Ms Susannah Gill:

I thank the committee for the kind reference to the committee's visiting BetFair. I am glad the committee found that useful. Hopefully that showed that most of the leading operators in the online sector are already very active in this area and are undertaking many initiatives to help our customers, whether on the education or practical side regarding the tools available to them. The problem is that there is no level playing field to ensure all operators must do that, which is why the Bill is so welcome. We can ensure that everything leading operators such as BetFair are already doing to educate their customers and provide information and tools is established across the board. For example, if customers want to self-exclude themselves that information could be shared centrally so if someone excludes themselves from BetFair they cannot sign up to Paddy Power online the next day. In that way all stakeholders will work together and pool our resources and energies to create a system that will help long-term with that small section of people who have a problem with gambling.