Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a comparative assessment of taxation rates for (a) land-based and (b) remote gambling operators.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A range of duty rates apply to different forms of gambling. Bingo duty is 10% of gross profit. Lottery Duty is 12% of ticket value. General Betting Duty is 15% of gross profit for general bets, 10% of gross profit for sports spread betting or 3% of gross profit for financial spread betting. Pool Betting Duty is 15% of gross profit. Remote Gaming Duty is 21% of gross profit. Gaming Duty is 15-50% of gross gaming yield. Machine Games Duty is 5% of gross profit at the lower rate, 20% of gross profit at the standard rate and 25% of gross profit at the higher rate.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps gambling taxation under constant review and welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to prevent football clubs making money from gambling losses.
Answered by Damian Collins
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of commercial partnerships but all partnerships with gambling operators must be conducted in a socially responsible fashion and never target children or vulnerable people.
Specifically the EFL and its clubs operated an affiliate scheme as part of their partnership with Sky Bet from 2013 to the 2019/20 season. The scheme has not been active since the 2019/20 season and the Department does not hold detailed estimates of club revenues.
The current impact of gambling sponsorship in sports is in scope of the government's wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We are considering the evidence closely and a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of EFL football clubs receiving from bookmakers a share of money lost by their fans while betting.
Answered by Damian Collins
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of commercial partnerships but all partnerships with gambling operators must be conducted in a socially responsible fashion and never target children or vulnerable people.
Specifically the EFL and its clubs operated an affiliate scheme as part of their partnership with Sky Bet from 2013 to the 2019/20 season. The scheme has not been active since the 2019/20 season and the Department does not hold detailed estimates of club revenues.
The current impact of gambling sponsorship in sports is in scope of the government's wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We are considering the evidence closely and a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of football clubs in the English Football League operating as affiliates for SkyBet.
Answered by Damian Collins
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of commercial partnerships but all partnerships with gambling operators must be conducted in a socially responsible fashion and never target children or vulnerable people.
Specifically the EFL and its clubs operated an affiliate scheme as part of their partnership with Sky Bet from 2013 to the 2019/20 season. The scheme has not been active since the 2019/20 season and the Department does not hold detailed estimates of club revenues.
The current impact of gambling sponsorship in sports is in scope of the government's wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We are considering the evidence closely and a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a levy on bookmakers' profits from football bets to distribute to (a) the English Football League and (b) grassroots football.
Answered by Damian Collins
The Government currently has no plans to introduce a requirement for gambling operators to pay a fee or levy to football or other sporting bodies. The Government invests millions into grassroots sport facilities via the Football Foundation alongside the Football Association and the Premier League. In addition to the £18m of government support this provides annually, in 2021 the government announced a further £25m investment to improve and upgrade grassroots facilities across the UK to ensure that every community in the country has access to the sports pitches they need by 2030.
The recent Fan Led Review of Football Governance stressed the importance of greater financial redistribution throughout the football pyramid. We are working with the football authorities to ensure an appropriate solution on financial distributions is found, which will protect the financial health of all football clubs throughout the football pyramid.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the exposure to children of gambling adverts in football stadiums.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of responsible commercial partnerships, which may be promoted in different ways including through kit sponsorships, advertising in stadiums or on club websites. In the 21/22 football season, all 20 Premier League clubs had an official betting partner, while nine clubs had front-of-shirt sponsorship by a gambling operator.
The Government does not make an assessment of the number of children attending professional football matches.
Evidence on the impacts of gambling sponsorship in sports, including the issue of children’s exposure to gambling brands, is being closely considered as part of the government's Review of the Gambling Act. A white paper will be published in the coming weeks outlining our conclusions and next steps.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of children who attended a professional football match in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of responsible commercial partnerships, which may be promoted in different ways including through kit sponsorships, advertising in stadiums or on club websites. In the 21/22 football season, all 20 Premier League clubs had an official betting partner, while nine clubs had front-of-shirt sponsorship by a gambling operator.
The Government does not make an assessment of the number of children attending professional football matches.
Evidence on the impacts of gambling sponsorship in sports, including the issue of children’s exposure to gambling brands, is being closely considered as part of the government's Review of the Gambling Act. A white paper will be published in the coming weeks outlining our conclusions and next steps.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many football clubs in the premier league have gambling sponsors.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of responsible commercial partnerships, which may be promoted in different ways including through kit sponsorships, advertising in stadiums or on club websites. In the 21/22 football season, all 20 Premier League clubs had an official betting partner, while nine clubs had front-of-shirt sponsorship by a gambling operator.
The Government does not make an assessment of the number of children attending professional football matches.
Evidence on the impacts of gambling sponsorship in sports, including the issue of children’s exposure to gambling brands, is being closely considered as part of the government's Review of the Gambling Act. A white paper will be published in the coming weeks outlining our conclusions and next steps.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent betting companies from being sponsors of Premier League football clubs.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is looking closely at the evidence regarding the impacts of sports sponsorship by gambling operators, including in the Premier League, as part of the wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the decision by the Advertising Standards Authority to ban gambling adverts featuring footballers and other sports personalities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government is reviewing the Gambling Act to make sure it is fit for the digital age. We have been clear, however, that work to raise standards and tackle gambling-related harm should continue alongside the review, and does not need to wait for it to be concluded. We are determined to protect those at risk of gambling related-harm and welcome the new measures announced by the Advertising Standards Authority further to reduce the appeal of gambling adverts to children and to ensure that the content of gambling adverts is appropriate for the age-restricted nature of the products.
As part of the broad scope of the review, we called for evidence on the potential benefits or harms of allowing licensed gambling operators to advertise, engage in sponsorship arrangements, and make promotional offers. We are currently considering the evidence carefully and will publish a White Paper outlining our conclusions and any proposals for reform in the coming weeks.