Gambling White Paper – Key Proposals: Children & Young adults

What How will it be implemented? Next steps Current status Implementation date
Minimum age of 18 to play football pools, society lotteries and cash pay-out Category D slot machines Secondary legislation Category D slot machines:

The Government intends to implement measures which introduce a legal age limit of 18 for ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines which includes low stake machines like coin push and slot-style fruit machines. For now, the Government does not intend to introduce measures which require ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines to be moved to age-restricted areas.

The Gambling Commission Summer 2023 consultation closed on 18 October 2023.

The DCMS consultation on measures relating to the land-based gambling sector, here, closed on 04 October 2023. The DCMS recently published its response here, as it relates to implementing a minimum age for Category D slot machines.

Category D slot machines:

The Government will make permitting, inviting or causing under 18s to play ‘cash-out’ Category D slot style machines a criminal offence through a draft affirmative statutory instrument.

The penalty for the offence of inviting, causing or permitting a child or young person to gamble as set out in s62(1) of the Gambling Act 2005 will remain the same.

TBC
Move from ‘Think 21’ to ‘Think 25’ for land-based licensees Social Responsibility and Ordinary Codes will be amended which will require all land-based licensees (including small-scale licensees) to implement ‘Think 25’. The Gambling Commission recently published its response, here, to which age verification procedures for land-based licensees will be stricter, with the requirement for all operators to implement ‘Think 25’. This change in age verification testing will be reflected in newly amended LCCP codes. The Gambling Commission Summer 2023 consultation closed on 18 October 2023.

The DCMS consultation on measures relating to the land-based gambling sector, here, closed on 04 October 2023.

Amended LCCP Ordinary codes (3.2.2, 3.2.4, 3.2.6 and 3.2.8) will come into force on 30 August 2024.
Introduction of test purchasing for small land-based operators Social Responsibility and Ordinary Codes will be amended which will require all land-based licensees (including small-scale licensees) to conduct age verification test purchasing. The Gambling Commission recently published its response, here, to which age verification procedures for land-based licensees will be stricter, with the requirement for operators to conduct age verification test purchasing – including small operators. The Gambling Commission Summer 2023 consultation closed on 18 October 2023.

The DCMS consultation on measures relating to the land-based gambling sector, here, closed on 04 October 2023.

Amended LCCP Social Responsibility codes (3.2.3, 3.2.5, and 3.2.7) will come into force on 30 August 2024.

LCCP Social Responsibility codes 3.2.4(5) and 3.2.6(6) will be removed as of 30 August 2024.

Increased powers for licensing authorities regarding gaming machines in premises with alcohol licences Secondary legislation Legislation to be made when Parliamentary time allows TBC