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, whether the ongoing Gambling Review White Paper will look into the engagement of fan token cryptocurrencies.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I am aware of the growth in commercial partnerships between cryptocurrencies and professional sport. On 18 January 2022, the government set out its intention to legislate later this year to bring certain cryptoassets into financial promotion regulation. The FCA has also publicly consulted on its detailed rules for the regime. This would ensure that relevant cryptoasset promotions are held to the same high standards for fairness, clarity and accuracy that pertain in the financial services industry.
Cryptocurrencies are not within the legal definition of gambling in themselves and therefore are not in scope of the Gambling Act Review.
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 assessment she has made of trends in the level of engagement in fan token cryptocurrencies.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I am aware of the growth in commercial partnerships between cryptocurrencies and professional sport. On 18 January 2022, the government set out its intention to legislate later this year to bring certain cryptoassets into financial promotion regulation. The FCA has also publicly consulted on its detailed rules for the regime. This would ensure that relevant cryptoasset promotions are held to the same high standards for fairness, clarity and accuracy that pertain in the financial services industry.
Cryptocurrencies are not within the legal definition of gambling in themselves and therefore are not in scope of the Gambling Act Review.
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 assessment she has made of the potential implications of footballers advertising non-fungible tokens to fans.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I am aware of the growth in commercial partnerships between cryptocurrencies and professional sport. On 18 January 2022, the government set out its intention to legislate later this year to bring certain cryptoassets into financial promotion regulation. The FCA has also publicly consulted on its detailed rules for the regime. This would ensure that relevant cryptoasset promotions are held to the same high standards for fairness, clarity and accuracy that pertain in the financial services industry.
Cryptocurrencies are not within the legal definition of gambling in themselves and therefore are not in scope of the Gambling Act Review.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he will make available for gambling addiction services.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan committed up to £15 million allocated over five years until 2023/24 to support the creation of 15 specialist problem gambling clinics. The following table shows the National Health Service committed annual spend for problem gambling mental health support in each of these financial years.
2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
£1 million | £1 million | £3 million | £4 million | £6 million |
Source: NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24
The data on spending to tackle gambling addiction before 2019 is not held centrally.
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 recent discussions she has had with the financial services sector to help prevent harmful gambling.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. Since 2019, when the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright, convened a roundtable of banks and other stakeholders in the financial sector to encourage them to do more in this regard many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block card transactions and we estimate this is now available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the financial services industry to explore further steps the sector could take.
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, if she will facilitate discussions between the gambling industry and financial services institutions to ensure gambling operators provide data to prevent harm.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. Since 2019, when the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright, convened a roundtable of banks and other stakeholders in the financial sector to encourage them to do more in this regard many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block card transactions and we estimate this is now available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the financial services industry to explore further steps the sector could take.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the Payment Services Directive to ensure that it helps prevent gambling harm.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the financial services sector to help prevent harmful gambling.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require gambling firms to disclose their bank account details on a central registry to empower banks to extend gambling blocks to bank transfers made to gambling companies.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that all banks provide a gambling block to help prevent gambling harm.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.
The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers.
The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.