations and fed their views into the government decision-making process, and they are continuing to do so.

Government has set out an analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of the tiered approach, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach. As on previous occasions, local data packs have also been published.

Epidemiological data and projection models on local restriction tiers, including commentary on individual tier allocation decisions, can also be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938964/Coronavirus_England_briefing_26_November.pdf.


Written Question
Gambling: Coronavirus
Tuesday 8th December 2020

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what impact assessment he has made of the decision to not allow adult gaming centres to reopen in tier three covid-19 local lockdown areas.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government, with advice from SAGE, reviewed the impact of the previous tiering arrangements and decided that unfortunately stricter rules on tier 3 closures would be necessary to have an impact on the rate of transmission in very high alert areas. This led to the decision that all hospitality and indoor entertainment venues in tier 3 areas would have to close, including casinos, bingo halls and adult gaming centres. SAGE advice is independent and published on a regular basis on: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies

The government has continued to engage with the land-based gambling sector throughout the pandemic, including with its trade associations the Betting and Gaming Council, Bacta and the Bingo Association. The Minister for Sports, Heritage and Tourism has had a series of roundtable discussions with the industry to discuss the impact of Covid-19, including representatives from two of Britain’s largest AGC operators. DCMS officials have been in regular contact with the representative trade associations and fed their views into the government decision-making process, and they are continuing to do so.

Government has set out an analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of the tiered approach, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach. As on previous occasions, local data packs have also been published.

Epidemiological data and projection models on local restriction tiers, including commentary on individual tier allocation decisions, can also be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938964/Coronavirus_England_briefing_26_November.pdf.