British Gambling Commission working on white paper implementation
But it won’t have much time for anything else.
UK.- Last week, the UK government finally published its gambling white paper proposing legislative changes to update the 2005 Gambling Act. Many of the paper’s proposals are for more consultations, many to be overseen by the Gambling Commission.
The regulator says it’s already working on the implementation of the proposals and will soon launch some of the required consultations.
Providing an update on the Gambling Commission website, executive director for research and policy Tim Miller said: “Whilst the implementation of the white paper – which has over 60 areas of work for the Gambling Commission alone – will likely take a number of years to fully complete, that doesn’t mean we can’t make rapid progress in a number of key areas.
“Already, project teams have been pulled together to start work on the various recommendations that the white paper has made and where actions have been set out for the Commission.”
Miler noted that a number of white paper objectives are intended to be delivered through Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) – the rule book for British licensed gambling operators – rather than new legislation. The regulator is obliged to consult on any changes to the code and to take feedback into consideration, and it intends to begin consultations as soon as this summer.
“It is our intention that the first set of white paper-related LCCP consultations will be published this summer and pre-consultation engagement with stakeholders will have begun in a number of other policy areas,” Miller wrote.
“Importantly, these consultations will be sharply focussed on how changes are implemented. Whilst not all, many questions of public policy have been settled by the white paper itself. Where they have, our consultations will not be an opportunity to reopen those debates.
“Whilst we will move quickly to start implementing white paper commitments, we will also want to ensure that as wide a variety of experiences and expertise inform the way that those commitments are turned into practical reality. History shows too many examples of well-meaning policy changes having unintended consequences for the public due to the way they were implemented in the real world. We will not want to make that mistake.
Little space for other gambling policy issues
Miller stressed that the amount of work required to implement the white paper proposals means that it will have little scope for addressing other areas.
“The Commission will be focussed upon our role in delivering the comprehensive package of reforms that the government set out last week,” he wrote.
“The white paper gave a commitment to increasing our regulatory powers to tackle illegal gambling and to facilitating cross-government collaboration on a number of areas, which will help us deliver on our growing regulatory responsibilities.
“The scale of work outlined in the white paper is significant, and rightly so. This will be the dominant policy initiative for the Commission over the next few years as we move through the stages of development, implementation, evaluation and review.
“Stakeholders will also need to consider and input into each of these stages and it is important we make it possible to do this in a manageable way. The scale of change, even with increased resources in future, means there will be very little space for the Commission to consider other policy developments not included in the white paper.
No relaxation on compliance
However, Miller emphasised that the regulator will not relax on compliance monitoring. “This focus on implementing the recommendations in the white paper as quickly as possible will not distract us from continuing to robustly pursue compliance with our existing requirements,” he insisted.
“Where gambling operators fail to meet our standards we will continue to take action to protect consumers and raise standards, whilst at the same time playing our part in meeting the government’s ambition of delivering gambling reform for the digital age.”
The gambling industry, or at least the largest operators, has largely welcomed the white paper proposals. However, the reaction among those working in gambling research, education and treatment has been mixed. Many welcomed confirmation of a proposal for a mandatory levy on gambling operators to fund their work but raised concerns about how it will work, which will be subject to future consultation.
