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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact on the horse racing and sports betting industries of the full implementation of financial risk assessments on gambling.

It is for the Gambling Commission to decide whether to implement Financial Risk Assessments (FRA). DCMS continues to support the policy intent behind Financial Risk Assessments, and has had regular engagement with the Gambling Commission on this issue.

Financial Risk Assessments remain aligned with the policy intent as set out in the 2023 Gambling White Paper. The pilot has provided evidence of financial risk for consumers that is not currently being captured through existing policy measures. Current operator practices also introduce friction for some consumers which may not be needed if FRAs were to be rolled out.

Consideration of impact is part of the Commission’s decision making. The Commission has also committed to ongoing review, evaluation and adaptation over time if Financial Risk Assessments are introduced.

The Government is taking action to tackle the illegal gambling market, including collaborative action through the Illegal Markets Taskforce. HMT has provided the Gambling Commission with £26 million across the next 3 years for action to tackle the illegal market. The issue of customer displacement to the illegal market was carefully considered when developing the 2023 Gambling White Paper, and we are confident that the measures we have introduced since then are proportionate.