asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have made an assessment of the number of online gambling sites identified in the research carried out by the children's charity NCH in 2005 which have now put in place robust systems to prevent under-age persons from gambling on their websites. [HL651]

The Government have not conducted an assessment of this nature. The Government are, however, aware that since the study, many operators have sought to improve their age verification procedures.

We have included robust provisions within the Gambling Act 2005 to protect children and young persons from gambling. These include a specific requirement on remote gambling operators to implement effective age verification procedures, which, if breached, could mean the loss of that operator's gambling licence and/or a financial penalty, as well as the return of stakes by the operator to any player found to be under age, among other protections.