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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of problem online gambling in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

The report on gambling behaviour in Great Britain in 2016, based on the combined Health Surveys, found that the rate of problem gambling for those who participated in any online gambling or betting being 3.5%. The full report can be found here:

https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/Statistics-and-research/Levels-of-participation-and-problem-gambling/Levels-of-problem-gambling-in-England.aspx

The government published the Review of Gambling Machines and Social Responsibility Measures in May last year. This set out measures to increase player protections around online gambling. In line with this, the Gambling Commission has consulted on requiring operators to complete age and identity verification before consumers are able to deposit money and gamble and will publish a response early this year.

We will continue to monitor this area and look closely at any evidence.