Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
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 potential merits of reviewing the Health Lottery’s licence to operate.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The oversight of both operating and personal management licences for society lotteries, including assessing an applicant’s suitability to hold a licence, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.
More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation and licensing, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website here and here.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that large scale lotteries meet social responsibility requirements.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There are around 500 large society lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission. The Gambling Act 2005 has licensing objectives that underpin the responsible functions that any Lottery must meet. These include:
preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime
ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
All Society and local authority lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission are required to comply with the relevant conditions and codes of practice, which are set by the Gambling Commission. These licence conditions are set out at the time a licence is issued. Further information about social responsibility requirements are contained in the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.
The National Lottery is managed under separate legislation - the National Lottery Act 1993. This establishes a statutory duty on the Government to ensure it is run with due propriety, wide social value commitments, while contributing substantially to Good Causes across the UK and via the Lottery Duty.
The Licence is awarded through a competitive process to an operator with an overriding duty to ensure the interests of every Participant in respect of playing, engaging with or being exposed to, the National Lottery are protected. This is supported through regulatory requirements overseen by the Gambling Commission.
The current operator Allwyn has its own strategy of creating additional social value commitments in the way they operate their business and engage with all National Lottery partners. More information on Allwyn’s social value plan can be found here.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential revenue loss from large society lotteries who should be paying lottery duty due to not meeting social responsibility requirements but have not.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Exemptions are permitted from Lottery Duty including for lotteries run as Large Society Lotteries under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005.
Regulatory responsibility for those lotteries lies with the Gambling Commission. Society lotteries require a licence to operate from the Gambling Commission and are tightly regulated.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to ensure that commercial free prizes draws are free to enter by digital means.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Prize competitions and free prize draws are not subject to statutory regulatory control under the Gambling Act 2005. However, they must comply with the requirement in the Act to offer a free entry route for participation by post and/or offer paid entries online, in order to avoid being considered as an illegal lottery. Whilst the Gambling Commission has no regulatory responsibilities for these products, it does monitor the boundary between them and lotteries.
Prize draw operators must also comply with relevant consumer protection legislation.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the article by the Gambling Commission entitled Evaluating the impact of the Gambling Act Review, published on 19 March 2024, what the framework developed by the National Centre for Social Research for process and impact evaluations of the review of the Gambling Act 2005 will include.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on its review of the Gambling Act 2005.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is working at pace with the Gambling Commission, industry and others to deliver the white paper.
The Government recently confirmed plans for the introduction of stake limits for online slots games, and last week published our plans for reforms to the land-based sector.
The Gambling Commission have also confirmed proposals for a range of measures, including financial risk checks and strengthened protections on direct marketing.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to protect (a) children and (b) young people from gambling harm.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. It is particularly important to take steps to protect those, particularly young people, who are at risk of experiencing gambling harm.
In April 2023 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a White Paper following our review of the Gambling Act 2005. The White Paper outlined a series of measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm and to ensure that people who are at risk of gambling harm and addiction are protected. These include new, frictionless financial risk checks, a stake limit for online slots games, improvements to customer-led tools, and tougher restrictions on bonuses and direct marketing. These measures will be complemented by strengthened messaging about the risks associated with gambling. The White Paper also contained a commitment to introduce a new statutory levy paid by operators to fund research, prevention, and treatment. In July 2023 the Gambling Commission also published a vulnerability statement, outlining its approach to identifying, supporting, and protecting consumers who are in vulnerable situations.
We are working with the Gambling Commission and others to bring the measures from the White Paper into force as quickly as possible, and have already published consultations on a number of important proposals so that we can finalise details ahead of their implementation.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent estimate of the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes by (a) the gambling industry, (b) Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings and (c) any other means in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:
As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months; what the nature of those crimes was; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of those crimes on (a) the economy and (b) wider society.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:
As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the impact of gambling-related (a) fraud and (b) other acquisitive crimes on the finances of the victims of those crimes.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:
As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.