Asked by: Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times (1) ministers, and (2) officials, from the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have met representatives of the gambling industry since June 2020; and what was the nature of those discussions.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Ministers and officials have regular meetings with the industry and other gambling stakeholders to support ongoing work and policy development. There has also been a wide-ranging series of meetings to support the ongoing Gambling Act Review which was launched in December 2020 with a Call for Evidence.
Records of ministerial meetings are published quarterly and are available on gov.uk. The meetings with the gambling industry and its representatives have covered a very wide range of issues, for instance the impact of Covid-19 closures on the land-based industry and the measures the Government was taking to support the economy, measures the industry is taking to make gambling safer, and industry evidence on the Act Review. A number of these have also been introductory meetings with new Ministers.
Officials in the gambling policy team have had around sixty meetings with industry in that period covering the above topics, particularly the impact of Covid-19, and also other areas such as animal welfare in horse and greyhound racing, the implications of Brexit and supply chain disruption, and delivery of previous commitments made by industry, such as the £100m to support treatment over four years.
Ministers have met a wide range of non-industry gambling stakeholders over the same period. This has included six meetings with gambling harm campaign groups or people with personal experience of gambling harm (including roundtables with many individuals or organisations present), thirteen meetings with parliamentarians campaigning for reform, and three meetings with gambling researchers and education and treatment providers. We do not have a record of which meetings were conducted remotely or in person.
Officials in the gambling policy team have had over one hundred further meetings with non-industry gambling related stakeholders since June 2020. This has included eleven with campaign groups or people with personal experience, thirty three with those working primarily on gambling research, seven with those primarily related to gambling harm education, seventeen with treatment providers for gambling related harm, and three meetings with think-tanks. Many of these meetings were in connection with the Gambling Act Review, discussing individuals’ or groups' priorities and the evidence they presented.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of regulation of animal welfare standards in (a) horseracing and (b) greyhound racing.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses and racing greyhounds are met, both during their racing lives and afterwards, is a priority. In our recently published Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we have committed to ensuring that the horse racing sector addresses key animal welfare issues such as fatality levels. We also committed to considering further protections for racing greyhounds including further steps to raise welfare standards at trainers’ kennels. The Action Plan for Animal Welfare can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/action-plan-for-animal-welfare
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) places a legal duty of care on owners and keepers for the animals for which they are responsible on a permanent or temporary basis. It is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. The 2006 Act allows action to be taken where there is evidence of cruelty to an animal or a failure to provide for that animal’s welfare needs. This includes where animals are raced as well as where they are kept. The 2006 Act is also backed up a statutory code of practice for both dogs: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-dogs and horses: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-horses-ponies-donkeys-and-their-hybrids
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.
The Horse Welfare Board’s five-year Horse Welfare Strategy (HWS) “a life well-lived” was published on 20 February 2020. The HWS contains 20 recommendations for improving the welfare of horses bred for racing. The HWS recommends that, as a minimum, the penalties for misuse of the whip need to increase and that the BHA should conduct a consultation on the use of the whip. This consultation ran until 6 September 2021.
The welfare of racing greyhounds at all greyhound racing tracks in England is regulated by the Welfare of Racing Greyhound Regulations 2010 (the 2010 Regulations). The 2010 Regulations were reviewed in 2016, both by Defra and the House of Commons' Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. The review found that, judged against their original objectives, the regulations have been broadly effective. The review also identified areas where the industry themselves should be taking further action and Defra have been working closely with the main industry regulatory body, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), to ensure these actions are taken. This includes the annual publication of injury, euthanasia and retirement statistics, and addressing welfare issues at GBGB affiliated trainers’ kennels.
I would encourage anyone with evidence that a racehorse or racing greyhound has suffered unnecessarily to get in touch with either the BHA or the GBGB and share their concerns. In the most severe cases of misuse, an individual may be investigated under the 2006 Act, as well as receiving significant sanctions from the sport.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the welfare of greyhounds that have finished their racing career.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
In January 2019 the Government announced an increased funding commitment from bookmakers to support the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (GBGB) efforts to improve welfare. In 2019/20 the British Greyhound Racing Fund collected a total of £8.87m from bookmakers, up from £6.95m in the previous 12 months. The Government continues to encourage any remaining bookmakers that have not signed up to the voluntary arrangements to do so and welcomes the 22 March 2021 announcement by the Betting and Gaming Council that four more bookmakers have agreed to begin contributing to Fund. Working with the GBGB, each year the Fund contributes half its revenue to the welfare of racing greyhounds.
GBGB has committed to ensure that, wherever possible, every greyhound leaving GBGB racing should be rehomed. They have also introduced the Greyhound Retirement Scheme. The scheme attaches a £400 bond to each greyhound at the point of registration, paid for jointly by the owner and GBGB, in order to pay for rehoming costs at the end of a dog’s racing life.
Once a greyhound’s racing career is over, these dogs may be exported to Pakistan if the appropriate animal health and welfare certification requirements are met. We consider that completion of this process is sufficiently rigorous and costly to prevent the wide scale exportation of dogs from the UK. Since the beginning of 2019 we have only one record of an application for a certificate to export a greyhound to Pakistan. However, we are unable to account for any movements to Pakistan that may have transited through a third country.
If we find evidence that there is a widespread problem, we can then consider what further steps may be necessary. GBGB is currently investigating whether any licensed GBGB member has knowingly supplied any greyhound directly to Pakistan.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain on protecting the welfare of greyhounds that are being exported to Pakistan once they have been retired from racing.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
In January 2019 the Government announced an increased funding commitment from bookmakers to support the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (GBGB) efforts to improve welfare. In 2019/20 the British Greyhound Racing Fund collected a total of £8.87m from bookmakers, up from £6.95m in the previous 12 months. The Government continues to encourage any remaining bookmakers that have not signed up to the voluntary arrangements to do so and welcomes the 22 March 2021 announcement by the Betting and Gaming Council that four more bookmakers have agreed to begin contributing to Fund. Working with the GBGB, each year the Fund contributes half its revenue to the welfare of racing greyhounds.
GBGB has committed to ensure that, wherever possible, every greyhound leaving GBGB racing should be rehomed. They have also introduced the Greyhound Retirement Scheme. The scheme attaches a £400 bond to each greyhound at the point of registration, paid for jointly by the owner and GBGB, in order to pay for rehoming costs at the end of a dog’s racing life.
Once a greyhound’s racing career is over, these dogs may be exported to Pakistan if the appropriate animal health and welfare certification requirements are met. We consider that completion of this process is sufficiently rigorous and costly to prevent the wide scale exportation of dogs from the UK. Since the beginning of 2019 we have only one record of an application for a certificate to export a greyhound to Pakistan. However, we are unable to account for any movements to Pakistan that may have transited through a third country.
If we find evidence that there is a widespread problem, we can then consider what further steps may be necessary. GBGB is currently investigating whether any licensed GBGB member has knowingly supplied any greyhound directly to Pakistan.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the welfare of greyhounds of their export to Pakistan once they have been retired from racing.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
In January 2019 the Government announced an increased funding commitment from bookmakers to support the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (GBGB) efforts to improve welfare. In 2019/20 the British Greyhound Racing Fund collected a total of £8.87m from bookmakers, up from £6.95m in the previous 12 months. The Government continues to encourage any remaining bookmakers that have not signed up to the voluntary arrangements to do so and welcomes the 22 March 2021 announcement by the Betting and Gaming Council that four more bookmakers have agreed to begin contributing to Fund. Working with the GBGB, each year the Fund contributes half its revenue to the welfare of racing greyhounds.
GBGB has committed to ensure that, wherever possible, every greyhound leaving GBGB racing should be rehomed. They have also introduced the Greyhound Retirement Scheme. The scheme attaches a £400 bond to each greyhound at the point of registration, paid for jointly by the owner and GBGB, in order to pay for rehoming costs at the end of a dog’s racing life.
Once a greyhound’s racing career is over, these dogs may be exported to Pakistan if the appropriate animal health and welfare certification requirements are met. We consider that completion of this process is sufficiently rigorous and costly to prevent the wide scale exportation of dogs from the UK. Since the beginning of 2019 we have only one record of an application for a certificate to export a greyhound to Pakistan. However, we are unable to account for any movements to Pakistan that may have transited through a third country.
If we find evidence that there is a widespread problem, we can then consider what further steps may be necessary. GBGB is currently investigating whether any licensed GBGB member has knowingly supplied any greyhound directly to Pakistan.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support the reopening of greyhound tracks across the UK as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be extremely challenging for businesses, including greyhound stadia. Greyhound racing has continued behind closed doors since 1 June.
The Events Research Programme (ERP), working closely with local authorities and organisers will undertake studies to get fans and audiences back safely as restrictions are gradually eased.The pilots programme will be used to provide key scientific data and research into how small and large-scale events could be permitted to safely reopen in line with the Roadmap out of lockdown as part of Step 4, commencing no earlier than 21 June.
On 19 November 2020 the Government announced a rescue package worth £300 million to help major spectator sports which have been affected by the pandemic, including a preliminary allocation of £1 million in loans for greyhound racing. In the recent budget a further £300m was announced for the recovery package across all sports.
Greyhound racing has also been eligible to access pan-economy support provided by the government including the business rates holiday for leisure industry businesses, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with bookmakers on funding for racing greyhounds.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The British Greyhound Racing Fund (BGRF) collects a voluntary levy from bookmakers and uses the funds for greyhound welfare and sports integrity, and to a lesser extent the development and promotion of the sport.
Government officials recently met representatives of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and the British Greyhound Racing Fund to discuss funding for greyhound racing with a view to encouraging bookmakers that have yet to sign up to the voluntary Memorandum of Understanding to do so.
Government will continue to work with the betting and greyhound industries to make sure that greyhound welfare is safeguarded and remains at the heart of the sport.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of British Greyhound Racing Fund’s levy being made mandatory in the context of the statutory levy imposed on Bookmakers by the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In January 2019 the Government announced that it had secured a new funding commitment from five of the largest online bookmakers to help ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. This was in addition to the existing voluntary payments made to the British Greyhound Racing Fund from most betting operators that benefit from greyhound racing, which sit alongside commercial deals between the betting and racing industries. In 2019/20 the BGRF collected a total of £8.87m, up from £6.95m in the previous 12 months.
Government has no plans to introduce a mandatory levy and will continue to encourage any remaining bookmakers that have not signed up to the voluntary arrangements to follow suit. The Department has discussions with the betting and greyhound racing industries on a range of issues and expects both to make sure that greyhound welfare is safeguarded and remains at the heart of the sport.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when (a) he and (b) members of his Department last met with representatives of the betting and gaming industries to discuss improving greyhound welfare.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In January 2019 the Government announced that it had secured a new funding commitment from five of the largest online bookmakers to help ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. This was in addition to the existing voluntary payments made to the British Greyhound Racing Fund from most betting operators that benefit from greyhound racing, which sit alongside commercial deals between the betting and racing industries. In 2019/20 the BGRF collected a total of £8.87m, up from £6.95m in the previous 12 months.
Government has no plans to introduce a mandatory levy and will continue to encourage any remaining bookmakers that have not signed up to the voluntary arrangements to follow suit. The Department has discussions with the betting and greyhound racing industries on a range of issues and expects both to make sure that greyhound welfare is safeguarded and remains at the heart of the sport.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support the greyhound racing sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Greyhound racing has been eligible to access the help announced by the Chancellor on 17 March, including the business rates holiday for leisure industry businesses, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. It will also be eligible to access the Job Support Scheme which is due to open on 1 November.
Officials continue to be in communication with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain to understand the needs of the sector during this time.