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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the (a) Gambling Commission and (b) Financial Conduct Authority on potential proposals to regulate companies like Football Index.

The collapse of BetIndex Ltd, the operators of the novel gambling product Football Index, had a significant impact on former customers, and we recognise the frustration and anger that this has caused. As a result, the Government announced an Independent Review, conducted by Malcom Sheehan KC, which looked at how the company had been regulated and identified lessons learned for various agencies. These recommendations have since been implemented.

Following the collapse of Football Index, the then-Minister held several meetings with the Gambling Commission, and officials have worked closely with their counterparts at His Majesty’s Treasury on the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in this case. I also met representatives from the Football Index Action Group last year and officials from the department are discussing the issues raised by the group with the Gambling Commission.