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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has plans to establish a statutory greyhound race betting levy to improve the welfare of racing greyhounds.

On 10th January 2019, the Government announced a new funding commitment from bookmakers worth an estimated £3 million this year to ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. This commitment is set to increase the total amount of the voluntary levy bookmakers pay to the British Greyhound Racing Fund (BGRF) to an estimated £10m this year. We expect thousands of racing greyhounds are to be better cared for as a result of this new deal.

Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory levy. We will continue to work with the betting and greyhound industries to make sure that greyhound welfare is safeguarded and remains at the heart of the sport.