Another cabinet reshuffle on February 7 by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak means a new Culture secretary, and therefore another delay in the release of the White Paper detailing proposed changes to the Gambling Act of 2005.
The change replaced Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan with Lucy Frazer. Moreover, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is being returned to its former title and job as Department for Culture, Media and Sport—which oversees gambling.
As reported by CDC Gaming Reports, Paul Scully, who was in charge of gambling and lotteries for a few months, said the new minister would probably need to catch up before the White Paper is published.
The White Paper has been anticipated by the industry since 2020, when the Covid pandemic delayed it for two years. Then political drama, such as having three prime ministers in as many months last summer, intervened to add other delays. There have also been five culture secretaries since 2020.
Now the best guess for a publication date is around the end of March. Critics continue to lambast the process, saying that the reforms promised by the White Paper could already be out of date by the time they even see the light of day.
Betting and Gaming Council Chief Executive Michael Dugher told CDC, “It’s time now for the government to end the damaging uncertainty and get on with publishing the White Paper as soon as possible.”
