The U.K. Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) Executive Director for Policy Development Tim Miller recently summed up the goals of the government as it wraps up its first set of Gambling White Paper consultations and prepares for the next set scheduled for early winter.
“[W]e are focused on getting it right,” he said, followed by “More haste, less speed remains the aim,” Yogonet reported September 25. Miller was speaking at the recent Regulating the Game Conference.
The commission seeks to combine the responses from the first batch of consultations, which ends October 18, to the second set. Its four summer consultations generated more than 1,800 responses from gambling reform stakeholders, including operators and suppliers.
He told the international gathering he couldn’t say how long it will take UKGC to read and review all the responses and put together its own responses, but stressed the importance of thoroughness. “We will continue to work at pace, but as we’ve said before since the White Paper was published, we are focused on getting it right,” he said.
According to Yogonet, Miller continued, “And that’s important because we are already moving forward to launch another batch of consultations in early winter. Although not yet finalized, I can tell you that this tranche will contain important opportunities for people to have your say on proposals.”
He said the fast pace was “achievable” and that it would “balance the implementation of the White Paper recommendations with the needs of others whose views we want as part of those consultations.”
The consultations began in July and have covered issues that include conducting financial risk assessments for problem gambling and whether stake limits should be required for players of online slots. The consultations are also looking at out-of-date regulations related to casinos and bingo halls. The last time U.K. gambling laws were updated was 2005.
There is one glitch in the process: The commission has announced that due to an error in data provided in official documentation, the October deadline for the consultation on stake limits for online slots has been extended. This consultation focuses on proposals to impose a maximum stake limit for spins.
The current limit for land-based slot machines is £2. A limit ranging from £2 to £15 is proposed.
Miller added, “The White Paper has over 60 areas of work and at the Gambling Commission we are clear this will likely take a number of years to fully complete. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make rapid progress in a number of key areas and as many of you will already be aware of, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing over the Summer.”
The commission will launch its Gambling Survey in 2024, which Miller said will be “the largest survey of its type” in the world. He bragged that it would become the “gold standard” for participation and prevalence data, with questions “for the digital age.”
Per Yogonet, he added that this would be “a key area where the Commission will make a major contribution to White Paper implementation will be improving the data and improving the evidence base.”
The U.K. gambling sector is the world’s largest licensed online marketplace, with a yield of more than £10 billion, minus lotteries. Preserving that status is something the commission appreciates.
The commission’s main concerns are to prevent crime, ensure fairness and protect the vulnerable consumer.
According to SBC News, the commission’s objectives for affordability checks are largely misunderstood, said Miller.
The discussion, he said, has been muddied by “deliberate misinformation meant to obscure the debate and hinder the implementation of the Government’s policy,” an opinion he shares with commission CEO Andrew Rhodes.
He noted that the commission prioritizes frictionless financial risk assessments. Such checks would mainly be conducted by credit reference agencies without that showing up on consumer credit scores.
The commission also insists that only 3 percent of accounts would be impacted and that in instances where a credit reference check is required, consumers would be asked to agree to limited data sharing through a third-party provider, impacting 0.3 percent of accounts.
Financial vulnerability checks would employ a “light touch,” said Miller. They will check about one-fifth of accounts using public data to determine if players are at risk financially, e.g. bankruptcy.
This has raised questions about whether the government will have enough time to complete all the consultations before the general election in January 2025.
Miller urged those who are concerned about misconceptions, “to actually read what we’ve published at the start of September and then share your views.”
Miller praised the industry for leading in the creation of an ombudsman, without being pushed by the government. This will allow for a quick introduction, “which will deliver consumer benefits sooner,” he said.
That doesn’t mean the UKGC will automatically implement the industry’s proposals. According to SBC , he said, “In short, we will not hardwire into our rulebook a model of redress that is compromised and does not deliver for the consumers.”
