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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why software developers and other companies involved in gambling software, working as sub-contractors for newly-licensed software suppliers, have to apply for their own licences; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that requirement on smaller businesses reliant on such short-term contracts.

The Gambling Commission’s publication ‘What is gambling software?’ (June 2014) provides advice to assist the industry in understanding who needs a gambling software licence. This covers what constitutes the activities of manufacturing, supplying, installing and adapting gambling software, considers circumstances where multiple parties are involved in the development process and who needs a licence. The guide can be found at the following link:

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/What is gambling software - June 2014.pdf

The requirement to obtain gambling software from Gambling Commission-licensed providers is an important provision both to ensure the integrity of gambling software and to keep crime out of gambling, and ensures a consistent approach for remote gambling operators based in Britain and overseas. This requirement is set out in the Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and was subject to statutory consultation this year.