Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Howe of Idlicote (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 29 November 2005.

Internet Gambling: Age Verification

Question: My Lords, it is up to the banks and other industries to ensure that they undertake responsible lending. However, there is growing concern at the number of children who are able to gamble. I know that the Government do not believe that children and gambling go together. Have they given any further thought to whether Ofcom should be given responsibility for monitoring what is going on in the growing online industry and specific responsibility for reporting back on these matters so that we, the public, know what is happening?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Baroness is absolutely right that the Government want to make sure that gambling is not carried out by children under 16. That is why, for instance, the National Lottery has the most robust system of all on age verification and can point to a considerable record over the years of ensuring that children do not play. There are problems across the wide range of the gambling industry. That is why we introduced the Gambling Act to modernise our capacity for regulation where it is necessary. We expect the industry to respond to this regulation, as it has clearly shown it intends to do, through the code of practice with which every reputable gambling organisation will be expected to comply

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 676 c102-3
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Children Banks Credit cards Gambling Internet Proof of identity Young people Debit cards Age assurance
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk