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 the Gambling Commission investigates the oversees activities of its remote gambling licensees where there is suspected wrong doing.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.
Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.
Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.
The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.
In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider its findings carefully.
The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The Government is considering the report carefully.
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 UK licensees operate remote gambling in grey or black market jurisdictions where gambling is prohibited.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.
Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.
Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.
The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.
In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider its findings carefully.
The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The Government is considering the report carefully.
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, for what reasons the (a) Gambling Commission and (b) Betting and Gaming Council trade body do not maintain a public list of jurisdictions which permit remote gambling; and if he will take steps to require that such a list is made available.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.
Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.
Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.
The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.
In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider its findings carefully.
The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The Government is considering the report carefully.
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 assessment he has made of whether the Betting and Gaming Council trade body should permit members to profit from online gambling in jurisdictions where gambling is not permitted.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.
Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.
Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.
The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.
In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider its findings carefully.
The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The Government is considering the report carefully.
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 assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Gamstop in enabling people to put in place controls to restrict online gambling activity; and what steps his Department is taking to improve self-exclusion.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.
Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.
Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.
The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.
In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider its findings carefully.
The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The Government is considering the report carefully.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what content the PHSE curriculum contains on gambling; and whether that content has been updated to include reference to (a) loot boxes and (b) other new forms of gambling made accessible within games.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to equip young people for adult life in Britain and for them to make a positive contribution to society. From September 2020, relationships education will be compulsory for all primary school-aged pupils, relationships and sex education will be compulsory for all secondary school-aged pupils, and health education will be compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
The subjects will support all young people in terms of managing risk and making informed decisions, as well as in key aspects such as mental wellbeing and online behaviour. Under the topic of internet safety and harms, the statutory guidance sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them, and how to be a discerning consumer of information online. The statutory guidance is available here:
Schools have the flexibility to cover content on loot boxes and gambling within computer games, when teaching these subjects. Similarly, such topics can be covered within e-safety teaching as part of the computing curriculum.
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, when the review into online stakes will be launched by the Gambling Commission.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Gambling Commission announced last October that it would be looking at the evidence regarding online stake limits as part of its ongoing work to reduce the risks of gambling related harm. This is in addition to their particular focus on VIP practices, advertising technology, and game design. The Gambling Commission has said that it will publish the assessment and next steps for online stakes and further protections later this year.
The Government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness amongst children of the risks of (a) in-game purchases and loot boxes in video games and (b) other forms of gambling.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005, and to tackle issues around loot boxes. Further details will be announced in due course.
From September 2020 it will be mandatory for state-funded secondary schools in England to teach pupils about risks related to online gambling as part of education about internet safety and harms. This is in addition to initiatives by third sector bodies, including the PSHE Association’s resources for teachers, Parentzone’s tools to help parents educate children about gambling and gambling-like mechanics in gaming, and the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust’s (YGAM) training and resources about gambling and digital resilience for teachers, youth workers, mental health specialists and others who work with children and young people.
We also welcomed the launch in January 2020 of the games industry’s Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. campaign encouraging parents to use parental controls and take an active role in their children’s gaming specifically.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will take steps to (a) close the monetisation loophole in gambling legislation in regards to loot boxes and (b) empower the Gambling Commission to regulate loot boxes in video games.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005, and to tackle issues around loot boxes. Further details will be announced in due course.
From September 2020 it will be mandatory for state-funded secondary schools in England to teach pupils about risks related to online gambling as part of education about internet safety and harms. This is in addition to initiatives by third sector bodies, including the PSHE Association’s resources for teachers, Parentzone’s tools to help parents educate children about gambling and gambling-like mechanics in gaming, and the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust’s (YGAM) training and resources about gambling and digital resilience for teachers, youth workers, mental health specialists and others who work with children and young people.
We also welcomed the launch in January 2020 of the games industry’s Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. campaign encouraging parents to use parental controls and take an active role in their children’s gaming specifically.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of Gambling Commission's Young people and gambling survey 2019 published on 23 October 2019, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on educating school children about the risks of gambling and in-game loot boxes and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the levies on gambling to pay for such education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss the agenda of the Department for Education. This includes relevant topics covered by the new subjects of relationships education (for primary age pupils), relationships and sex education (for secondary age pupils) and health education (for all pupils in state-funded schools). The Department for Education has worked with other Departments, including the Department for Health and Social Care, in developing the content for the new curriculum subjects which will be taught in schools from September 2020.
The Department for Education wants to equip young people for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. The statutory guidance for the new subjects was published in June 2019, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/805781/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf.
The subjects will support all young people in terms of managing risk, making informed decisions, as well as in key aspects such as mental wellbeing and online behavior. Under the topic of internet safety and harms, it sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them, and how to be a discerning consumer of information online.