Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of television advertising for gambling websites and apps on (a) mental health and (b) suicide rates among men.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All major sports have published their gambling sponsorship Codes of Conduct, setting minimum standards for gambling sponsorships, and the Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will commence by the end of the 2025/26 season.
Regarding television advertising, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body responsible for regulating advertising in the UK and co-regulates broadcast advertising under contract with Ofcom. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), sister organisations of the ASA, are responsible for codifying the standards for advertising to the marketing industry as part of their CAP and BCAP Codes. A wide range of provisions in the codes are designed to protect vulnerable adults from harm, including those prohibiting imagery or claims that might encourage problematic gambling behaviour.
We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on how best to fulfil our manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm. We will provide further updates to the House soon.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of gambling companies advertising through sports clubs on problem gambling.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All major sports have published their gambling sponsorship Codes of Conduct, setting minimum standards for gambling sponsorships, and the Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will commence by the end of the 2025/26 season.
Regarding television advertising, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body responsible for regulating advertising in the UK and co-regulates broadcast advertising under contract with Ofcom. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), sister organisations of the ASA, are responsible for codifying the standards for advertising to the marketing industry as part of their CAP and BCAP Codes. A wide range of provisions in the codes are designed to protect vulnerable adults from harm, including those prohibiting imagery or claims that might encourage problematic gambling behaviour.
We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on how best to fulfil our manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm. We will provide further updates to the House soon.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of gambling companies advertising through sports clubs on men's (a) mental health and (b) suicide rates.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All major sports have now published their gambling sponsorship Codes of Conduct, setting minimum standards for socially responsible gambling sponsorships, and the Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will commence by the end of the 2025/26 season.
We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on how best to fulfil our manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm.We will provide further updates to the House in due course.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has received representations from charities on annual sale limits for society lotteries.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Society lotteries are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups, sports clubs and other non-commercial organisations.
In 2020, the annual sales limit was increased from £10 million to £50 million as part of a wider package of changes to society lottery limits.
My department continues to work closely with the Gambling Commission to monitor society lotteries and the charities they support.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to remove the annual sale limits for society lotteries.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Society lotteries are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups, sports clubs and other non-commercial organisations.
In 2020, the annual sales limit was increased from £10 million to £50 million as part of a wider package of changes to society lottery limits.
My department continues to work closely with the Gambling Commission to monitor society lotteries and the charities they support.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age, published on 27 April, when they will publish the cross-sport Code of Conduct outlined in that paper; and whether they will include an implementation timeline.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
All domestic sports governing bodies have agreed to four core principles underpinning the cross-sport Code of Conduct on gambling sponsorship: (i) protecting children and young people; (ii) socially responsible promotion; (iii) reinvestment in sport; and (iv) maintaining sporting integrity. These principles put in place a robust minimum standard for sponsorship across all sports. Through the code, a proportion of in-stadium advertising will be dedicated to safer gambling, and replica kits for adults will be made available without gambling logos, alongside the existing requirements for children’s replica kits.
We want sports governing bodies to have sufficient flexibility to implement these principles in a way which maximises impact for the sports and their fans. Bespoke, sport-specific codes are currently being designed by individual governing bodies, and will be published and implemented in due course. The Premier League and English Football League plan to have their codes in place by next season. DCMS will continue to work closely with sports bodies to ensure that implementation and enforcement processes are robust.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the joint report by the University of Bristol and Channel 5 New Season, More Self-Regulation, More Marketing, published in September 2023, which found that 92 per cent of social content marketing ads sent by major gambling brands in the opening weekend of the Premier League were not clearly identifiable as advertising.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble online without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. In our approach to gambling advertising, we have struck a balanced and evidence-led approach which tackles aggressive advertising that is most likely to appeal to children, while recognising that advertising is an entirely legitimate commercial practice for responsible firms.
There are robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising is socially responsible and cannot be targeted at or strongly appeal to children. The Government welcomed the voluntary whistle-to-whistle ban on TV betting advertisements during live sports programmes, agreed by industry. According to figures from the Betting and Gaming Council, the ban reduced the number of views of gambling advertisements by children (aged 4–17) by 70 per cent over the duration of live sporting programmes. We also welcomed the Premier League’s announcement that it will ban gambling sponsors from the front of shirts, and are working with a wider group of sports governing bodies to introduce a code of conduct on responsible gambling sponsorship.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the cross-sport Code of Conduct is (a) robust and (b) workable in practice; and what lessons she has learnt from the application of CAP code 2.1 for regulation of breaches of the Code.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All domestic sports governing bodies have agreed to four core principles underpinning the cross-sport Code of Conduct on gambling sponsorship: (i) protecting children and young people (ii) socially responsible promotion (iii) reinvestment into sport (iv) maintaining sporting integrity. These principles put in place a robust minimum standard for sponsorship across all sports. Through the code, a proportion of in-stadia advertising will be dedicated to safer gambling messaging, and replica kits for adults will be made available without gambling logos, alongside the existing requirements for childrens’ replica kits.
Sports governing bodies must have sufficient flexibility to implement these principles in a way which maximises impact for the sports and their fans. Bespoke, sport-specific Codes are currently being designed by individual sports governing bodies, and will be implemented in due course. The Premier League and English Football League plan to have their Codes in place by next season. DCMS will continue to work closely with sports on their implementation and enforcement practices.
As a licence condition, gambling operators must comply with the restrictions set out in the Advertising Codes, which includes robust rules under section 2 regulating the recognition of marketing communications. Under these rules, marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such and make clear their commercial intent, if that is not obvious from the context. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) can and does take action against breaches, and a recent ruling can be found here. Operators are liable to enforcement action from the Gambling Commission if affiliates which they pay to carry out marketing activities do not comply with the rules.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 effectiveness of self-regulation by the sporting industry in reducing the quantity of gambling messaging seen by viewers.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In our approach to gambling advertising, we have struck a balanced and evidence-led approach which tackles aggressive advertising that is most likely to appeal to children, while recognising that advertising is an entirely legitimate commercial practice for responsible gambling firms.
We have welcomed the industry's whistle-to-whistle ban on TV betting adverts during live sports programmes. According to figures from the Betting and Gaming Council, the ban reduced the quantity of gambling advertisement views by children (age 4-17) by 70% over the full duration of live sporting programmes.
Further, alongside the Premier League’s announcement that it will ban gambling sponsors from the front of shirts by the end of the 2025/26 season, the gambling white paper commitment for a cross-sport Code of Conduct for gambling sponsorship has now been agreed by a number of the country’s major sports governing bodies. This will guarantee that where gambling sponsorship does appear, it is done in a responsible way to ensure fans, especially children, are better protected. This code will include provisions to ensure replica shirts for both children and adults are available without front-of-shirt gambling logos and a proportion of in-stadia advertising is dedicated to safer gambling messaging.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take to help ensure that the sporting industry complies with voluntary or self-regulatory measures to prevent gambling harms.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The gambling White Paper, published in April 2023, set out plans for sports bodies to take a responsible approach to gambling sponsorship through the adoption of a cross-sport Code of Conduct. The Code will guarantee a robust minimum standard on gambling sponsorship across all sports, ensuring that when gambling sponsorship does appear, it is done so in a socially responsible way. Work is underway to develop and implement the Code, ensuring that provisions meet the Government’s objectives while being sufficiently tailored to the material differences between sports. We expect compliance with a Code of Conduct to be guaranteed from within sports themselves through enforcement by governing bodies, and we are working together to identify the most effective way to achieve this.