Mystery boxes in video games, also known as loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes could encourage gambling-like behaviour and longer term lead to gambling related harm, especially amongst children, and will continue to look closely at any evidence around this issue.<\/p>
<\/p>
In September 2018, 16 regulators from Europe and the USA, including the Gambling Commission signed a declaration which outlined common concerns around gaming and gambling. The regulators agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling.<\/p>
<\/p>
We welcomed the introduction last year by the VSC Ratings Board and PEGI of a new label for video games to warn parents where they include the opportunity to make in-games purchases such as loot boxes. Microtransactions in games\u2014including loot boxes\u2014are further subject to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 which protect against misleading or aggressive marketing.<\/p>
<\/p>
DCMS is working closely with the games industry, agencies such as the Video Standards Council (VSC) and others to improve online safety in games, including promoting healthy and responsible gaming. To better understand the relationship between social media and the mental health of children and young people up to 25 years old, the Chief Medical Officer will be leading a systematic review to examine all relevant international research in the area.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4247", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ashton of Hyde"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL12664"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-17T11:51:01.953Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Gambling: Internet"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Children\u2019s Commissioner about mystery boxes in online games; and whether those boxes encourage online gambling by children.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12663"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1037609", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1037609/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Mystery boxes in video games, also known as loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes could encourage gambling-like behaviour and longer term lead to gambling related harm, especially amongst children, and will continue to look closely at any evidence around this issue.<\/p>
<\/p>
In September 2018, 16 regulators from Europe and the USA, including the Gambling Commission signed a declaration which outlined common concerns around gaming and gambling. The regulators agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling.<\/p>
<\/p>
We welcomed the introduction last year by the VSC Ratings Board and PEGI of a new label for video games to warn parents where they include the opportunity to make in-games purchases such as loot boxes. Microtransactions in games\u2014including loot boxes\u2014are further subject to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 which protect against misleading or aggressive marketing.<\/p>
<\/p>
DCMS is working closely with the games industry, agencies such as the Video Standards Council (VSC) and others to improve online safety in games, including promoting healthy and responsible gaming. To better understand the relationship between social media and the mental health of children and young people up to 25 years old, the Chief Medical Officer will be leading a systematic review to examine all relevant international research in the area.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4247", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ashton of Hyde"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL12663"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-17T11:51:02.02Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Gambling: Internet"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they intend to take to prohibit the use of mystery boxes in online games.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12664"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036954", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036954/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The letter dated 23 November 2018 was sent to all Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Accountable Officers and CCG Chief Financial Officers in England from the Deputy Chief Executive of NHS England. A copy of the letter is attached.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4289", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Manzoor"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Manzoor"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036954/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "CCG admin letter final 231118.pdf"} , "title" : "23 November 2018 letter to CCGs"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-21T16:31:41.383Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Clinical Commissioning Groups"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the letter sent by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NHS England in November 2018, requiring Clinical Commissioning Groups to explore mergers and joint ways of working.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12596"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036965", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036965/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
At the outset of the contract the Army and Capita failed to understand the complexity of the Army recruitment requirement and the challenges faced. These were compounded by the delays in developing the new information technology to support the processes.<\/p>
The Army and Capita are implementing a range of policy and process changes to increase enlistments to the Army. These have been informed by lessons learned and are, where appropriate, being piloted prior to full introduction. The improvements include changes to simplify and streamline the process.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2000", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Earl Howe"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Earl Howe"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL12610"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-17T16:11:09.417Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Army: Recruitment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, why they did not test the proposed changes to their recruitment approach for army recruitment prior to the introduction of the partnering agreement with Capita Business Services.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12607"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036967", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036967/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Future Recruiting Programme (FRP) is considering the best approach to Armed Forces recruiting for when the current contract expires. The Ministry of Defence has secured, under the contract with Capita, the rights to use, modify or copy the Defence Recruiting System at the end of the current contract, or we could decide to source a new on-line system. As part of the FRP an early scoping project has been initiated to look at the future ICT provision, no conclusions or decisions have yet been made.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2000", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Earl Howe"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Earl Howe"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-17T16:17:17.21Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Army: Recruitment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, whether the British army has completed its assessment into whether it can adapt the Capita online army recruitment system for its own use after the Capita contract ends in 2022.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12609"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036968", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036968/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
At the outset of the contract the Army and Capita failed to understand the complexity of the Army recruitment requirement and the challenges faced. These were compounded by the delays in developing the new information technology to support the processes.<\/p>
The Army and Capita are implementing a range of policy and process changes to increase enlistments to the Army. These have been informed by lessons learned and are, where appropriate, being piloted prior to full introduction. The improvements include changes to simplify and streamline the process.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2000", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Earl Howe"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Earl Howe"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL12607"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-17T16:11:09.46Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Army: Recruitment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, why the British army did not simplify its recruitment process before introducing the Capita online army recruitment system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12610"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036969", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1036969/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continually seeks to improve its commercial award and management processes. We have established a comprehensive training and education programme under the Commercial Professionalism Programme, which is supported by a robust accreditation process.<\/p>
Improving skills and capability will achieve better commercial delivery, which will continue to be measured against the Government commercial operating standards.<\/p>
More broadly, contract letting and contract management activities have also been looked at as part of the Government's work to build a new model for delivering outsourced services. The MOD has been actively engaged in this work.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2000", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Earl Howe"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Earl Howe"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-01-17T16:16:20.583Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-01-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Ministry of Defence: Contracts"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, what action they are taking to improve contract (1) letting, and (2) management.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2024", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hunt of Kings Heath"} ], "uin" : "HL12611"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 7, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }