Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has considered introducing a non-statutory levy on the betting and gaming industry for research, education and treatment which has a lower rate for land-based operators and takes account of the higher fixed costs and numbers of jobs they support compared to online operators.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act called for evidence on how best to recoup the regulatory and societal costs of problem gambling. We will publish a white paper in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to help tackle harms that can be caused by problem gambling.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are currently conducting a Review of the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure gambling regulation is fit for the digital age. This builds on action by the government and the Gambling Commission to strengthen protections in recent years including cutting the stake on gaming machines in betting shops, banning gambling on credit cards, mandating operator participation in the national online self-exclusion scheme GAMSTOP, tightening restrictions on VIP schemes, making online slots safer by design and raising the minimum age of sale of National Lottery games.
In 2019, DCMS secured a commitment from industry to contribute £100m over four years to problem gambling treatment. NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are also continuing work to improve and expand specialist treatment services, with up to 15 new NHS clinics set to open by 2023/24. Since 2020, children have been taught about the risks relating to gambling, including the accumulation of debt, as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to raise public awareness of the danger of gambling addiction.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
A variety of initiatives are in place across the gambling regulatory framework, health services, and the educational curriculum to protect individuals and the wider public from harmful gambling and raise awareness of its risks.
As part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England, young people are taught about the risks relating to gambling, including the accumulation of debt. To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence, the Department for Education has also developed a series of training modules, one of which has a specific section on gambling.
The Gambling Commission requires all gambling operators to make information available to customers on how to gamble safely and how to access information on problem gambling and the support available. Most operators signpost to the charity GambleAware’s begambleaware.org site, which contains a wide range of information on risks as well as links to advice and support, including the 24 hour National Gambling Helpline. The NHS webpage 'Help for problem gambling' covers common indicators which suggest that individuals may be experiencing harmful gambling, as well as advice and links to treatment services. Work is also being done to raise awareness through frontline practitioners, with GambleAware publishing a competency framework for primary care practitioners to improve the awareness and responsiveness of Primary Care to gambling harms.
Since 2019, GambleAware’s ‘Bet Regret’ campaign, a commitment from the government’s last Gambling Review, has effectively encouraged awareness of risky betting behaviours and action to help regain control, as well as signposting to further support. Members of the Betting and Gaming Council have also committed 20% of their advertising on TV and radio to safer gambling messaging and the Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising requires social responsibility messaging throughout the length of all broadcast gambling adverts.
The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act 2005 aims to ensure gambling regulation is fit for the digital age. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the effectiveness of safer gambling messaging across a number of media, and we are considering the evidence carefully. We will publish a white paper in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the difference has been in the amount of expected income to the Exchequer from the National Lottery and actual income so received in the most recent two rounds of the National Lottery for which such information is available.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The information requested is not available.
HMRC report monthly receipts from specific betting and gaming duties, including Lottery Duty. HMRC do not hold information on tax receipts in respect of specific lottery products, events, or “rounds”.
HMRC publish information on Lottery Duty receipts within the ‘UK Betting and Gaming Statistics’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-betting-and-gaming-statistics.
Asked by: Viscount Astor (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the loss of (1) tax revenue, and (2) Horse Racing Levy income, due to illegal online gambling.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
(1) The information requested is not available: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not make an estimate of the amount of revenue lost through illegal online gambling.
HMRC estimates the tax gap[1], the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. For the tax year 2019 to 2020, the other excise duties tax gap, which includes betting and gaming, cider and perry, spirits-based ready-to-drink beverages and wine duties was £610 million.
(2) The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB)[2] is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; and is required to collect a statutory levy, the Horserace Betting Levy. The information requested is not available from HMRC.
[1] Tax gap statistics are available at: Measuring tax gaps - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
[2] Horserace Betting Levy Board has a separate website: https://www.hblb.org.uk/
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) promote and (b) help protect Greyhound racing.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
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, and since 2021 every member of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) who offers bets on greyhound racing has contributed to the British Racing Greyhound Fund. The BGC represents approximately 90% of the UK’s licensed betting and gaming businesses.
The Government is also aware of the impact of Covid on greyhound racing and a preliminary allocation of £1.4m in loans was made available from the Sports Survival Package to help mitigate it. 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: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which companies have been served by the Gambling Commission with fines in excess of £100,000 since April 2018.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gambling Commission can fine a gambling operator if a licence condition has been breached. In some circumstances, the Commission may decide to agree a regulatory settlement instead of issuing a fine. While fines are paid to the exchequer, regulatory settlements are divested by the company to third parties.
Since April 2018, the Gambling Commission has imposed financial penalties in excess of £100,000 on 46 operators. These include both fines and regulatory settlements where an operator has admitted fault and made a payment in lieu of a fine, at a level agreed with the Commission. Regulatory action is published on the Commission’s website here.
Fines
Date | Name | Fine (£) |
17/12/2021 | Genesis Global Limited | £3,769,920 |
19/11/2021 | Buzz Group Limited | £780,000 |
02/09/21 | EU Lotto Limited | £760,000 |
02/07/21 | Daub Alderney Limited | £5,850,000 |
08/03/21 | In Touch Games Limited | £3,400,000 |
03/03/21 | Casumo Services Limited | £6,005,000 |
01/02/21 | A & S Leisure Group Limited | £377,340 |
27/10/20 | Aspers (Stratford City) Limited | £652,500 |
26/10/20 | BoyleSports | £2,800,000 |
17/02/20 | Triplebet Limited | £739,099 |
03/04/19 | Bestbet Limited | £230,972 |
17/01/19 | Silverbond Enterprises Limited | £1,800,000 |
06/11/18 | Casumo Services Limited | £5,850,000 |
06/11/18 | Daub Alderney Limited | £7,100,000 |
Regulatory settlements
Date | Name | Payment in lieu (£) | Divestment (£) |
20/01/2022 | Annexio (Jersey) Limited | £612,000 | N/A |
20/01/2022 | Rank Digital Gaming (Alderney) Limited | £700,557 | N/A |
2/12/2021 | Greentube Alderney Limited | £685,000 | N/A |
13/10/21 | VGC Leeds Limited | £209,000 | £241,000 |
30/03/21 | Double Diamond Gaming Limited | £247,000 | N/A |
30/03/21 | Les Croupiers Casino Limited | £202,500 | N/A |
30/03/21 | Shaftesbury Casino Limited | £260,000 | N/A |
30/03/21 | Clockfair Limited | £260,000 | N/A |
28/01/21 | White Hat Gaming Limited | £1,344,053.18 | N/A |
28/10/20 | Netbet Enterprises Limited | £748,000 | N/A |
28/10/20 | GAN (UK) Limited | £100,000 | £46,754 |
28/10/20 | BGO Entertainment Limited | £2,000,000 | N/A |
06/05/20 | FSB Technology (UK) Limited | £600,000 | N/A |
02/04/20 | Caesars Entertainment Limited Group | £13,000,000 | N/A |
12/03/20 | Betway Limited | £5,800,000 | £5,800,000 |
27/02/20 | Mr Green Limited | £3,000,000 | N/A |
10/10/19 | Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited | £182,000 | £140,000 |
31/07/19 | Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited | £4,800,000 | £1,100,000 |
11/07/19 | Casino 36 Limited | £152,259 | £147,741 |
13/06/19 | Platinum Gaming Limited | £990,200 | £629,420 |
12/06/19 | Gamesys Operations Limited | £690,000 | £460,472 |
15/05/19 | In Touch Games Limited | £2,200,000 | N/A |
15/05/19 | Betit Operations Limited | £1,400,000 | N/A |
15/05/19 | MT SecureTrade Limited | £592,333 | £107,667 |
29/11/18 | Videoslots Limited | £1,000,000 | N/A |
16/10/18 | TSE Malta LP | £910,993 | £95,444 |
16/10/18 | Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited | £190,760 | £95,380 |
16/10/18 | PPB Entertainment Limited | £349,762 | £174,881 |
16/10/18 | Paddy Power Holdings Limited | £265,606 | £132,803 |
10/10/18 | Rank Digital Gaming (Alderney) Limited | £500,000 | N/A |
10/10/18 | Grosvenor Casinos (GC) Limited | £500,000 | N/A |
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits for greyhound racing of introducing a mandatory levy on races on a similar basis to horse-racing.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 2021, every member of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) who offers bets on greyhound racing has contributed to the British Racing Greyhound Fund. The BGC represents approximately 90% of the UK’s licensed betting and gaming businesses. In the financial year 2020-21, £6.75m was collected from bookmakers' voluntary contributions.
The Government has no current 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. We expect both the betting and the greyhound racing sectors to make sure that greyhound welfare is safeguarded and remains at the heart of the sport.
Asked by: Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how much tax the Exchequer received from gambling-related activities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes statistics relating to gambling related activities for Corporation Tax, Betting and Gaming Duties and VAT. For Income Tax, information for gambling related activities is not available.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of support provided by major online gambling companies to tackle problem gambling.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government recognises the role the industry can play in supporting efforts to tackle problem gambling. Operators are required by the Gambling Commission to monitor play to detect customers who are at risk of harm, to intervene to prevent harm, to provide safer gambling tools and self-exclusion schemes including Gamstop, and to direct them to safer gambling information and support.
We welcome recent steps taken to raise standards across the sector, such as the Betting & Gaming Council’s codes of conduct on high value customer schemes and online product design. Gambling operators licensed by the Gambling Commission are also required to make a contribution to fund research, prevention or treatment of problem gambling. The Government secured a commitment from five major operators to increase their contributions tenfold over 4 years, from 0.1% to 1% of Gross Gambling Yield, raising £100 million for treatment by 2023/24.
The Government is also taking action to tackle problem gambling. Following recent measures such as the ban on credit card gambling and the commitment to increase the number of specialist NHS clinics, we are reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age. We are considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform by the end of the year.