The UK House of Lords Select Committee wants information on how gaming in the country is affecting society and individuals with gambling disorders. The committee has called for new research seeking evidence and testimony from throughout the industry as well as gambling advocacy groups.
The committee said it will focus on improving knowledge, data and research on “development of gambling habits.” It contends that current efforts to help problem gamblers may have been hurt by a “lack of accurate estimates of the extent of the problem.”
With the publishing of an official “call for evidence,” the research project will assess whether the UK’s 2005 Gambling Act has achieved its aim of “preventing gambling from becoming a crime or disorder.” The research will also examine the results of a voluntary levy on gaming businesses to fund problem gambling treatment.
The move comes as calls to increase the levy and make it mandatory have been gaining traction in Parliament.
“We know that the effects of gambling on individuals and families can be devastating,” said Lord Michael Grade of Yarmouth, chairman of the committee in a press release. “This committee seeks further to understand the issues in an area where concrete evidence is lacking, and to explore options for improvement. The committee is keen to receive evidence from a wide range of individuals, organizations and any sectors or groups in society effected. We encourage anyone with experience of the issues to share their views, and participate in this vital inquiry.” The committee will accept submissions through September 6.
In a related matter, five of the country’s top bookmaking firms announced an initiative to offer more protections for problem gamblers. Bet365, William Hill, Flutter Entertainment, Sky Betting & Gaming and GVC Holdings all say they are committed to a “package of safer gambling measures and support for problem gamblers.”
The group of bookmakers said they held discussions with the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on measures to fund an “expansion of treatment for problem gamblers” and initiatives to create a safer gambling environment.
The announcement comes as several UK bookmakers have proposed increasing their voluntary payment for treating and studying gambling disorders. UK bookmakers are asked to give 0.1 percent of profits to gambling programs, but the group of leading bookmakers has pledged to increase their funding to a full 1 percent by 2023 and spend a “cumulative £100 million on treatment over the next four years.”
“This is an unprecedented level of commitment and collaboration by the leading companies in the British betting and gaming sector to address gambling-related harm and promote safer gambling,” said Peter Jackson, group chief executive of Flutter Entertainment. “The whistle-to-whistle advertising ban was a good start; now we are funding a significant expansion in treatment and we continue to work on a number of areas of collaboration and best practice. Our aim is nothing less than a step change in how we tackle gambling-related harm.”
But the move to voluntarily increase payments has been criticized in UK media as simply an attempt to head off a mandatory fee. UK Labor Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson continues to call for a mandatory levy on gambling firms to fix the “broken” industry.
“The gambling market is broken and it’s up to the government to fix it,” Watson said in the House of Commons recently. “We don’t just need a voluntary patch. We need a full overhaul of the rules and regulations.”
Reports this spring showed that UK gaming companies had fallen short of a £10 million target in voluntary donations to the leading charity GambleAware in 2018-19, with some firms ensuring their presence on the list by giving only £1 or £5.
The UK Gambling Commission’s second annual enforcement report states that £19.6 million in penalties were assessed against UK gambling companies in the last year. The commission said in a press release that it had carried out more than 160 investigations in the 2018/2019 financial year and had imposed a variety of sanctions on operators, including the financial penalties.
Among the firms to be fined were online casino company Daub Alderney, which was ordered to pay £7.1 million, and Paddy Power Betfair, now Flutter Entertainment, which was fined £2.2 million.
The commission said a number of companies had failed to detect customers at risk of becoming problem gamblers and found repeated examples of customers being allowed to gamble significant sums of money in short time frames, beyond their personal affordability, without any intervention from the operator.
“I want gambling consumers in Britain to be able to enjoy the fairest and safest gambling in the world and I want gambling operators to work with us to put customer enjoyment and safety at the top of their corporate agenda,” said Neil McArthur, commission chief executive in the release. “As the report shows, we will be tough when we find operators bending the rules or failing to meet our expectations, but we also want to try and minimize the need for such action by providing advice, a program of support material and compliance activity to help operators get things right in the first place.”
The report said a “substantial number” of investigations had been carried out in the online gambling sector last year, and added that some operators were found to have anti-money laundering policies that were not up to commission standards.
