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

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the number of gambling venues operating with bingo licences but effectively operating as adult gaming centres.

We recognise that, as noted in the Gambling Commission’s 2023 advice to the Gambling Act Review, there are gambling premises which are licensed solely as bingo venues, where gaming machines take up most of the floor space and which can give the appearance to consumers of being adult gaming centres.

As set out in the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, in licensed bingo premises, gaming machines may only be made available for use where there are also substantive facilities for non-remote bingo available in the premises. Non-remote bingo licensees must also ensure that the function and presentation of their premises are such that a customer can reasonably be expected to recognise that it is a premises licensed for the purposes of providing bingo facilities. These are conditions of non-remote bingo licences. We are reviewing the current licensing regime for bingo venues, and we intend to consult on changes in due course.