Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision is available to 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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of gambling-related harm amongst (1) veterans, and (2) those currently serving in Her Majesty's Armed Forces; and whether the Ministry of Defence has conducted any research into gambling participation rates in those groups.
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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money was made from Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals located on Ministry of Defence property in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, and (4) 2018; and who was the beneficiary of any such money.
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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Fixed-Odd Betting Terminals and (2) Electronic Gaming Machines, are on property belonging to the Ministry of Defence.
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.
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 discussions his Department has had with the representatives from the betting industry on the implementation of a £2 maximum unit stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss a range of subjects, including the implementation of the stake reduction on B2 machines. Details of Ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis on gov.uk
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
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
In 2017 the Church of England’s General Synod passed a unanimous motion calling on Government to reduce the stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2.00. This is an issue on which bishops, most notably the Bishop of St Albans, have spoken frequently on and campaigned for. The Church has therefore welcomed the Government’s announcement of the reduction in stakes, and the decision to implement the change in April 2019, as well as the increase in Remote Gaming Duty. The Bishop of St Albans continues to spearhead the Church’s activity in this area and has recently raised in the House of Lords the high quantity of gambling advertisements, increases in child gambling, the voluntary levy paid by gambling firms, and the socio-economic cost to society of problem gambling.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the value of tax receipts as a result of the decision to delay reducing the Fixed Odds Betting Terminal stake.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As the Chancellor set out to the Treasury Select Committee on 5 November, changes to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and Remote Gaming Duty will be implemented simultaneously. This ensures that regardless of when changes to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and Remote Gaming Duty are implemented, there will be no significant change to the exchequer impact.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the report prepared by KPMG on behalf of the Association of British Bookmakers which was submitted to his Department as part of its consultations on the reduction in maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals and increasing remote gaming duty.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The report was commissioned by the Association of British Bookmakers and was provided in confidence to HM Treasury due to its commercial sensitivity.
It is imperative that stakeholders can provide information in confidence for the government to critically analyse to ensure policy making can be evidence-based.
Releasing the report and breaching that confidence would discourage stakeholders from engaging with government and harm future policy-making.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department conducted impact assessments on levels of taxation of different implementation dates for reducing the maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government made clear in May that the timing of implementation does not make a difference to the public finances. Remote Gaming Duty will be increased at the same time to offset the foregone revenue.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the money to be accrued to the public purse in tax from the profits made by gambling companies from fixed odds betting terminals between April 2019 and October 2019.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As the Chancellor set out to the Treasury Select Committee on 5 November, changes to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and Remote Gaming Duty will be implemented simultaneously. This ensures that regardless of when changes to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and Remote Gaming Duty are implemented, there will be no significant change to the exchequer impact.