Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings her Department has had with the betting and gaming industry since the appointment of a new minister with responsibility for gambling.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s ministers and officials meet regularly with a range of gambling stakeholders, including industry and charity representatives, to hear their views on the sector and discuss areas of concern. These meetings will continue in the lead up to publication of the white paper, and afterwards.
All ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed on the website.
Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with the betting and gaming industry since her appointment.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s ministers and officials meet regularly with a range of gambling stakeholders, including industry and charity representatives, to hear their views on the sector and discuss areas of concern. These meetings will continue in the lead up to publication of the white paper, and afterwards.
All ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed on the website.
Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she next plans to meet representatives of the betting and gaming industry.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s ministers and officials meet regularly with a range of gambling stakeholders, including industry and charity representatives, to hear their views on the sector and discuss areas of concern. These meetings will continue in the lead up to publication of the white paper, and afterwards.
All ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed on the website.
Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the contribution of the betting and gaming industry to the reduction of problem gambling rates.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in Public Health England’s evidence review on gambling-related harms, the estimated overall adult population problem gambling rate for England was 0.5% in 2018. The 2016 Great Britain wide combined Health Survey found a problem gambling rate of 0.7%. The overall rate has been stable below 1% for over two decades, but there are variations below this headline level depending on region, age, sex and other factors.
To supplement the Health Surveys and for more up to date information, the Gambling Commission carries out a quarterly survey by telephone on a smaller sample using a shortened problem gambling screen. For the year to December 2022 this estimated an adult population problem gambling rate of 0.2%.
The Government’s Review of the Gambling Act aims to ensure the right protections and requirements on operators are in place to prevent harm. We will publish a white paper setting out our assessment, conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of gambling shops on high streets in London in each the last 5 years.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Gambling Commission records data on premises numbers at a national rather than a local level. In March 2022 its Industry Statistics recorded 6,219 Licensed Betting Shops and 1,285 Adult Gaming Centres in Great Britain and the figures for each reporting period since 2017 are detailed in the table below.
Reporting Period | Adult Gaming Centres | Licensed Betting Shops |
31/03/2017 | 1,548 | 8,800 |
31/03/2018 | 1,481 | 8,559 |
31/03/2019 | 1,464 | 8,304 |
31/03/2020 (revised figures) | 1,464 | 7,683 |
31/03/2021(revised figures) | 1,381 | 6,462 |
31/03/2022 (provisional figures) | 1,285 | 6,219 |
Each Local Authority is required to have a current list of all licensed gambling premises available to access on request under section 156 of the Gambling Act.
Our review of the Gambling Act 2005 is looking at the situation of the land-based gambling industry as part of its wide-ranging scope. A White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the nature of the financial relationship between the EFL and SkyBet.
Answered by Paul Scully
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of commercial partnerships and all partnerships with gambling operators must be conducted in a socially responsible fashion and never target children or vulnerable people. Sky Bet’s title sponsorship of the EFL is a long-standing commercial arrangement established in 2013 with the current contract running to 2024. The arrangement includes a number of social responsibility commitments, such as ensuring there is no branding in family areas of the stadia and mandatory inclusion of safer gambling messaging on kits and in stadia.
Gambling sponsorship and the relationship between sports and gambling is included in the scope of the government's wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. A White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a comparative assessment of taxation rates for (a) land-based and (b) remote gambling operators.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A range of duty rates apply to different forms of gambling. Bingo duty is 10% of gross profit. Lottery Duty is 12% of ticket value. General Betting Duty is 15% of gross profit for general bets, 10% of gross profit for sports spread betting or 3% of gross profit for financial spread betting. Pool Betting Duty is 15% of gross profit. Remote Gaming Duty is 21% of gross profit. Gaming Duty is 15-50% of gross gaming yield. Machine Games Duty is 5% of gross profit at the lower rate, 20% of gross profit at the standard rate and 25% of gross profit at the higher rate.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps gambling taxation under constant review and welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of football clubs in the English Football League operating as affiliates for SkyBet.
Answered by Damian Collins
Football clubs can enter a wide variety of commercial partnerships but all partnerships with gambling operators must be conducted in a socially responsible fashion and never target children or vulnerable people.
Specifically the EFL and its clubs operated an affiliate scheme as part of their partnership with Sky Bet from 2013 to the 2019/20 season. The scheme has not been active since the 2019/20 season and the Department does not hold detailed estimates of club revenues.
The current impact of gambling sponsorship in sports is in scope of the government's wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We are considering the evidence closely and a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps will be published in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the (a) Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and (b) Gambling Commission on the implications of the fourth National Lottery licence on levels of (a) Lottery Duty and (b) returns to good causes.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Fourth National Lottery Licence Competition was an independent process run by the Gambling Commission. The Treasury engaged with senior officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission regarding the Competition as it progressed. HMRC monitor receipts from specific betting and gaming duties, including Lottery Duty.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many visits the Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission has made since his appointment to (a) casinos, (b) betting shops, (c) online gambling companies, (d) bingo halls, (e) adult gaming centres and (f) family entertainment centres.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The total number of visits made to each type of premise requested since the Chief Executive’s appointment in June 2021 is detailed below.
Number of visits made by the Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission since appointment | ||||||
Type of premises | Casinos | Betting shops | Online gambling companies | Bingo halls | Adult gaming centres | Family entertainment centres |
Number of visits | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Visits to premises are only one form of engagement with licensees that the Chief Executive undertakes. He has focussed stakeholder plans each year to reach a broad range of stakeholders, including regular meetings with CEOs and trade bodies, speaking at events and attending industry conferences. Since his appointment the Chief Executive has had 9 meetings with online operators and 13 with representatives of trade bodies, as well as speaking at events such as trade shows and trade body AGMs, to reach more operators. There is a further programme of engagement for the year ahead which includes more premises visits following disruptions caused by Covid in 2021 and 2022.