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1687940

registered interest
date	06/02/2024
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	217
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	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.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	Carla Lockhart
uin	13466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2024 answer text <p>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 <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/print/young-people-and-gambling-2023#:~:text=Using%20the%20youth%2Dadapted%20problem,percent%20as%20non%2Dproblem%20gamblers" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 09/02/2024 15:40:23 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	4857 label Biography information for Carla Lockhart

1416785

registered interest
date	26/01/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	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.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	112630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2022 answer text <p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>The Gambling Act Review is ongoing and we will publish our conclusions through a White Paper in the coming months.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 112628 112629 112631 112634 112635 question first answered 01/02/2022 12:54:29 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1316720

registered interest
date	20/05/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with publishers of children’s magazines on ending the depiction of football shirts with gambling advertising in their publications.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Withington
tabling member printed	Jeff Smith
uin	4624
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2021 answer text <p>Gambling operators advertising in the UK must abide by the advertising codes issued by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP). A wide range of provisions in these codes are designed to protect children. For example, gambling adverts must not be targeted at children or feature content which appeals particularly to them. Further detail about the codes and their scope can be found at: <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes.html" target="_blank">https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes.html</a>. The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising requires that operators ensure their logos do not appear on commercial merchandise which is designed for children, which includes replica football shirts in children’s sizes.</p><p> </p><p>The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8th December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing operators to advertise and engage in sponsorship arrangements, with a specific focus on impacts on children and young people, and we are considering the evidence carefully.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 4625 question first answered 26/05/2021 14:44:04 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4456 label Biography information for Jeff Smith

1316721

registered interest
date	20/05/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of gambling advertising on children; and if he will take steps to ban the depiction of football shirts in publications which are marketed to children.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Withington
tabling member printed	Jeff Smith
uin	4625
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2021 answer text <p>Gambling operators advertising in the UK must abide by the advertising codes issued by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP). A wide range of provisions in these codes are designed to protect children. For example, gambling adverts must not be targeted at children or feature content which appeals particularly to them. Further detail about the codes and their scope can be found at: <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes.html" target="_blank">https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes.html</a>. The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising requires that operators ensure their logos do not appear on commercial merchandise which is designed for children, which includes replica football shirts in children’s sizes.</p><p> </p><p>The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8th December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. This closed on 31 March and received approximately 16,000 submissions from a broad range of interested organisations and individuals. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing operators to advertise and engage in sponsorship arrangements, with a specific focus on impacts on children and young people, and we are considering the evidence carefully.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 4624 question first answered 26/05/2021 14:44:04 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4456 label Biography information for Jeff Smith

1274750

registered interest
date	08/01/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of problem gamblers aged 18 and under; and what steps he is taking to provide support for those people.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	134457
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/01/2021 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission conducts an annual survey of gambling activity by 11-16 year olds, which uses screening questions adapted for use with adolescents to measure rates of problem gambling. In 2019 that survey found a problem gambling rate of 1.7%, which equates to around 55,000 individuals. Findings from the 2020 survey estimate a rate of 1.9%. However, the outbreak of Covid 19 halted fieldwork for the 2020 survey before it was finished, which meant that sample sizes were significantly smaller and no fieldwork was conducted in Wales. Results of the 2020 survey are therefore not representative of Great Britain, should not be compared to those of previous years and cannot be used to calculate numbers of individuals who are problem gamblers.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The most robust data on problem gambling rates amongst people aged over 16 is collected by the Health Surveys. In 2016, the combined Health Surveys found a problem gambling rate of 0.7% amongst adults in Britain, which equates to around 340,000 individuals. Amongst people aged 16-24, that rate was 0.6%. In 2018, the Health Survey for England found a problem gambling rate of 0.5% amongst adults in England, which equates to around 246,000 individuals. Amongst people aged 16-24, the problem gambling rate was 1%.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The first NHS specialist young person’s gaming and gambling clinic opened in 2019. In addition to treatment services, prevention work is underway to teach children about the risks of gambling and to educate those who work with children in identifying potential gambling related harm in young people. Since September 2020 teaching about the risks related to online gambling has been included in the Health Education curriculum, which is compulsory for pupils in state-funded schools. This is in addition to initiatives by third-sector bodies, including the PSHE Association’s resources to help teachers educate their pupils about the risks of gambling and how to avoid them, and the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust’s (YGAM) training and tools for teachers, youth workers, mental health specialists and others who work with children and young people.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 13/01/2021 18:34:40 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1242434

registered interest
date	12/10/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of children identified as problem gamblers between (a) 2010 and (b) 2020.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	101983
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2020 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission conducts an annual survey of children and young people that collects data about gambling participation. Since 2014, that survey has included screening questions adapted for use with adolescents to identify respondents who may be problem gamblers. Problem gambling rates for all available years are given in the accompanying table. No comparable data is available for the years 2010-2013.</p><p>The latest published data is from 2019 and gives a problem gambling rate of 1.7% amongst 11-16 year olds, which is steady from the previous year. Changes to the survey’s methodology throughout its lifetime mean it is not possible to identify long-term trends. In 2017 the survey was extended to cover Scotland and the pool of respondents was widened to include 16 year olds, and in 2018 the survey moved online from paper-based questionnaires. Further detail about the survey and its findings can be found in its 2019 report, available at: <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Young-People-Gambling-Report-2019.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Young-People-Gambling-Report-2019.pdf</a></p><p>Table: Rates of problem gambling amongst 11-15/16 year olds since 2014</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>2019</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Rate of problem gambling (%)</p></td><td><p>0.7</p></td><td><p>0.6</p></td><td><p>0.4</p></td><td><p>0.9</p></td><td><p>1.7</p></td><td><p>1.7</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 15/10/2020 14:54:54 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1234175

registered interest
date	14/09/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has assessed the effectiveness of safeguards in place to prevent underage gambling via smartphone apps.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	Carla Lockhart
uin	89881
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2020 answer text <p>The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age. Further details will be announced in due course.</p><p>Operators are required both by law and by the conditions of their licence from the Gambling Commission to prevent underage gambling. In May 2019 the Commission strengthened requirements for age verification so that operators must verify a customer’s age before they are able to deposit money, place a bet, or access free-to-play games. According to the Gambling Commission’s Young People and Gambling Survey 2019, 7% of 11-16 year olds said they had ever gambled online (a category including both National Lottery games and commercial sites), 5% had used a parent’s account with the parent’s permission and 2% had used a parent’s account without permission, showing that parents also have an important role to play in controlling children’s access to gambling. For further detail, the full survey report can be found at: <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Young-People-Gambling-Report-2019.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Young-People-Gambling-Report-2019.pdf</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 89880 question first answered 22/09/2020 12:39:54 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4857 label Biography information for Carla Lockhart

1229025

registered interest
date	28/08/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle underage gambling.
tabling member constituency	North West Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Richard Holden
uin	82539
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2020 answer text <p>Operators offering gambling facilities to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission and have procedures in place to prevent underage gambling. The Gambling Commission has a range of powers to act in the case of failure, including the power to suspend or revoke a licence, impose financial penalties or prosecute criminal offences. In May 2019 the Gambling Commission introduced new rules that require online gambling businesses to verify the age of customers before they can deposit money, gamble, or access play-for-free versions of gambling games. The Gambling Commission is also working with local authorities and the hospitality sector to improve the enforcement of legal age requirements on the use of gaming machines in pubs.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Health and Social Care work closely together on matters related to gambling harm, and share regular updates including on the forthcoming evidence review being carried out by Public Health England.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 82542 question first answered 08/09/2020 09:49:36 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4813 label Biography information for Mr Richard Holden

1218240

registered interest
date	26/06/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the exposure of children to gambling advertising.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	65164
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2020 answer text <p>All gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement. Ads must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people and operators face sanction if their advertising or sponsorship activities are not carried out in a socially responsible way. These rules mean that an operator would face sanctions from the Advertising Standards Authority or the Gambling Commission if their advertising were to appear in computer games targeted at children. The realistic reproduction of a team football shirt in a computer game based on football is not considered advertising simply because there are logos on the shirt.</p><p> </p><p>The Advertising Standards Authority’s latest figures on TV gambling advertising show that children’s exposure has fallen from an average of 4.4 ads per week in 2013, to 2.5 per week in 2019. At the Gambling Commission’s urging, industry has committed to make better use of advertising technology to target adverts away from children online and on social media. From July 2020 the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible advertising will require operators to ensure advertising is targeted only at those over 25 years old on social media and to age-gate operator YouTube channels and content.</p><p> </p><p>The Government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures</a>. Since then, in March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young and vulnerable people. That study found that while there was some indication that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble, there were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour amongst those groups including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and problem gambling in later life.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers have regular meetings with stakeholders on a range of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the government’s website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&amp;organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&amp;organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport</a>.</p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 65163 65165 65166 question first answered 06/07/2020 17:11:36 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1218241

registered interest
date	26/06/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to restrict gambling advertising in children’s computer games.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	65165
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2020 answer text <p>All gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement. Ads must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people and operators face sanction if their advertising or sponsorship activities are not carried out in a socially responsible way. These rules mean that an operator would face sanctions from the Advertising Standards Authority or the Gambling Commission if their advertising were to appear in computer games targeted at children. The realistic reproduction of a team football shirt in a computer game based on football is not considered advertising simply because there are logos on the shirt.</p><p> </p><p>The Advertising Standards Authority’s latest figures on TV gambling advertising show that children’s exposure has fallen from an average of 4.4 ads per week in 2013, to 2.5 per week in 2019. At the Gambling Commission’s urging, industry has committed to make better use of advertising technology to target adverts away from children online and on social media. From July 2020 the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible advertising will require operators to ensure advertising is targeted only at those over 25 years old on social media and to age-gate operator YouTube channels and content.</p><p> </p><p>The Government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures</a>. Since then, in March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young and vulnerable people. That study found that while there was some indication that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble, there were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour amongst those groups including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and problem gambling in later life.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers have regular meetings with stakeholders on a range of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the government’s website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&amp;organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&amp;organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport</a>.</p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 65163 65164 65166 question first answered 06/07/2020 17:11:36 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris