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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the illegal betting market on revenues collected by HMRC.

The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this Government and we are committed to working closely with the Gambling Commission, the statutory regulator for gambling in Great Britain, to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. The Crime and Policing Bill, introduced in Parliament on 25 February 2025, will grant the Gambling Commission with new powers to more quickly and effectively take down illegal gambling websites.

Estimating the size of the illegal gambling market is difficult due to the changing nature of the sites and channels through which customers are able to access illegal activity. While research in this space is improving, further research is required to robustly estimate the extent of illegal gambling within Great Britain, who is engaging with it, and the impact that it is having on issues such as horseracing and tax revenues. This is a priority area of research for the Gambling Commission. We will continue to monitor the latest evidence in this area to improve our understanding of the illegal market.