HC Deb 03 March 2004 vol 418 cc962-3W
Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment the Government have made of the impact of the proposals in the draft Gambling Bill on consumer debt. [158317]

Mr. Caborn

The policy document published with draft clauses in November as Cm 6014 drew attention to the risks of people gambling sums which they could not afford, and to the measures to be included in the Bill to address these risks, which include powers for the Gambling Commission to regulate advertising, credit and inducements, as well as provision for gambling debts to become enforceable. These and other measures are intended to avoid the growth in gambling opportunities from being accompanied by growth in the incidence of problem gambling; but we have made no separate assessment in terms of consumer debt generally.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the proposals outlined in the draft Gambling Bill upon the work of social services departments. [158351]

Mr. Caborn

We do not think that the proposals should have any overall impact on the work of social services.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the proposals outlined in the draft Gambling Bill upon the number of casino planning and licensing applications. [158430]

Mr. Caborn

We expect there to be an increase, not least because the proposals envisage abolition of the provision in the current law that casinos may be established only in specified permitted areas.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the proposals in the draft Gambling bill upon(a) problem gambling and (b) money laundering. [158345]

Mr. Caborn

The Regulatory Impact Assessment published in November with draft clauses as Cm 6014 noted that proposals which extended the choice and availability of gambling carried a risk of increasing problems in these areas, but drew attention to the effective system of licensing and regulation by a new Gambling Commission, with powers and resources not currently available, intended to address this risk.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research her Department has assessed into the links between use of gaming machines by under 18-year-olds and the prevalence of gambling problems [158347]

Mr. Caborn

We have taken note of the research studies cited in the report of the Gambling Review Body (Cm 5206) and included in the survey of relevant research evidence which formed part of the 2003 report by Professor Collins for the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (a copy of which is available on the Trust's website). A number of these studies relate to gaming machine play by children and young persons.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to commission a baseline study on the prevalence of problem gambling in the United Kingdom. [158348]

Mr. Caborn

The results from the prevalence study which were published in 2000, and which were taken into account by the Gambling Review Body, provide the most recent baseline. We think that it would be desirable for a further study to be carried out before the provisions of the Bill are brought into effect.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the merits of adopting a harm-indexed approach to forms of gambling. [158353]

Mr. Caborn

The draft Gambling Bill reflects the principle that the degree of regulation to be applied to different kinds of gambling activity should reflect the degree of regulatory risk which t hey involve, those risks being of harm to children and the vulnerable; unfairness to participants; or crime or disorder.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the link between levels of problem gambling and restrictions on the use of gaming machines by under 18s in other European countries. [158691]

Mr. Caborn

There is little reliable information currently available to support possible hypotheses on this matter.