Gambling: Retail Trade

(asked on 17th January 2024) - View Source

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what training is provided to retailers regarding the gambling risks associated with the National Lottery and other lottery products.


Answered by
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Portrait
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This question was answered on 29th January 2024

The 2018 Health Survey for England showed that lotteries were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered, and the National Lottery operator is mandated under its licence to have player protection strategies.

The operator’s training programme, ‘Being a Responsible Retailer’, supports National Lottery retailers on risks related to National Lottery products and focuses on supporting healthy playing and preventing underage playing. This consists of online and face-to-face training, healthy playing knowledge checks, and further support where needed. The operator also provides retailers with advice through leaflets and telephone calls to improve awareness and to help the retention of responsible retailing principles. Retailers are also trained in engaging with customers about healthy playing – including direction to GamCare as appropriate – and about signs they should look out for to help identify players who may be at risk.

To ensure that retailers are benefiting from and acting on its training, the operator runs a healthy playing ‘mystery shopper’ programme, alongside the ‘Operation 18’ programme to ensure that retailers are correctly asking for proof of age. As a result of these initiatives, 94% of National Lottery retailers visited in 2022/23 successfully passed a healthy playing knowledge check. If a retailer does not pass these visits or checks, it is offered additional training.

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