Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 11
Second Report - Gambling regulation
Published 21 Dec 2023
Paragraph 62
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Gambling regulation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Social casino products are the latest example of the convergence between video games and gambling. Though it has responded to the specific issue of loot boxes, the Government must address this wider trend to ensure harms, particularly to children, are prevented. It will be more difficult to do so if gambling continues to be defined solely on the basis of whether a prize from a game can be cashed out. The Government should review the case for banning children’s access to social casino games.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Second Report - Gambling regulation (HC 176), paragraph 62, 21 December 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 19 April 2024 (deadline 19 April 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and says the white paper's measures will be implemented quickly, through secondary legislation, existing powers and voluntary industry action rather than a standalone Bill.
- On online slots, it has confirmed a statutory maximum stake of £5 per spin for those aged 25 and over and £2 for 18 to 24-year-olds, which it says align with the Committee's recommended range of £2 to £5. These take effect in September, following Parliamentary approval.
- On financial risk checks, it is committed to a "proportionate, frictionless system". The Gambling Commission will run a pilot for enhanced risk assessments, launching this summer, and will publish its consultation response "in due course".
- On point-of-sale information about product risk, it "notes" the recommendation and says existing risk-measurement models are not "sufficiently granular". It prefers design rules applying to all games, while a Department of Health and Social Care evidence review will inform new messaging.
- On the statutory levy, it says it remains "on track" to introduce it by secondary legislation "by this summer". It will publish its consultation response "in the coming weeks".