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Written Question
Gaming Machines: Northern Ireland
Monday 5th July 2021

Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with his Northern Irish counterpart on the operation of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in Northern Ireland following the reduction in the maximum stake on FOBTs in Great Britain to £2 in 2019.

Answered by John Whittingdale

Gambling in Northern Ireland is a devolved issue regulated under the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (NI) Order 1985. I have not discussed the operation of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals following the 2019 stake cut with my Northern Irish counterpart.


Written Question
Gambling: Impact Assessments
Tuesday 15th June 2021

Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what regulatory impact assessments have been made of measures taken to deliver the Gambling Act 2005’s prevention of harm licensing objective since the changes adopted via the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, excluding those changes in respect of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals stake reduction.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 are principles to be applied by the Gambling Commission and other licensing authorities in exercising their functions under the Act. The Commission is required to permit gambling, in so far as it thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives: a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime, b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

Regulatory Impact Assessments are produced by the government as a tool to assess the impact of government intervention and inform policy decision-making. The Gambling Commission is required under the Enterprise Act 2016 to produce Business Impact Target (BIT) assessments for regulatory measures that it introduces but these relate to the impact on business rather than the licensing objectives. However, as part of its consultation process, the Commission seeks information from stakeholders on the impact and value of its proposals. It also works with a wide range of partners to evaluate the impact of safer gambling measures, in connection with the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harm.

The Commission is currently working to assess the initial impact of the ban on credit cards, including with the Gambling Research Exchange (GREO) on an evaluation of consumer behaviour following the ban. In April 2021, it published a new Corporate Strategy which includes a commitment to developing a framework to evaluate the impact of its work.


Written Question
Gambling: Impact Assessments
Tuesday 15th June 2021

Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what regulatory impact assessments have been made of measures taken to deliver the Gambling Act 2005’s no association with crime licensing objective since the changes adopted via the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, excluding those changes in respect of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals stake reduction.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 are principles to be applied by the Gambling Commission and other licensing authorities in exercising their functions under the Act. The Commission is required to permit gambling, in so far as it thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives: a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime, b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

Regulatory Impact Assessments are produced by the government as a tool to assess the impact of government intervention and inform policy decision-making. The Gambling Commission is required under the Enterprise Act 2016 to produce Business Impact Target (BIT) assessments for regulatory measures that it introduces but these relate to the impact on business rather than the licensing objectives. However, as part of its consultation process, the Commission seeks information from stakeholders on the impact and value of its proposals. It also works with a wide range of partners to evaluate the impact of safer gambling measures, in connection with the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harm.

The Commission is currently working to assess the initial impact of the ban on credit cards, including with the Gambling Research Exchange (GREO) on an evaluation of consumer behaviour following the ban. In April 2021, it published a new Corporate Strategy which includes a commitment to developing a framework to evaluate the impact of its work.


Written Question
Gaming Machines: Impact Assessments
Tuesday 15th June 2021

Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what regulatory impact assessments have been made of measures taken to deliver the Gambling Act 2005’s fair and open licensing objective since the changes adopted via the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, excluding those changes in respect of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals stake reduction.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 are principles to be applied by the Gambling Commission and other licensing authorities in exercising their functions under the Act. The Commission is required to permit gambling, in so far as it thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives: a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime, b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

Regulatory Impact Assessments are produced by the government as a tool to assess the impact of government intervention and inform policy decision-making. The Gambling Commission is required under the Enterprise Act 2016 to produce Business Impact Target (BIT) assessments for regulatory measures that it introduces but these relate to the impact on business rather than the licensing objectives. However, as part of its consultation process, the Commission seeks information from stakeholders on the impact and value of its proposals. It also works with a wide range of partners to evaluate the impact of safer gambling measures, in connection with the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harm.

The Commission is currently working to assess the initial impact of the ban on credit cards, including with the Gambling Research Exchange (GREO) on an evaluation of consumer behaviour following the ban. In April 2021, it published a new Corporate Strategy which includes a commitment to developing a framework to evaluate the impact of its work.


Written Question
Gaming Machines
Tuesday 15th June 2021

Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the most significant evidence received by his Department was in support of reducing the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals after an assessment of the 2016 review and prior to the 2018 stake reduction announcement.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 are principles to be applied by the Gambling Commission and other licensing authorities in exercising their functions under the Act. The Commission is required to permit gambling in so far as it thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives: a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime, b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures began with the publication of a call for evidence in autumn 2016, including on whether changes were needed to stake and prize limits on gaming machines. The objective of the Review was to determine what, if any, changes were needed to strike the right balance between socially responsible growth and the protection of consumers and wider communities. The call for evidence was followed by a consultation paper published in October 2017, with the government’s decision to cut stakes on B2 machines in betting shops to £2 announced in the government response to the consultation in May 2018. The stake cut was in due course implemented via statutory instrument in April 2019.

The government gave careful consideration to a wide range of evidence in the course of the Gaming Machines Review and this evidence and government’s analysis and conclusions were set out in the consultation, government response and the accompanying impact assessment, published at

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures. Evidence submitted to the call for evidence was also published at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-review-of-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures.


Written Question
Gaming Machines
Tuesday 15th June 2021

Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of (a) whether the stake reduction on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals contributed towards achieving the Gambling Act 2005’s licensing objectives and (b) the effect of the time taken between the 2016 review and implementation in 2019 of the stake reduction on the achievement of those licensing objectives.

Answered by John Whittingdale

The licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 are principles to be applied by the Gambling Commission and other licensing authorities in exercising their functions under the Act. The Commission is required to permit gambling in so far as it thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives: a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime, b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures began with the publication of a call for evidence in autumn 2016, including on whether changes were needed to stake and prize limits on gaming machines. The objective of the Review was to determine what, if any, changes were needed to strike the right balance between socially responsible growth and the protection of consumers and wider communities. The call for evidence was followed by a consultation paper published in October 2017, with the government’s decision to cut stakes on B2 machines in betting shops to £2 announced in the government response to the consultation in May 2018. The stake cut was in due course implemented via statutory instrument in April 2019.

The government gave careful consideration to a wide range of evidence in the course of the Gaming Machines Review and this evidence and government’s analysis and conclusions were set out in the consultation, government response and the accompanying impact assessment, published at

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures. Evidence submitted to the call for evidence was also published at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-review-of-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures.


Written Question
Gaming Machines: VAT
Friday 16th October 2020

Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the outcome of HMRC v The Rank Group PLC; Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd and Others, what steps HMRC has taken to make appropriate repayments to operators; and whether HMRC is prioritising the repayment of operators in a particular order.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Revenue and Customs Brief 5 (2020): VAT treatment on fixed odds betting terminals and gaming machines published on 26 May 2020 (updated on 26 June 2020) sets out the process for claimants in relation to the Rank Group PLC and Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd and Others litigation to be repaid the sums due to them. Repayments have now started and will continue. There has been no prioritisation of any particular claimant.


Written Question
Gambling
Monday 22nd July 2019

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question

To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to tackle problem gambling.

Answered by Caroline Spelman

Gambling-related harm impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Of particular concern is the 55,000 children classified as problem gamblers in Great Britain.

The Church of England and the bishops in the House of Lords have regularly raised this issue with the Government, charities and the industry itself.

The Bishop of St Albans successfully campaigned with others to reduce the stake on fixed-odds betting terminals in Great Britain and tabled an amendment to the Northern Ireland Executive (Formation) Bill 2019 to ask the Government to report on the case for legislative and regulatory alignment between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government accepted this amendment.

The Bishop of St Albans also sponsored a motion for debate in the General Synod of the Church of England, which was passed at the February 2019 session. He also successfully balloted for the House of Lords to establish the Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. The Committee Inquiry is underway and is expected to report between March and April 2020.


Written Question
Gaming Machines
Monday 8th July 2019

Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Finance Bill, what steps his Department is taking to require a review of the public health effects of fixed odds betting terminals.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Public Health England were asked to conduct an evidence review of the health aspects of gambling-related harm to inform action on prevention and treatment and are due to report back in Spring 2020.

The Government will shortly publish the report into the public health effects of the two gambling duty provisions as required by Finance Act 2019.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Gambling
Monday 24th June 2019

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the number of problem gamblers who are currently serving in Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

Gambling as an addiction has serious implications for Defence; as a security risk, financially, a mental health issue and as a wider welfare impact on Service personnel; families; veterans and their families. Gambling addiction is difficult to target and deal with effectively as most activity is carried out when Service personnel are off duty or at home. However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working to raise financial awareness among Service personnel; all three Services provide links on their welfare sites to several financial advisory sites including MoneyForce, Joining Forces Credit Union, the Services Insurance and Investment Advisory Panel and GamCare, a national charity and leading provider of information, advice and free counselling for the prevention and treatment of problem gambling.

The MOD has not funded or conducted any research on problem gambling among Service personnel or veterans. We are aware that in 2017 the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) supported a gambling study by Swansea University, the preliminary findings of which suggested UK veterans may be at an increased risk of developing gambling problems than non-veterans. In 2018, FiMT awarded Swansea University £279,503 to undertake a survey to understand and explore the levels of gambling participation and attitudes to gambling in ex-Service personnel.

The requested information on the numbers of betting terminals and gaming machines on MOD property and the revenue generated and beneficiaries is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.