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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that gambling companies produce (a) accurate and (b) accessible data on the number of people who engage with their various platforms.

All gambling operators which transact with customers in Great Britain must have the appropriate licence from the Gambling Commission and comply with the conditions of that licence. Those conditions include provisions on providing accurate information to the regulator upon request. For example, a number of licensees have provided regular data to the Commission on the impact of the pandemic on gambling behaviour which has been regularly published here.

Data provided to the regulator can also be used to inform regulatory decisions and investigate potential non-compliance with other licence conditions such as player protection requirements. The Commission has a range of powers it can use where a gambling operator has breached its licence conditions, up to and including suspending or revoking licence. The Commission is an independent regulator and is not subject to government direction in the use of its powers. The Gambling Act Review is looking at its powers and resources as part of its broad scope.