Written question asked by Alex Sobel (Labour) on Wednesday, 19 May 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 24 May 2021 (named day). It was answered by John Whittingdale (Conservative) on Monday, 24 May 2021 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
National Lottery: Software
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are player protections in place for people using Camelot UK Lotteries Limited's (a) website and (b) phone application to participate in the National Lottery.
- Answer
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Under the terms of the current National Lottery Licence the operator is required to implement player protection strategies to prevent underage and excessive play, which must be approved by the Gambling Commission, as regulator of the National Lottery.
For new game proposals and changes to existing games, the operator must provide the Gambling Commission with a range of information, such as assessments of the risks associated with certain product characteristics, a broader assessment by the operator’s game design governance group and relevant academic research.
In addition, the Gambling Commission conducts regular, detailed monitoring to identify risks to players, and where appropriate, undertakes strategic reviews of areas of the portfolio which are identified as higher (but not necessarily high) risk. For example, in 2020, the Gambling Commission commissioned research to better understand the players of Online Interactive Instant Win Games. The research found an association between players of Interactive Instant Win Games at the £10 price point and some problem gambling behaviours. As a result of this research, the operator suspended the sale of £10 Online Interactive Instant Win Games, which followed the removal of the £10 scratchcard in 2019.
In December 2020, the government increased the minimum age for the National Lottery as a precautionary measure to ensure the protection of young people. These changes were introduced for all games in April 2021, both for online and retail sales.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 4020
- Session
- 2021-22
- Related items
- Subjects
- Software Internet Protection National Lottery Mobile phones Camelot Group
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
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Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2024-06-13 15:20:55 +0100
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