The Horseracing Betting Levy is collected by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) from the gross profit of betting on British horseracing. In April 2017, the government reformed the Levy to bring offshore bookmakers in scope for the first time and fixed the rate at 10%. This action reversed a steady period of decline in Levy income. Levy income for the last three years has been:

• 2017/18 - £95 million

• 2018/19 - £83 million

• 2019/20 - £97 million

The HBLB supports racing through prize money grants to racecourses, which in turn supports trainers and jockeys. HBLB’s prize money grants normally account for around 40% of total prize money. It also makes payments to racecourses as a contribution towards race day services costs, paying for the majority of racing’s regulation and integrity costs. Other areas it supports include industry recruitment and training, education and the welfare of horses.

During Covid the HBLB has increased its contribution to prize money by 50%. It has also paid almost £3 million towards extra regulation costs that have been necessary to stage racing fixtures safely within the current Covid protocols.

The government currently has no plans to introduce a requirement for gambling operators to pay a fee or levy to sports clubs and has not had discussions with football clubs about developing commercial opportunities.

The Review of the Gambling Act 2005 was launched on 8th December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the broad scope of that Review, we have called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing operators to advertise and engage in sponsorship arrangements across sports, esports and other areas. The Call for Evidence will remain open until 31 March, and no policy decisions have yet been made. We intend to set out conclusions, including any proposals for change, in a white paper later this year.

Gambling sponsorship of sports teams is already subject to a range of rules and safeguards. Like all gambling advertising, it must be socially responsible and must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people. The government has also made clear that sporting bodies and teams must consider their responsibilities to fans when entering commercial arrangements.

The Football Association has strict rules about the size and placement of sponsor logos on all players’ shirts, and prohibits any reference to gambling or gambling operators on shirts for teams where all players are under 18 years old. It has taken action where the logos of gambling sponsors have been found to breach these rules. The gambling industry code for socially responsible advertising also requires that operators’ logos must not appear on any commercial merchandising which is designed for children (for instance in children’s sizes). In August 2019 the code was amended to include a whistle to whistle ban on broadcast advertising around live sport.

The Government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures. Since then, in March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young and vulnerable people. That study found that while there was some indication that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble, there were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour amongst those groups, including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and problem gambling in later life.

The government is aware of recent restrictions introduced on gambling advertising in Spain and Italy and is continuing to monitor the effect of those restrictions.

We have committed to review the Gambling Act 2005, and will announce further details in due course.

All gambling operators have duties to prevent money laundering under the Gambling Act 2005, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. Any operators selling services into the British market must be licensed by the Commission, and the licence conditions require operators to assess the money laundering risks to their business and to have controls in place to mitigate them. Operators must also comply with social responsibility and customer interaction requirements to protect vulnerable people.

The Commission conducts suitability checks on the business, all persons relevant to the business and on key management personnel, and has powers to revoke or suspend licences, attach individual conditions to licences and/or impose a financial penalty in the case of failings. The Commission also has powers to launch criminal investigations and bring criminal proceedings against companies and individuals. The Government considers that these powers are sufficient to enforce bookmakers’ compliance with anti-money laundering and social responsibility obligations.

In February 2018 a Gambling Commission investigation into William Hill resulted in a £6.2m penalty package for breaches of anti-money laundering and social responsibility regulations. As part of the regulatory settlement, the Gambling Commission has instructed William Hill to appoint external auditors to review its anti-money laundering and social responsibility measures, and to share learning with the wider industry.

In 2016 the Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation, which is still ongoing, into online gambling companies’ compliance with consumer protection law. Information on this work can be found on the CMA website: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/online-gambling#case-launch. In February 2018 the CMA launched a merger investigation into the proposed acquisition by GVC Holdings plc of Ladbrokes Coral Group plc. Information on this investigation can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/gvc-holdings-ladbrokes-coral-group-merger-inquiry

As a matter of policy, the Gambling Commission does not provide information on ongoing investigations. The outcomes of the Gambling Commission’s enforcement work are published on its website.

The Gambling Commission will continue to take robust and effective action where gambling companies fail to meet their obligations. Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of issues.