Found: copies are available on request: Ash, J., Gordon, R. and Mills, S. (2022) Between Gaming and Gambling

Found: be brought within the legislative definition of a ‚game of chance™, they will not be regulated as gambling

Found: Apart from the 55000 children already registering as having problems with gambling, children and young

Found: all this about loot boxes, but we must not lose sight of the fact there are at least 55,000 problem-gambling

Found: or relatives online accounts to access gambling or to make in-app purchases for loot boxes (akin to gambling

Found: ™ The Guardian, November 22, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/22/gambling-children

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of underage people that use (a) gambling apps and (b) online gambling.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Gambling Commission’s ‘Young People and Gambling’ report has measured gambling behaviour in children since 2014. The latest edition for 2023 can be found here.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the gambling industry on young people under 18 using fake ID to take part in online gambling.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises that it is particularly important to take steps to protect young people at risk of harms associated with online gambling.

The Gambling Act review considered the efficacy of protections for children and young adults, including on age controls for online gambling. Evidence submitted as part of the review, and Gambling Commission surveys show low rates of illegal underage gambling with online operators. When this does occur, it is generally through misuse of an adult’s account or details rather than a failure of the verification process.

While the current rules require online operators to verify a customer’s age before they are allowed to deposit money or gamble, they do not specify how this has to be done. Most operators use background checks to verify age and identity, rather than relying on the provision of identity documentation. There is little evidence to suggest widespread use of fake documentation by underage adults to access online gambling.

We recently published a white paper following our Review of the Gambling Act 2005. The paper introduces a range of proportionate measures to tackle practices and products that can drive harm, particularly among young people.

Over recent years, the Government has worked with the Gambling Commission and others on a range of measures to protect young people from harms associated with online gambling. This includes tightening the age verification requirements for both land-based and online operators in 2019, and raising the minimum age to play the National Lottery to 18 and over in 2021.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 15 November 2022 to Question 82174 on Gambling: Children, who authorised (a) the disclosure to Trustopia and (b) the contract terms of that disclosure; who was responsible for monitoring the management of that data; and whether disciplinary action has been taken following that incident.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The disclosure to Trust Systems Software UK Limited (trading name Trustopia) resulted from access given to a predecessor organisation that was a legitimate provider. The Department received a change of name request form and the amendment form which required Trustopia to sign a new learning provider agreement which set out terms of use for the Learning Records Service.

There is a dedicated team who manage the Learning Records Service. A signed copy of the agreement will be placed in the House of Commons Library in January 2023. The Department has worked closely with the ICO following this incident. Procedures for monitoring unusual activity have been strengthened, as have wider practices around Data Protection in the Department.

The Department’s legal advice at the time was not to pursue breach of contract pending the ICO investigation. The company has since ceased trading.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what legal basis the personal information and exam results of up to 28 million children were made available to gambling firms; who made the decision to make this information available; and what the legal limitations are on the provision of such information.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Examination result information was not made available to gambling firms. A third party made the decision to use their lawful access to the Learning Records Service without discussion with, or the agreement of, the Department. This was outside their conditions of use. The third party used the system to verify the age that individuals had given to gambling firms. When their actions became known, the Department immediately removed their access to the system. The Department reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office and has continued to work with them since to improve Departmental processes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to (a) assess whether loot boxes are harmful to children and (b) gather further data in this area.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government undertook a call for evidence from September to November 2020 to examine concerns around loot boxes in video games. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence from more than 30,000 responses that we received, along with an independent Rapid Evidence Assessment commissioned from the InGAME research and innovation centre. Additionally, we have continued a dialogue with the games industry to address issues identified from the evidence.

We will publish the response to the call for evidence in the coming months. As part of this, we will set out findings from the call for evidence and outline next steps to take action where needed.

The Gambling Act Review is ongoing and we will publish our conclusions through a White Paper in the coming months.

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to stop children aged 11 to 16 from becoming gambling addicts.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

All gambling operators providing facilities to British customers must comply with the conditions of their Gambling Commission licences, including measures to protect children and vulnerable people. It is an offence to allow children to participate in most forms of commercial gambling and there are strict requirements to verify age. All operators advertising in the UK must also abide by the advertising codes issued by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) in which a wide range of provisions are designed to protect children. CAP has consulted on tightening these rules further.

As part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England, young people are taught about the risks relating to gambling, including the accumulation of debt. To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence, the Department for Education has also developed a series of training modules, one of which has a specific section on gambling. Other curriculum subjects, such as citizenship, mathematics and computing, can also help develop young people’s financial literacy and highlight the risks associated with gambling.

As part of its broad scope, the Gambling Act Review is looking at the effectiveness of existing measures to ensure the protection of young and vulnerable people from the risks associated with all types of gambling. We are considering the evidence carefully and will publish a white paper outlining conclusions and next steps in due course.

Stop companies and even charities that run lotteries (for cash or prizes), gambling sites and gambling apps from being allowed to advertise on TV and other platforms that under 16’s can access before what used to be the 9pm watershed to protect them from having the idea that gambling is fun

Found: In the same way debts could be generated due to gambling.

Found: involvement and gambling - related harms among the general population in England 106 related to gambling