Gambling: Safety

(asked on 17th November 2023) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the gambling industry on the potential impact of safer gambling week on (a) the volume of (i) marketing and (ii) direct marketing offers, (b) game speed and (c) gambling harm.


Answered by
Stuart Andrew Portrait
Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This question was answered on 23rd November 2023

His Majesty’s Government recognises that while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences.

The Secretary of State and I recently met with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and other industry representatives to discuss industry-led safer gambling measures and implementation of the gambling white paper. We welcome industry-led initiatives such as Safer Gambling Week. Figures from the BGC indicate that in 2022 Safer Gambling Week messaging made nearly 30 million impressions on social media, and that around 200,000 accounts set deposit limits during that month, with 61 percent of those players setting a limit for the first time. Such limits can be an important measure in preventing harm. We understand safer gambling week has no impact on the volume of marketing (although its content is likely to be different) or game speed.

However, as outlined in the gambling white paper, we are working with the industry, Gambling Commission and others to implement a wide range of proportionate measures to protect customers from practices and products which can drive harm.

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