Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Gambling Commission made of the impact on (a) the National Lottery and (b) competition for the next licence of renewing Camelot UK Lotteries Limited licence in June 2020 to run the National Lottery.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The third National Lottery licence contains a provision which allows the Gambling Commission, as the sector regulator, to extend the duration of this Licence for a period of six months. A maximum of two extensions are permitted.
The Gambling Commission decided to enact the first six-month extension to the third licence, due to the impact of the pandemic on the fourth National Lottery licence competition. The licence was extended on existing terms of the Third National Lottery licence. More information can be found on their website, here.
The third National Lottery licence requires the operator to implement player protection strategies to prevent underage and excessive play which must be approved by the Gambling Commission.
The Gambling Commission then adopts a variety of measures to monitor, assess and challenge the National Lottery operator’s player protection performance. This includes detailed monitoring to identify risks to players, and where appropriate, undertaking strategic reviews of areas of the portfolio which are identified as higher (but not necessarily high) risk.
The Gambling Commission is also responsible for approving proposed changes to National Lottery games where it carries out thorough assessments of National Lottery game change proposals in line with its statutory duties, including ensuring that such proposals do not present risks from a player protection perspective.
Evidence from the latest (2018) Health Survey for England shows that National Lottery games were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered.
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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Lord Filkin (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to enforce (1) effective affordability checks for gamblers, and (2) a duty of care on gambling companies.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Gambling Commission licence conditions require operators to monitor play and intervene where there are signs that a customer may be at risk of experiencing harm, including by spending more than they can afford. Guidance issued by the Commission in May makes clear that operators must set realistic spend/deposit thresholds for triggering affordability assessments.
On 3 November, the Commission launched a consultation and call for evidence on more prescriptive requirements for operators to identify and intervene with customers who may be at risk of harm. This included a specific process for assessing affordability and particular consideration will be given to the spending/ loss thresholds at which it might be proportionate to require operators to complete affordability checks. The call for evidence runs until January and next steps will be announced once the evidence has been considered.
In July, the House of Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry published its report which recommended that the law should be amended to place a statutory duty of care on operators. The government is considering that recommendation and others made by the Committee carefully and will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on (a) the public purse and (b) bookmakers of implementing the reduced maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to two pounds in (i) April 2019, (ii) April 2020 and (iii) at any other times; and if he will publish any such assessments.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Estimates of the effect on gambling duties approved by the Office for Budget Responsibility are not available.
DCMS have met with industry to understand the technological requirements along with the potential impact on employment.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what evidence they concluded problem gambling rates have remained relatively stable during a period of considerable growth in advertising volumes, as stated in the Government response to the consultation on proposals for changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, published in May.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The most recent large-scale report was published by the Gambling Commission in 2017, using data from Health Survey for England and Scotland 2015 and Problem Gambling Survey Wales 2015. This estimated the number of adult problem gamblers in Great Britain as approximately 430,000, 0.8% of the population.
The number of gambling adverts on TV rose from 2007, and new types of advertising emerged such as online and on social media. There have been three other published large-scale assessments of rates of problem gambling since then: the British Gambling Prevalence Survey (BGPS) 2007, BGPS 2010 and the Health Survey for England and Scotland 2012. Over the course of these surveys there have been slight adjustments to the approach, questions and methodology, and across this period, observed rates of problem gambling have fluctuated slightly but have remained below 1%. Any observed changes are not statistically significant. The response to the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility set out a package of initiatives to strengthen protections around gambling advertising. It also recognised that there were gaps in the evidence available, and proposed measures to fill these, including significant research commissioned by GambleAware into the impact of gambling advertising on children, young people and those vulnerable to harm. This is due to be completed next year.
Asked by: Lord Mancroft (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact and application of a place of consumption tax on the online gambling market, and the ability of the Gambling Commission to meet its commitments on removing crime from that sector; and whether they will publish any such assessments.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The assessment of the impact of the reforms to remote gambling taxation is available in the relevant Tax Information and Impact Note published at Autumn Statement 2013, available on the Government's website.
The Gambling Commission has a statutory duty to promote three licensing objectives, the first of which is: preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime. The Government is confident that the Gambling Commission has the tools it needs to fulfil this duty.