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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of a national self-exclusion register for problem gamblers.

Gambling businesses are required to have their own self-exclusion arrangements in place so customers can self-exclude from individual operators. They are also required to participate in Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Schemes, which allow a customer to make a single request to self-exclude from a licensed gambling sector, either nationally or on a local basis. Further information about each of the schemes can be found on the Commission’s website. Nearly 400,000 consumers have used GAMSTOP to self-exclude from all online gambling licensed by the Commission.

The Commission works closely with the schemes, including hosting a regular Self-Exclusion Scheme Owners Group meeting which is chaired by GAMSTOP. The group works together to improve effectiveness and is currently working on making it easier for consumers to access information and self-exclude across sectors in one place.