Government response to the Lords Gambling Industry Committee’s report

“I am grateful for the Government’s full response to the Select Committee’s report, and I am heartened that the Government appreciates the importance of taking action to tackle gambling harm. I am however disappointed that it does not seem to understand the urgency of the problem.

"I welcome the decision to raise the minimum age for buying national lottery products to 18, but cannot understand why the regulations have to wait until October 2021 before coming into force.

"The evidence on the need to regulate loot boxes is overwhelming, and the necessary regulations could have been made months ago, yet the Government has still not reached a decision.

"Advertising is a particular disappointment. The minor changes made by the industry have had little effect, and the need for tighter regulation is clear. The Select Committee recommended a number of changes which could make an immediate difference. The Minister has the power to give effect to them now. Instead the Government is including this in its Review of the Gambling Act, and calling for yet more evidence.

"The Government must keep tight control of the timetable of its review, and not allow it to be used as a mechanism for yet again deferring any significant changes.”

The report of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry was published on 2 July 2020. The Government’s response is published today, Tuesday 8 December 2020, together with the Government’s Review of the Gambling Industry.

The Committee’s key recommendations included:

• The gambling industry offers a variety of products to consumers, including some which can be highly addictive. The Gambling Commission should create a system for testing all new games against a series of harm indicators, including their addictiveness and whether they will appeal to children. A game which scores too highly on the harm indicators must not be approved.
• The equalisation of speed of play and spin, so that no game can be played quicker online than in a casino, bookmaker or bingo hall.
• The Gambling Commission must explain the minimum steps which operators should take when considering customer affordability, and make clear that it is for the operator to take the steps which will enable them to identify customers who are betting more than they can afford.
• The creation of a statutory independent Gambling Ombudsman Service, modelled on the Financial Ombudsman Service, to settle disputes between gambling operators and gamblers.
• The Government must act immediately to bring loot boxes within the remit of gambling legislation and regulation.
• The minimum age at which an individual can buy any National Lottery product should be raised to 18.
• Gambling operators should no longer be allowed to advertise on the shirts of sports teams or any other visible part of their kit. There should also be no gambling advertising in or near any sports grounds or sports venues.
• Problem gambling is a common mental health disorder, and the NHS has the same duty to treat it as to treat any other disorder. Last year the NHS promised to open 15 new clinics. It should do this before 2023 and establish a comparable number within the following few years.

The report is available on the Committee’s website