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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of affordability checks on online betting turnover on racing since its introduction.

The Gambling Commission introduced financial vulnerability checks in August 2024. These checks use only publicly available data, such as bankruptcy orders, to assess risk of significant financial harm. Financial risk assessments, which will look at a more nuanced picture of financial risk, are being piloted by the Commission to ensure they can be introduced in a frictionless manner. Early findings show that 97% of assessments were frictionless, well above the 80% white paper estimate. The Commission is analysing pilot data and will take a decision on whether to introduce these checks in due course. New financial risk checks would replace current operator affordability checks and will be better for customers, operators and racing.