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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities avoids conflicts of interest in the allocation of funds under the statutory levy.

The government’s priority is to ensure funding is being directed where it is needed most to deliver on our objective to reduce gambling-related harms. The Gambling Act 2005 is clear that DCMS and HM Treasury have powers to approve levy spending. To guarantee sufficient accountability and transparency within the new system, we will ensure robust governance arrangements are in place for the levy, including a Levy Board for central government oversight. Governance arrangements will be designed to manage conflicts of interest, while recognising that a wide spectrum of views and insights will be needed to shape our objectives and monitor the outcomes of the levy system.