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

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to bring forward detailed proposals for the regulation of online gambling.

The Gambling Commission is the statutory regulator for gambling in Great Britain. The Gambling Commission recently concluded a comprehensive review of the online gambling sector drawing on its experience of regulating the whole British online gambling market since November 2014, and has identified key areas where it intends to consult on regulatory changes to enhance protections for online gambling. The attached review can be found here: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Online-review-March-2018.pdf

In particular, the Gambling Commission is proposing to require operators to set limits on players’ spending until affordability checks have been completed, and to introduce stricter licence requirements for gambling companies to know their customers and intervene at an earlier stage before players experience harm.

Detailed proposals will be set out at consultation stage, the timelines for which are set out in the Gambling Commission’s recently published business plan, which is attached: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/news/2018/Gambling-Commission-publishes-2018-2019-business-plan.aspx