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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of high-street gambling operators in possession of non-remote bingo licenses that are operating as adult gambling centres.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As of 31 March 2024, there were 631 non-remote bingo premises in operation in Great Britain, according to the Gambling Commission’s November 2024 Industry Statistics.

As set out in the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, in licensed bingo premises, gaming machines may only be made available for use where there are also substantive facilities for non-remote bingo available in the premises. Non-remote bingo licensees must also ensure that the function and presentation of their premises are such that a customer can reasonably be expected to recognise that it is a premises licensed for the purposes of providing bingo facilities. These are conditions of non-remote bingo licences. To operate an adult gaming centre, operators require a “gaming machine general operating licence” for an adult gaming centre and an adult gaming centre premises licence.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterparts in the People’s Republic of China on the expulsion of the British press corps from the room in which Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister were meeting in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 2024.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Members of the press were present at the start of the meeting between the Prime Minister and President Xi Jingping on November 18. It is standard practice in diplomatic meetings for the press to remain in the room for opening remarks only, as was the case when the PM met President Biden in September. The subsequent, private, conversation allows space for honest and frank discussion.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on the prevention framework under the statutory levy; and if she will take steps to ensure that prevention work is undertaken independently from (a) the gambling industry and (b) organisations associated with that industry.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the statutory levy, further consideration of the evidence is needed in order to appoint an appropriate body to lead the prevention strand of the levy system. We will confirm our decisions in due course. Prevention is a critical part of the government’s approach to tackling gambling-related harm and we need to take the time to get the policy right whilst ensuring that necessary legislation is passed to meet our commitment to having the levy in place by April 2025.

The Government is clear that the levy puts the independence of funding beyond doubt and industry will have no say over spending decisions. To guarantee sufficient accountability and transparency within the new system, including the use of funding allocated for prevention alongside research and treatment, we will establish appropriate governance arrangements consisting of a Levy Board for the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments to monitor the health and impact of the levy system, and an Advisory Group to provide informal advice to lead commissioning bodies regarding strategic and funding priorities. The UK government will also formally review the statutory levy system within five years with the first formal review expected by 2030.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates to condemn the (a) detention of Ryan Cornelius in contravention of the ruling of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, (b) treatment of Ryan Cornelius in Al Awhir prison in contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and (c) attempted coercion of Ryan Cornelius to sign a statement that he is well-treated in Al Awhir prison.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

FCDO Ministers regularly raise consular cases with their foreign counterparts. The Foreign Secretary last discussed Ryan Cornelius' case with the UAE Foreign Minister in December 2024. The FCDO takes the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's opinions seriously. While their recommendations are not legally binding, we will continue to highlight their concerns in discussions with UAE authorities. The FCDO are providing Mr Cornelius with consular assistance, and we take any reports of human rights violations, including coercion and poor prison conditions very seriously and, with the consent of Mr Cornelius, will raise any concerns with local authorities.