Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 Lancet article entitled Policies and interventions to reduce harmful gambling: an international Delphi consensus and implementation rating study, published in August 2022, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her polices of that article's findings that there should be a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol at land-based gambling venues, including bingo clubs, casinos and racecourses.
Answered by Paul Scully
Public Health England commissioned the Delphi study in question alongside their independent review of the evidence on gambling-related harms. As is protocol for studies of this kind, the participants have been kept anonymous but the Commission has not provided any formal advice or notification to the Department on the report’s content or recommendations. DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling.
Issues around the advertising and marketing of gambling and the rules governing land-based gambling form part of the broad scope of the government's Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We are closely considering all evidence on these and other topics, and will set out our conclusions and proposals for reform in a white paper to be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 Lancet article entitled Policies and interventions to reduce harmful gambling: an international Delphi consensus and implementation rating study, published in August 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications for her polices of that article's findings that no brands, colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks should be displayed on gambling products.
Answered by Paul Scully
Public Health England commissioned the Delphi study in question alongside their independent review of the evidence on gambling-related harms. As is protocol for studies of this kind, the participants have been kept anonymous but the Commission has not provided any formal advice or notification to the Department on the report’s content or recommendations. DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling.
Issues around the advertising and marketing of gambling and the rules governing land-based gambling form part of the broad scope of the government's Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We are closely considering all evidence on these and other topics, and will set out our conclusions and proposals for reform in a white paper to be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 Lancet article entitled Policies and interventions to reduce harmful gambling: an international Delphi consensus and implementation rating study, published August 2022, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her polices of that article's findings that there should be a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol at land-based gambling venues.
Answered by Paul Scully
Public Health England commissioned the Delphi study in question alongside their independent review of the evidence on gambling-related harms. As is protocol for studies of this kind, the participants have been kept anonymous but the Commission has not provided any formal advice or notification to the Department on the report’s content or recommendations. DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling.
Issues around the advertising and marketing of gambling and the rules governing land-based gambling form part of the broad scope of the government's Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We are closely considering all evidence on these and other topics, and will set out our conclusions and proposals for reform in a white paper to be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 Lancet article entitled Policies and interventions to reduce harmful gambling: an international Delphi consensus and implementation rating study, published in August 2022, whether she has made an assessment of that article's findings that there should be a universal ban on all gambling marketing, advertising, and promotions.
Answered by Paul Scully
Public Health England commissioned the Delphi study in question alongside their independent review of the evidence on gambling-related harms. As is protocol for studies of this kind, the participants have been kept anonymous but the Commission has not provided any formal advice or notification to the Department on the report’s content or recommendations. DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling.
Issues around the advertising and marketing of gambling and the rules governing land-based gambling form part of the broad scope of the government's Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We are closely considering all evidence on these and other topics, and will set out our conclusions and proposals for reform in a white paper to be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 was involved the study published in the Lancet entitled Policies and interventions to reduce harmful gambling: an international Delphi consensus and implementation rating study, published in August 2022, including the proposal for a universal ban on all gambling marketing, advertising, and promotions.
Answered by Paul Scully
Public Health England commissioned the Delphi study in question alongside their independent review of the evidence on gambling-related harms. As is protocol for studies of this kind, the participants have been kept anonymous but the Commission has not provided any formal advice or notification to the Department on the report’s content or recommendations. DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling.
Issues around the advertising and marketing of gambling and the rules governing land-based gambling form part of the broad scope of the government's Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We are closely considering all evidence on these and other topics, and will set out our conclusions and proposals for reform in a white paper to be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential economic impact of reducing the licensing requirements on casinos.
Answered by Damian Collins
The Government is conducting a wide-ranging and evidence-led Review of the Gambling Act 2005. This includes consideration of the legislative landscape for casinos, in particular the distinction between the new style casinos allowed by the 2005 Act and the majority of casinos whose licences align with provisions originating in the Gambling Act 1968. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in due course and appropriate consideration of impacts will be made at all stages.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department has made available to support the rollout of 5g and 6g broadband in Blackpool.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have seen good early progress in 5G network deployment, and are pleased that two Mobile Network Operators now offer 5G to more than 50% of the UK population. This delivers on our ambition for the majority of the population to have access to 5G by 2027 five years early. Our Wireless Infrastructure Strategy will set out how we can realise the full benefits of 5G for the UK. We aim to publish later this year.
We have made reforms to the planning system in England to support the deployment of 5G and help extend mobile coverage. Alongside this, the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, currently before Parliament, amends the Electronic Communications Code to encourage faster and more collaborative negotiations for the installation and maintenance of telecoms equipment.
The next generation of mobile technology, referred to as “6G”, is still some years away and is currently in the early stages of development. We want to ensure that the UK continues to be at the forefront of future communications systems and technology. We will set out more details on our policy for 6G in the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much financial support was given to cultural institutions in Blackpool to assist them with the consequences of covid-19 in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Organisations in the Borough of Blackpool received a total of just over £4.82 million of funding across the entirety of the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). £2.87 million was awarded in the first round (2020-21), £0.9 million was awarded in the second round (2020-21), and in the final round (2021-22) £1.05 million was awarded.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 report by Public Health England entitled Gambling-related harms evidence review: the economic and social cost of harms, published in September 2021, if she will make an assessment of the whether Public Health England conducted methodologically robust research when it estimated that there was a £1.27 billion annual economic burden of harmful gambling.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Public Health England (PHE)’s evidence review on gambling-related harms estimated the annual cost of harmful gambling to society to be between £841 million and £2.2 billion, or approximately £1.27 billion, however the lack of quantitative causal evidence for some of the harms described did not allow PHE to make a direct assessment of the cost of gambling harm specifically. While the review acknowledged that further research is needed to determine costs attributable directly to gambling-related harm rather than those associated with people who are problem or at-risk gamblers, it is the most comprehensive review of the evidence on gambling-related harm and its associated costs, and has been carefully considered as an important input to our Review of the Gambling Act 2005. We will publish our white paper in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has considered introducing a non-statutory levy on the betting and gaming industry for research, education and treatment which has a lower rate for land-based operators and takes account of the higher fixed costs and numbers of jobs they support compared to online operators.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act called for evidence on how best to recoup the regulatory and societal costs of problem gambling. We will publish a white paper in the coming weeks.