Gambling: Children and Young People
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to safeguard children and young people from gambling, including in later life, through the regulation of advertising, marketing and product design.
Answered by Ian Murray
There are already a wide variety of measures in place to protect children and young people from being exposed to gambling advertising, marketing and products.
For example, gambling advertising must not be targeted at children, through ensuring that it does not appear in media created for children or for which children make up 25% or more of the audience. In May last year, we introduced a £2 maximum stake limit on online slots for 18-24 year olds, who can be particularly vulnerable to harms associated with high stakes play. We also welcome the commencement of the Premier League’s ban on front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms by the end of the 2025/26 season.
However, we recognise that children and young people’s exposure to gambling is an important issue. We remain committed to strengthening measures to protect those at risk of gambling harm and will continue to work with industry and gambling harm campaigners. We will also redouble our efforts to work across government and with tech platforms to address illegal gambling advertising, which poses the most risk for children and young people.
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