While warning that “Nobody is going to get everything they want,” the new U.K. minister in charge of gambling, Paul Scully, has promised to do everything he can “to make sure that horseracing and the betting sector can thrive.”
The warning to the betting sectors came as the government is about to publish the long-awaited White Paper to update the Gambling Act of 2005.
Scully, who is in charge of racing and gambling through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), was speaking at a reception put on for Members of Parliament by the Betting and Gaming Council, BHA, Racecourse Association and Thoroughbred Group.
Scully was short of specifics but called for balancing the right of people to gamble while protecting at risk persons from harm.
He stated, “When we talk about affordability checks, when we talk about the levy, when we talk about looking at stakes and other things, we know that gambling harm is a comparatively low number of people but the impact is absolutely massive when it goes wrong. So how do we get that balance right?”
He added, “To the last minute, until we get that white paper out, I will keep those conversations going and then beyond because the white paper is a moment in time, it’s not a silver bullet that everything is done when the publication of the white paper happens.”
He said the Gambling Commission would hold consultations with stakeholders and promised to engage with the two sectors and their critics.
He added, “Both sectors have a clear interest in making racing as attractive as possible to customers and I am going to encourage you to work even closer together.”
