Industry reacts to UK gambling proposals

Groups have begun to express responses to UK politicians’ proposals for radical changes in gambling legislation.

UK.- Responses have begun to arrive to proposals published this week by the All-Party Group on Gambling-Related Harm (APPG).

The group published its final report on Tuesday with recommendations on radical changes to UK gambling legislation, including a ban on gambling adverts, an end to VIP schemes, limits to stakes on online slots and new controls over the design of games.

The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents the UK’s largest gambling operators, highlighted its record in boosting player protections, including members’ recent pledge to contribute £100million (€111.4million) to treatment services, and warned against introducing measures that could drive players to the illegal market.

A spokesperson said: “We are committed to making even more changes and to driving up safer gambling standards further, and we look forward to working with the government on their forthcoming review.

“Of course there will always be people who are anti-gambling and prohibitionists who are not interested in the fact the regulated industry supports over 100,000 jobs and pays over £3billion in tax.

“But we have to avoid measures that could drive people away from gambling safely with online companies who operate in what is rightly already a heavily regulated market, to instead gambling online with the unregulated, offshore, black market, illegal operators that don’t conform to any standards or safeguards to protect problem gamblers and the most vulnerable.”

The UK’s regulator, the Gambling Commission, meanwhile, responded to the APPG report’s claim that the regulator was “not fit for purpose”.

The report called for a review of the Commission’s role and its capacity to regulate online gambling and called for the creation of a new ombudsman to oversee disputes. 

The Commission said: “We are committed to drastically reducing gambling harm and it is untrue to say that we are not fit for purpose. We are making gambling safer through a programme of tough enforcement and compliance activity and in the last two years we have strengthened protections including online age and ID verification, customer interaction, and in April we banned gambling on credit cards.

“Our recent work with the industry has seen strengthened online advertising rules to better protect vulnerable groups and later this week we will open a consultation on VIP practices. We will shortly be opening consultations on safer game design, along with further customer interaction measures including reverse withdrawals, which follows our strengthened guidance to operators as a result of novel coronavirus (Covid-19).”

The advertising industry also criticised the report’s recommendation for a ban on gambling advertising.

The Advertising Association, which represents advertising agencies in the UK, said a complete ban on gambling advertising was unnecessary given current controls and could have negative economic consequences. 

AA Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, said: “[existing] rules clearly require gambling operators to be socially responsible and to protect the vulnerable, as well as under 18s.

“As new evidence emerges, the ASA and Gambling Commission consider this and amend the rules if they believe the evidence supports change.

“At this time, we believe a total ban is not necessary – such an action has wide implications, particularly for the support of sports across media channels, something enjoyed by millions of people right across the UK.”

The UK’s Advertising Standards agency published a report last month that found that exposure to gambling advertising among minors was at its lowest level since 2008.

Despite the criticism against the report, it was welcomed by advocacy groups, who said there was public support for tighter controls on gambling. 

Clean up Gambling, a new group founded by Matt Zarb-Cousin, has released a study that found 43 per cent of respondents believed current safeguards were insufficient.

The study of 1,525 adults carried out by market research group Survation found 82 per cent of respondents were in favour of deposit limits, with 44 per cent calling for a limit of below £50 and 55 per cent believing individual stakes should be limited to £4.99 or less.

Zarb-Cousin said: “The public’s view is clear: children should not be exposed to gambling advertising at all, and there should be reasonable limits on how much can be deposited into an online gambling account and on how much can be staked on addictive slots. 

“And a growing number of MPs and Peers in Parliament, across all political parties, agree with this sentiment. The government should commence its review of the Gambling Act as soon as possible to bring our outdated gambling laws into the digital age.”