Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to reform online gambling to tackle gambling addictions; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of limiting the practice of offering free bets to attract new players.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on how best to fulfil its manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm.
The Gambling Commission has recently implemented a number of regulatory reforms aimed at reducing harm, such as introducing new regulations to make online games safer and financial vulnerability checks aimed at reducing cases of unaffordable losses. The Commission has also consulted on measures to ensure that incentives such as free bets are constructed in a socially responsible manner and will respond to this consultation in due course.
We will provide further updates to the House soon.