Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her regulatory policies of the use of category C gaming tablets by high street casinos, in the context of regulations on combined numbers of category B3 and C machines.

No more than 20% of the total number of gaming machines made available for use in an adult gaming centre or licensed bingo premises are permitted to be Category B machines. The other gaming machines made available for use must be Category C machines or Category D machines. This rule is known as the ‘80/20 rule'. It does not apply to casinos or other land-based gambling venues.

The Gambling Commission provides guidance around the circumstances in which a machine is available for use, which sets out when a machine can count towards the 80/20 rule. The guidance notes that in relation to tablets, licensees should ensure that there is sufficient floorspace in the premises to permit counted tablets to be used simultaneously.

We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform our decisions on the proposals in the previous government’s 2023 gambling white paper, including proposed changes to the 80/20 rule.