The U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee into the regulation of gambling will begin taking public input on the white paper the government recently released, according to iGB.
Stakeholders have until July 14 to submit their views on three questions: 1) Name the most welcome proposal in the white paper, 2) Name any significant gaps in the reforms and 3) What barriers are there to delivering the reforms by the summer of 2024?
That date is before the next national election, which could bring in a different government that might have different solutions for the gambling industry.
Some lawmakers have accused the government of dragging its feet in consulting with members of the industry. Lord Grade of Yarmouth, a member of the House of Lords, declared in May, “How long will it take to have more consultations?” He added, “That is a concern. This reminds me of the great saying in the film industry, ‘hurry up and wait’, when you get to the location and everybody is standing around, ready, but nothing happens. We are ready to go with this.”
December 2022 the CMS select committee launched an investigation on impending gambling regulation following criticisms that not enough was being done to protect vulnerable people from gambling-related harms.
That was in addition to the Gambling Act Review, which produced the long-awaited white paper, which was released in April.
