Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the long-term effects of (1) gambling advertising in sport, and (2) loot boxes, on young people.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Gambling advertising and sponsorship, including around sport, must be socially responsible and must not be targeted at children. The government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures.
Since then, in March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young people and vulnerable people. That study found that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble. It also found that there were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour amongst those groups, including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a causal link between any of these and problem gambling in later life.
The government takes concerns raised about loot boxes in video games very seriously. On 23 September 2020 we launched an 8 week call for evidence which includes a focus on whether loot boxes cause harm and, if so, the nature of the harm. This will put us on the best footing to take any action that is necessary. We expect to publish a Government response to the call for evidence early next year.
Ministers and officials regularly engage with stakeholders on a wide range of issues. Ministers have not recently received representations from either the gambling or the sports sectors about gambling advertising or sponsorship of professional sports teams. The House of Lords Select Committee on the Economic and Social Impact of the Gambling Industry and Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group have made recommendations to Ministers in both these areas.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about gambling company adverts and sponsorships displayed on the kit of professional sports teams.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Gambling advertising and sponsorship, including around sport, must be socially responsible and must not be targeted at children. The government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures.
Since then, in March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young people and vulnerable people. That study found that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble. It also found that there were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour amongst those groups, including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a causal link between any of these and problem gambling in later life.
The government takes concerns raised about loot boxes in video games very seriously. On 23 September 2020 we launched an 8 week call for evidence which includes a focus on whether loot boxes cause harm and, if so, the nature of the harm. This will put us on the best footing to take any action that is necessary. We expect to publish a Government response to the call for evidence early next year.
Ministers and officials regularly engage with stakeholders on a wide range of issues. Ministers have not recently received representations from either the gambling or the sports sectors about gambling advertising or sponsorship of professional sports teams. The House of Lords Select Committee on the Economic and Social Impact of the Gambling Industry and Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group have made recommendations to Ministers in both these areas.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the launch of his call for evidence on loot boxes, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials have had with representatives of organisations with commercial interests in loot boxes.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ministers and officials have had regular discussions with a range of companies and representative organisations from the creative industries on a variety of issues, including loot boxes. Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published on gov.uk on a quarterly basis.
In addition to our written call for evidence on loot boxes which is currently underway, we plan a number of roundtables with stakeholders during the autumn to discuss elements of the topic in detail.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing greater restrictions on loot boxes in video games.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government launched a call for evidence on loot boxes on 23 September 2020 to seek detailed information on the impact of loot boxes on players, particularly children and young people. The call for evidence will run until 22 November 2020 and will examine concerns that loot boxes may encourage gambling-like behaviour and lead to problem gambling, as well as examining the size and scale of the loot box market in the UK, and the impact of current voluntary and statutory protections.
The government stands ready to take action should the outcomes of the call for evidence support taking a new approach to ensure users, and particularly young people, are better protected.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the regulation of loot boxes in computer games.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 8 June 2020 in its response to the DCMS Select Committee Immersive and Addictive Technologies inquiry, the government announced its intention to run a call for evidence on loot boxes. This will launch shortly and will seek detailed information on the impact of loot boxes on players, particularly children and young people.
The government takes concerns around potential harms from loot boxes very seriously and stands ready to take action should the outcomes of the call for evidence support taking a new approach to ensure users are better protected.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
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 the level of access among young people to online gambling through video games via the loot box mechanism.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the government is aware of concerns that loot boxes in video games could encourage gambling-like behaviour. The government committed in its manifesto to tackle issues around loot boxes, and in its response to the report of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on immersive and addictive technologies, has announced that it will be issuing a call for evidence to inform next steps. This call for evidence is expected to launch shortly.
The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age, and further details will be announced in due course. Operators are required both by law and by licence conditions to prevent underage gambling and the Gambling Commision has strengthened requirements to complete age and identity checks before allowing anyone to deposit money and gamble.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on online gambling and young people.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the government is aware of concerns that loot boxes in video games could encourage gambling-like behaviour. The government committed in its manifesto to tackle issues around loot boxes, and in its response to the report of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on immersive and addictive technologies, has announced that it will be issuing a call for evidence to inform next steps. This call for evidence is expected to launch shortly.
The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age, and further details will be announced in due course. Operators are required both by law and by licence conditions to prevent underage gambling and the Gambling Commision has strengthened requirements to complete age and identity checks before allowing anyone to deposit money and gamble.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2020 to Question 41511 on Gambling: Video Games, when he plans to publish a response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government’s response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies was published on 8th June. Copies were placed in the libraries of the House, and it is also available on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-digital-culture-media-sport-select-committee-report-on-immersive-and-addictive-technologies
Our response includes a commitment to launch a call for evidence on loot boxes and to lead work on developing a framework to support future independent research on video games’ impacts on behaviour.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance the Government has provided to people (a) financially affected by and (b) addicted to loot boxes in video games.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government takes concerns around issues such as loot boxes in video games very seriously. We have committed to a review of the Gambling Act, with a particular focus on tackling issues around loot boxes. Further details will be set out in the government response to the DCMS Select Committee’s report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies which will be published shortly.
We also continue to work with industry and the age ratings bodies to encourage the use of parental controls that can disable or limit spending on devices, and 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. We also welcome PEGI’s decision in April 2020 to introduce a new ‘paid random items’ content label for physical and digital copies of games.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish a response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee report on Immersive and Addictive Technology, published on 12 September 2019, HC 1846.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government response setting out further details and our planned next steps across a range of areas will be published shortly.