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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what protections have been put in place by the National Lottery operator to prevent under-18 year olds from playing National Lottery games online, since the new minimum age restrictions for the playing of such games online came into force in April 2021.

The age to play the National Lottery changed from 16 to 18 years on 22 April 2021.

Digital players are subject to online Experian age-verification checks when registering for an account. Therefore, anyone under-18 will be prevented from opening an account with the National Lottery. Existing 16 and 17 year olds accounts were closed at the appropriate point and no under 18s were able to continue playing online.

In retail, in the months leading up to the change and continuing since, there was a range of communications from the National Lottery operator to retailers to ensure the new age limits are adhered to, consisting of retail visits, phone calls, training videos and other written information. The operator continues to be required to undertake test purchase activity, to establish whether sales have been or are being made or are likely to be made by retailers to purchasers under the age of 18, with a pass rate above 90% being achieved in the first few months of tests relating to the new age limits. This is a similar level of compliance to that achieved when the age limit was 16.