Paul Scully: UK gambling white paper “not the end” of the debate
The UK minister responsible for gambling says discussions on gambling reforms will continue after legislation is amended.
UK.- Paul Scully, the British minister responsible for gambling, has advised the sector that the conclusion of the government’s review of legislation will not be the end of discussions on gambling’s impact on society.
Speaking at GambleAware‘s tenth annual conference, Scully repeated his promise that the delayed gambling white paper will be published “in a few weeks”, while still avoiding anything more specific than that. However, he said the debate will continue beyond that.
“We’re determined to make sure that the review gets the right protections in place,” he said. “I am pleased to confirm that we are keen to publish it in the coming weeks. But I want to make clear that the white paper is not the end of our discussions on these matters.”
He said he recognised the frustration with the delay and the number of people who have been at the helm of the review.
“I am aware that you’ve seen a few different faces in the role of gambling minister in the last six months,” he told the conference. “It is a challenging brief, but one that I have enjoyed getting stuck into, and I look forward to the very important work that we will be doing.”
Scully said that the aim of the review of the 2005 Gambling Act is still in line with the Conservative Party’s manifesto pledge to “ensure that UK gambling is fit for the digital age”, noting that today’s gambling landscape “is entirely different to 2005”.
He said: “We are in a good position in this country, in that most gambling is done in the licensed sector, where operators have to comply with Gambling Commission rules to keep their licence. We want that to remain the position.
“Within that licensed sector, we have to be continually alert to make sure we have the right protections and safety nets, and that they are working as they should.”
However, he expressed concern with the last Health Survey for England, which estimated 246,000 people were problem gamblers, with 1.6 million at risk of suffering harm. He said the government would create up to 15 specialist NHS gambling addiction clinics by 2023/2024.
Scully praised the Gambling Commission’s heightened enforcement activity over the last 12 months, noting that “in the past year alone we’ve seen a number of operators pay out over £45m because of regulatory failures – two of the largest operators alone have paid £26m”.
He added: “By comparison, in the whole of the 2016/17 financial year, the Commission took action against three operators who paid £1.7m due to regulatory failures.”
