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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of authorising the Gambling Commission to offer redress for losses following the collapse of a gambling operator.

The Government strongly sympathises with all customers who are impacted by the collapse of a gambling operator and appreciates the difficulties caused where significant sums of money are lost in such a scenario. However, there is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the Government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes. Money staked with a gambling business is not protected by the Gambling Commission or the Government in the same way as money in personal bank accounts.