Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of findings published on 18 March by the City of York Council, Next Generation York: the health of adolescents in our city, particularly that 16 per cent of young people had gambled, and of those 25 per cent took money to gamble without permission, and 14 per cent had conflicts with family or friends over gambling.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are committed to reviewing the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and working with all stakeholders in order to ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk of gambling related harm, particularly children and young people.
The Government uses a wide range of sources to inform our understanding of children and young people’s gambling behaviour and harm in Great Britain, such as the 2024 Young People in Gambling Report. The department has noted the findings of the Next Generation York report from the City of York Council.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the gambling industry’s spending on advertising, sponsorship and marketing, including online forms of advertising and marketing such as content marketing.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
According to GambleAware’s research in 2017, the total advertising and marketing spend by gambling companies totalled £1.5 billion, of which:
£747 million was spent on online advertising and direct marketing
£234 million on TV advertising
£149 million on social media advertising
£60 million on sponsorship
£301 million on advertising through market affiliates
£70 million on other offline advertising
There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed and exploited. Gambling adverts cannot be targeted at children and cannot be of ‘strong appeal’ to children, for example they cannot feature Premier League footballers and celebrities popular with children.
However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the gambling industry’s self-regulation practices in relation to gambling advertising, sponsorship, and marketing.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
According to GambleAware’s research in 2017, the total advertising and marketing spend by gambling companies totalled £1.5 billion, of which:
£747 million was spent on online advertising and direct marketing
£234 million on TV advertising
£149 million on social media advertising
£60 million on sponsorship
£301 million on advertising through market affiliates
£70 million on other offline advertising
There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed and exploited. Gambling adverts cannot be targeted at children and cannot be of ‘strong appeal’ to children, for example they cannot feature Premier League footballers and celebrities popular with children.
However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific consideration they have given to the impact of gambling advertising, sponsorship, and marketing on children and young people.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
According to GambleAware’s research in 2017, the total advertising and marketing spend by gambling companies totalled £1.5 billion, of which:
£747 million was spent on online advertising and direct marketing
£234 million on TV advertising
£149 million on social media advertising
£60 million on sponsorship
£301 million on advertising through market affiliates
£70 million on other offline advertising
There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed and exploited. Gambling adverts cannot be targeted at children and cannot be of ‘strong appeal’ to children, for example they cannot feature Premier League footballers and celebrities popular with children.
However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
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 advertising on the uptake of gambling by children.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
While advertising is a legitimate advantage which licensed operators have over illegal gambling firms, increased exposure to gambling advertising can have an impact on gambling participation and some forms of advertising can also have a disproportionate impact on particular groups, such as children.
There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed and exploited. Gambling adverts cannot be targeted at children and cannot be of ‘strong appeal’ to children, for example they cannot feature Premier League footballers and celebrities popular with children.
However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help young people to avoid the dangers of gambling.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are committed to protecting young people from gambling harm. Since 2020, children and young people have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England.
We are introducing a statutory levy to be paid by gambling operators raising funding for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will play an important part in the Government’s wider aim to have better informed and protected young people when it comes to gambling-related harms.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to limit children's exposure to gambling advertisements on popular streaming platforms.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are committed to protecting children and young people from harmful gambling. There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that gambling advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children and young people. As part of the advertising codes which cover both broadcast and non-broadcast advertising, including on Video on Demand (VOD) or streaming platforms, operators are required to ensure advertising is not targeted at children, and must not appear in media created for children or for which children make up 25% or more of the audience.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) university students and (b) other young people have access to education on gambling harms.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Since 2020, children have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England. There are also a range of initiatives in place to inform university students about gambling-related harm. For example, the independent charity YGAM provides free CPD training on gaming and gambling for university students.
The government is introducing a statutory levy charged to licensed operators raising £90 to £100 million each year for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. 30% of this funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention to help raise awareness of harmful gambling and the support available.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of gambling advertising on (a) children under 18, (b) adults and (c) people with a gambling addiction.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government recognises that while advertising is a legitimate advantage which licensed operators have over illegal gambling firms, increased exposure to gambling advertising can have an impact on gambling participation. Some forms of advertising can also have a disproportionate impact on particular groups, such as children and those who are already experiencing problems with their gambling.
There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising, whenever it appears, is socially responsible, with a particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons and other vulnerable persons from being harmed and exploited. The Gambling Commission is also introducing new requirements for operators to allow customers to have greater control over the direct marketing they receive, and have also consulted on measures to ensure that incentives such as free bets are constructed in a socially responsible manner.
However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
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 she has taken with the Advertising Standards Authority to tackle online gambling advertisements (a) targeting children and (b) failing to disclose the presence of (i) loot boxes and (ii) other gambling-like features in mobile games.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Gambling operators must ensure that their advertising is not targeted at children and must not appear in media created for children or for which children make up 25% or more of the audience. Operators must also ensure that they take all reasonable steps to use data available to exclude individuals on the basis of their age or other relevant criteria. These rules are required as part of the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The ASA continues to closely monitor and enforce compliance but, if needed, can refer gambling operators’ advertising to the Gambling Commission which can and do take action. The ASA’s rulings on breaches of loot box advertising code requirements are available at: https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/rulings.html
DCMS officials regularly meet the Advertising Standards Authority to discuss a range of issues, including its view on whether ads for apps, video games and other online products that feature random-item purchasing mechanisms sufficiently disclose this fact in the content of the advertisement. Through ‘Guidance on Advertising In-game Purchases’ and ASA rulings, the ASA system sets and applies standards to mitigate the potential for ads to mislead consumers about the cost of in-game purchases, whether games contain them, and how they might affect gameplay. The ASA’s sister body, the Committee of Advertising Practice, is currently deliberating whether and, if so, on what basis, to take further action in this aspect of its regulation.