Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport written question – answered at on 22 July 2026.
Rebecca Paul
Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons)
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the Gambling Commission's proposed affordability checks for bets of more than £1,000 on the horse racing industry.
Ian Murray
Minister of State
The Government recognises the significant contribution that racing makes to British sporting culture and its importance to the British economy. Horseracing is the only sport in receipt of a direct government-mandated levy which helps to drive improvements in the sport.
On 7 July the Gambling Commission announced that its Board has decided to implement Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) in a careful, phased way. The Government has been supportive of the policy intent behind these assessments, and welcomes their decision to do this in a careful phased way.
The vast Majority of consumers will not face any change to their customer experience. A consumer who undergoes an FRA as a result of a net deposit of £1000 or more in a 24 hour period will not automatically be subject to operator action, such as account restrictions. It will instead be for the operator to determine whether or not action is needed, based on both FRA data and the data they already have on the consumer. It is therefore right that the Commission is taking a phased approach to implementation, to ensure that operators are given as clear guidance as possible on options for responding to an FRA.
We recognise the horseracing sector has concerns about FRAs. Both the Minister for Gambling and the Gambling Commission have met the British Horseracing Authority and wider racing stakeholders to discuss these concerns. We would now encourage the sector to engage constructively with the Commission during the upcoming implementation phase.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
