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Written Question
British Museum: Theft
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the recovery of stolen artefacts from the British Museum; and what measures they are taking to increase security in this area.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

My department is closely monitoring the situation at the British Museum, and engaging directly with the Museum on this concerning issue.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has spoken with the Chairman of the British Museum about this issue on a number of occasions and has sought assurances on the immediate measures that have been put in place to increase security at the Museum. She has also sought assurances on the details of the scope and timetable for the independent review of security which the Museum has instigated, led by a former trustee, Nigel Boardman, and the Chief Constable of British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi. The review will also support efforts to recover all missing collection items.

The matter is also currently under investigation by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police. The British Museum is working with the police to support their investigations.

My department and I will continue to work closely with the British Museum – and the wider museums sector – to ensure that lessons are learned from this incident once the independent review is complete.

Further details on this matter have been set out in the Written Statements which the Secretary of State and I made to Parliament on 4 September 2023 (HCWS994 and HLWS979).


Written Question
Gambling
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of a national self-exclusion register for problem gamblers.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Gambling businesses are required to have their own self-exclusion arrangements in place so customers can self-exclude from individual operators. They are also required to participate in Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Schemes, which allow a customer to make a single request to self-exclude from a licensed gambling sector, either nationally or on a local basis. Further information about each of the schemes can be found on the Commission’s website. Nearly 400,000 consumers have used GAMSTOP to self-exclude from all online gambling licensed by the Commission.

The Commission works closely with the schemes, including hosting a regular Self-Exclusion Scheme Owners Group meeting which is chaired by GAMSTOP. The group works together to improve effectiveness and is currently working on making it easier for consumers to access information and self-exclude across sectors in one place.


Written Question
Gambling
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote research on the types and extent of financial harms experienced by people who gamble.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

While millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. His Majesty’s Government recognises the importance of continuing to collect data, evidence, and research into the types of harms experienced by problem gamblers.

The Gambling Commission is undertaking a project to improve the way it collects data on adult gambling participation and the incidence, nature, and severity of harm experienced as a result of gambling, whether one’s own or someone else’s. This will inform the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain, which the Commission aims to launch this year. This will support future research and provide decision-makers with a strong evidence base.

The Government will introduce a statutory levy, part of which will be dedicated to funding research to help improve the evidence base on gambling. A consultation on the levy will be published later this summer.

Our Gambling Act review White Paper also committed to working with UK Research & Innovation to stimulate interest in gambling as a research field among researchers across a range of academic disciplines.


Written Question
Lotteries and Scratch Cards: Credit Cards
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 15 June (HL8254), what assessment they have made of any loopholes to this restriction, in particular the 'Pay by Phone' loophole.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

In April 2020, new licence conditions came into effect which banned both online and land-based gambling operators from accepting payments from credit cards (including via e-wallets) for gambling services.

The Gambling Commission has published an interim evaluation of the ban on credit card gambling which showed that the measure had been successful and that there had not been widespread displacement to other forms of credit as payment, but the Commission has committed to continue to monitor the situation.

‘Pay by Phone’ transactions are not directly covered by the ban but are limited by law to £40 per transaction and no more than £240 per month. These limits cover all services charged to telephone bills, such as music downloads. This is not a common means of spending on gambling, currently accounting for around 0.4% of annual gross gambling yield (including lotteries), and the Phone-paid Services Authority market review suggests that gambling expenditure via telphone has decreased since the credit card ban was introduced.


Written Question
Lotteries: Retail Trade
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 15 June 2023 (HL8253) what training is provided to retailers about the risk of National Lottery and society lottery products.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The 2018 Health Survey for England showed that lotteries were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered, and the National Lottery Operator is mandated under its licence to have player protection strategies.

The Operator’s training programme, ‘Being a Responsible Retailer’, supports National Lottery retailers on risks related to National Lottery products and focuses on supporting healthy playing and preventing underage playing of the National Lottery. This consists of online and face-to-face training, healthy playing knowledge checks, and further support where needed. The operator also provides retailers with advice through leaflets and telephone calls to improve awareness and to help the retention of responsible retailing principles. Retailers are also trained in engaging with customers about healthy playing — including direction to GamCare as appropriate — and about signs they should look out for to help identify players who may be at risk.

To ensure that retailers are benefiting from and acting on its training, the operator runs a healthy playing ‘mystery shopper’ programme, alongside the ‘Operation 18’ programme to ensure that retailers are correctly asking for proof of age. As a result of these initiatives, 94% of National Lottery retailers visited in 2022/23 successfully passed a healthy playing knowledge check. If a retailer does not pass these visits or checks, it is offered additional training.

Each society lottery operator will have their own specific approach to training retailers about the risk of its products, and must comply with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and Social Responsibility Code for society lotteries.


Written Question
Choirs: Finance
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they provided for community choirs in each of the past three years.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

His Majesty’s Government recognises the huge contribution cultural groups and organisations make, not only to the economy and international reputation of the United Kingdom, but also to the wellbeing and enrichment of its people. Local choirs are an important part of many people’s lives across the UK, providing a creative outlet and strong sense of community, as well as an accessible, enjoyable cultural experience enjoyed by people of all ages.

The Government supports the arts financially, including choirs and singing, through its arm’s-length body Arts Council England.

The Arts Council does not have a specific category for identifying investment in ‘community choirs’. We are therefore unable to provide precise funding figures for this specific activity. The Arts Council does, however, hold details of funding to organisations which provide a focus on choral/opera music and community engagement. Organisations which fall into this category have received the following National Lottery Project funding over the last three years:

  • 2020/21 £348,903

  • 2021/22 £238,080

  • 2022/23 £432,840

The Arts Council’s investment in music remains high: of the 985 organisations included in the 2023–26 National Portfolio, 139 are classed as ‘music' and will receive around £65 million per year.


Written Question
Lotteries and Scratch Cards: Credit Cards
Thursday 15th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they have in place to prevent the purchase of lottery tickets and scratchcards with credit cards.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

It is not possible to use a credit card to play the National Lottery online or via the National Lottery smartphone application.

Licence conditions for gambling operators make clear that, where businesses take deposits via an electronic wallet, they must ensure that the money was not loaded from a credit card. If they cannot verify this, they must not accept the deposit.

Shoppers can use credit cards to buy National Lottery and society lottery products in retailers, recognising the lower risk posed by lottery products relative to other gambling products – along with the controls which are already in place, such as the training provided to retailers.

There are currently no plans to change this position under the 4th National Lottery licence but, in any case, the licence increases player protection requirements.


Written Question
Gambling: Credit Cards
Thursday 15th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent gambling from an e-wallet, such as PayPal, where the money was loaded from a credit card.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

It is not possible to use a credit card to play the National Lottery online or via the National Lottery smartphone application.

Licence conditions for gambling operators make clear that, where businesses take deposits via an electronic wallet, they must ensure that the money was not loaded from a credit card. If they cannot verify this, they must not accept the deposit.

Shoppers can use credit cards to buy National Lottery and society lottery products in retailers, recognising the lower risk posed by lottery products relative to other gambling products – along with the controls which are already in place, such as the training provided to retailers.

There are currently no plans to change this position under the 4th National Lottery licence but, in any case, the licence increases player protection requirements.


Written Question
Gambling: Advertising
Wednesday 24th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to launch the consultation on gambling advertising promised in their white paper, 'High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age', published on 27 April.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As outlined in our White Paper, the Gambling Commission will launch detailed consultations on the construction and targeting of bonus offers and on consent for direct marketing in online gambling. The Commission plans to make progress on and implement proposals in the White Paper as quickly as possible, with targeted consultations planned to launch this summer and later this year.


Written Question
Gambling
Tuesday 25th April 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings (1) ministers, and (2) senior officials, at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have had with representatives from the gambling industry in the past six months.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Ministers and officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet a range of people and organisations with an interest in gambling, including industry and charity representatives, to hear their views on the sector and to discuss areas of concern. All ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed on that website.