Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville

The Government is committed to strengthening protections to protect young people from gambling-related harm. We are clear that wherever gambling advertising and sponsorship appears, it must be socially responsible. All major sports have published their gambling sponsorship Codes of Conduct which sets minimum standards for gambling sponsorships to ensure these arrangements are socially responsible. Additionally, the Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will start at the beginning of the 2026/27 season.

We are working closely with sports bodies to review the implementation and impact of the Codes of Conduct to ensure they have meaningful impact and to inform the most appropriate next steps for gambling sponsorship.

The Government is committed to ensuring games are enjoyed safely and responsibly by everyone, including children.

Prizes that can be won via loot boxes do not have a monetary value, cannot be cashed-out, and are of value only within the context of the game. They are therefore not legally classified as gambling. However, where products do amount to unlicensed gambling, such as unlicensed skin betting, the Gambling Commission has shown that it will take swift enforcement action. There are currently no licensed gambling operators which offer skin betting.

In July 2023 the video game industry published new loot box principles to improve protections for players. Following a 12-month implementation period, the government commissioned independent academic research to assess the effectiveness of this guidance. We have engaged relevant government departments and regulators to consider the research. We will publish the report and set out our next steps in the near future..

All gambling operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission. Licensed online gambling operators must have robust policies and procedures to prevent underage gambling. These measures are highly effective, with very few children able to open an online gambling account with either real or invented identities. There are also currently no licensed operators which allow payment using virtual currencies.

The government will also provide an additional £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over the next three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market.

DCMS has not made its own estimate of the amount spent on gambling advertising. However, we monitor a wide range of evidence to aid our assessment of the impact of gambling advertising at a national level, including spend data provided by industry and independent sources.

All gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) independently of Government. These codes apply across all advertising platforms, and include a wide range of provisions designed to protect children from harm. In addition to rules on content and audience, operators must ensure that gambling advertising is not targeted at children. Earlier this year the Department for Education announced new statutory guidance for relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education, which includes more in depth education about the risks of gambling related harms. We will continue to monitor this area closely and take action where there is evidence to do so.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has undertaken a number of research activities to strengthen the evidence base on how fipronil and imidacloprid from topical flea and tick treatments may enter and affect the environment. Recently published VMD‑funded studies (2024–25) demonstrated that spot‑on flea and tick products can contribute to environmental residues through wastewater pathways and when treated dogs swim, providing the first UK‑specific exposure data for these routes. To build on this, the VMD has commissioned further work to address key evidence gaps identified at the 2025 Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) stakeholder workshop, including exposure modelling to better quantify environmental inputs and research on how pet owner behaviours influence environmental outcomes.

In 2025 the VMD launched a national pet owner survey, which closed in January 2026, to provide an indicative baseline of current pet owner product use and disposal practices. Additional behavioural research through the University of Plymouth will complement these findings.

These research outputs will support targeted communications, stewardship initiatives and future regulatory decision‑making.

Requirements relating to planning for traveller sites are set out in the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, revised in 2023. This asks local planning authorities to produce their own assessment of needs for traveller sites in their area and use this evidence to set pitch targets in the Local Plan for Gypsies and Travellers and plot targets for travelling show people. In producing the Local Plan for their area, local planning authorities should identify and update annually a supply of deliverable sites to provide 5 years’ worth of sites against local targets.

Work is underway on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. More information on what the bill will do is provided here in published (attached) background briefing: FINAL - 17/07/24 King's Speech 2024 background briefing final GOV.uk.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk)