L

Lord Watts (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 12 February 2025

Debate

Gambling Levy Regulations 2025

Contribution

I very much welcome this legislation, which is overdue. I was a member of the Select Committee that looked at gambling, and we were very concerned about the lack of action, so I am pleased to see that the Government are taking action and have brought this forward. I have two questions, the first of which is about the distribution of resources. We found that there were a number of organisations which were sometimes in conflict with each other. There needs to be co-ordination to make sure that we get effective spend and that spending results in the things that we want to see. Secondly, I am concerned about the growth of offshore gambling. It grew by a sizeable amount last year and is growing very fast. It is unregulated and will not be touched by this legislation. Will the Minister say something about that? It is of concern to the industry as well as to the public. Overall, this strikes the right balance. I disagree with the previous point that there is plenty of evidence; there is not plenty of evidence that we can scrutinise. There needs to be proper scrutiny and accountability.

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