Gambling: Offshore Bookmakers

14:36:00

Lord James of Blackheath
asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Whether, following the adoption of a new law in France in March 2007 and recent guidance from the European Commission, they will reconsider banning advertising by offshore bookmakers soliciting new accounts from members of the public without establishing that they are aged 18 or older.

Lord Davies of Oldham
My Lords, the Government have seen no evidence to warrant changing the new protections brought in by the Gambling Act 2005. It is an offence under the Act for any operator to invite children to gamble and for offshore operators to advertise in the UK unless they are in the European Economic Area or are permitted to do so by the Secretary of State.

Lord James of Blackheath
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer, which suggests that the full extent of his research has not been completed. The law that has just been passed by the former Minister of the Interior, one Nicolas Sarkozy, which came into effect a year ago, has had the somewhat unusual effect of making it a crime, equal to the downloading of child pornography, to place a bet for as much as €2 with any British bookmaker. The penalty in each case is a year in prison and a €75,000 fine. Does the noble Lord consider that this is a fair and reasonable exercise in maintaining a level playing field within what he refers to as the European Community and that it is compatible with the designation he has given of a company therefore being exempt from the ban on advertising that would apply? Will he not now move to restore a level playing field by extending the ban on advertising to all bookmakers operating from France into the United Kingdom?

Lord Davies of Oldham
My Lords, the playing field may be levelled by the French being obliged to take action. I am sure the noble Lord will appreciate that the French took their action not in defence of the consumer but in defence of their state monopoly on gambling. I am surprised that a representative from the opposition Benches is backing that action. Suffice it to say that the European Commission has made it clear that the French law is not acceptable within the framework of the European Community and, as a consequence, we have no intention of following that atrocious example.

Lord Clement-Jones
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord James, has raised an important point about age verification by offshore gambling organisations. Have not the Government been sitting on this issue, which was brought to their attention well over a year ago? It is a fundamental flaw of the Gambling Act that operators in the EU and in Gibraltar are allowed to have lower standards of age verification than those in the UK. Surely the Government do not want that to continue and so disadvantage UK operators.

Lord Davies of Oldham
My Lords, we certainly want a level playing field as far as we are able to establish that. The noble Lord is right. Gibraltar is within the European Economic Area and therefore has the right to advertise in the United Kingdom. Our own regulations have been in place for only six months and there have been very few complaints to the Gambling Commission about any aspect of underage gambling. It is in the interests of those providing the services to obey British law, which is clear in these terms. At the moment, although we are keeping a careful eye on it, as the noble Lord enjoins us to do, we see no reason for changing our regulatory framework, which seems to be working satisfactorily.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester
My Lords, my noble friend will recall that I asked him a Question on 5 December about discussions with Gibraltar over the quality of gambling regulation there. I drew his attention to the fact that standards adopted by the authorities in Gibraltar fall well short of those adopted in this country; the noble Lord, Lord James, referred to some of those in his Question. I ask my noble friend again whether he has had any discussions with Gibraltar with a view to it getting its act together and improving what it does.

Lord Davies of Oldham
My Lords, Gibraltar features prominently in these issues because it is within the European Community and therefore has these privileges in the British market. Its regulatory framework is not as robust as ours; I am not sure that we would expect it to be, given the limited resources of the Gibraltan state. It is also the case that the Gibraltarians will not readily take lectures from other authorities. However, we have indicated that we expect their standards to match ours in the crucial aspects, to which this Question refers, of advertising and offering accounts to people who are potentially underage. We will monitor that with the greatest care.