Gambling: Addictions

(asked on 8th November 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission on Sky Vegas or its parent company Flutter offering free spins to recovering addicts during Safer Gambling Week.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 16th November 2021

The Gambling Commission requires operators to take steps to remove the name and details of self-excluded individuals from any marketing databases used by the company or on behalf of the company. Failure to do so is a breach of their licence conditions. If licence conditions are found to have been breached, the Commission has a range of sanctions available from issuing an official warning to imposing financial penalties or additional licence conditions, suspending a licence and revoking a licence. Ministers and officials in DCMS meet regularly with the Gambling Commission to discuss a range of regulatory issues, including investigatory and enforcement work.

In the case of communications sent from Sky Vegas to self-excluded individuals on the 2nd November, the operator has reported itself to the Gambling Commission and taken immediate steps to prevent any further breaches. The Commission will carry out a thorough investigation and determine whether regulatory action should be taken.

As part of our wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act the government is looking closely at promotional offers and inducements offered by gambling operators, along with other forms of advertising and marketing and the Gambling Commission’s powers and resources. A White Paper setting out our next steps and proposals for reform will be published in due course.

Reticulating Splines