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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published on 27 April 2023, whether an assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing Cumulative Impact Assessments (CIAs) for gambling licensing.

Local authorities play a crucial role in the regulation of gambling at a local level and have a range of powers in relation to gambling premises. We want local authorities to feel empowered to make decisions that are in their communities’ best interests.

As set out in the gambling white paper, cumulative impact assessments, which local authorities are already familiar with due to the role they play in alcohol licensing, would allow local authorities to take into account a wide range of evidence to inform licensing decisions and to consider the cumulative impact of gambling premises in a particular area.

We will look to complement local authorities’ existing powers in relation to licensing of gambling premises, in line with the gambling white paper published in April 2023, when parliamentary time allows.