Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor and regulate the use of personalised algorithms and targeted advertising by online gambling platforms.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All gambling operators in the UK must comply with robust advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) independently of Government. These codes apply across all advertising platforms, including online and social media. The codes are regularly reviewed and updated and DCMS regularly engages with the ASA to discuss these changes and the impact of the regulations.
All operators in the UK are also required to comply with the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, which includes new provisions relating to direct marketing and socially responsible promotions. The impact of these measures will be assessed in due course.
We engage with a range of stakeholders and other regulators, such as the ICO, to understand whether more can be done to further raise standards in this area, particularly on online platforms.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 21 May (HL7312), when the Betting and Gaming Council will publish its report on advertising.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has provided the Government with their report on gambling advertising. It is for the BGC to decide whether to publish it. We have reviewed the report and are considering this alongside a range of other evidence to determine next steps in this area.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount the gambling industry spends on advertisements each year.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
DCMS has not made its own estimate of the amount spent on gambling advertising. However, we monitor a wide range of evidence to aid our assessment of the impact of gambling advertising at a national level, including spend data provided by industry and independent sources.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to protect children from gambling advertisements online.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) independently of Government. These codes apply across all advertising platforms, and include a wide range of provisions designed to protect children from harm. In addition to rules on content and audience, operators must ensure that gambling advertising is not targeted at children. Earlier this year the Department for Education announced new statutory guidance for relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education, which includes more in depth education about the risks of gambling related harms. We will continue to monitor this area closely and take action where there is evidence to do so.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce mandatory transparency requirements on gambling advertising spend and targeting strategies by licensed operators.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We currently have no plans to introduce mandatory transparency requirements on gambling advertising spend and targeting strategies by licensed operators.
Asked by: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that children cannot gamble using virtual currencies.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All gambling operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission. Licensed online gambling operators must have robust policies and procedures to prevent underage gambling. These measures are highly effective, with very few children able to open an online gambling account with either real or invented identities. There are also currently no licensed operators which allow payment using virtual currencies.
The government will also provide an additional £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over the next three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on the number of gamblers accessing the black market.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this Government. We are committed to working closely with the Gambling Commission, the statutory regulator for gambling in Great Britain, to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. To further secure the regulated market and protect consumers from illegal sites, it was announced at the Budget that the Government is providing an additional £26 million over three years to the Gambling Commission to strengthen enforcement and tackle illegal gambling. We will continue to monitor this area closely and will consider what other action could be taken to further tackle illegal gambling.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of gambling harms at racecourse bookmakers compared to other forms of gambling; and if she will make it her policy to change the rate charged under the statutory gambling levy in line with this.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS officials engage regularly with the United Council of Racecourse Bookmakers to discuss a range of matters which affect them.
In-person betting on racing - both at racecourses and betting shops more broadly - is associated with one of the lowest risks of scoring 8+ on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) (representing ‘problem gambling’) of all gambling products. According to the latest official statistics that publish specific PGSI data for in-person betting on horse racing, only in-person bingo, scratchcards and lotteries had a lower PGSI 8+ rate. This is reflected in levy rates, with on-course bookmakers charged one of the lowest figures, at 0.2% of Gross Gambling Yield. Levy rates will be reviewed as part of the Government’s formal review of the statutory levy system, which will take place by 2030.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 support racecourse bookmakers.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS officials engage regularly with the United Council of Racecourse Bookmakers to discuss a range of matters which affect them.
In-person betting on racing - both at racecourses and betting shops more broadly - is associated with one of the lowest risks of scoring 8+ on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) (representing ‘problem gambling’) of all gambling products. According to the latest official statistics that publish specific PGSI data for in-person betting on horse racing, only in-person bingo, scratchcards and lotteries had a lower PGSI 8+ rate. This is reflected in levy rates, with on-course bookmakers charged one of the lowest figures, at 0.2% of Gross Gambling Yield. Levy rates will be reviewed as part of the Government’s formal review of the statutory levy system, which will take place by 2030.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
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 assessment of the adequacy of banking safeguards for protecting vulnerable customers, especially the use of gambling blocks and loopholes using open-banking gateways.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises that harmful gambling can wreck the lives of individuals, families and communities. Working with the Gambling Commission, we are committed to strengthening protections for those at risk through a range of new safer gambling requirements.
The vast majority of banks offer gambling bank blocks, a useful tool to help vulnerable customers control their gambling. We encourage all banks to offer gambling blocks to improve the availability of these tools and support the work of organisations, such as Money Mental Health Lab, to improve the safer gambling tools offered by the financial sector.