Stakeholders start to lose patience over UK gambling legislation delays

The UK government’s gambling white paper has been delayed by more than a year.

UK.- Both the gambling industry and campaigners seem to be finally losing patience with the eternal delays to the UK government’s overhaul of gambling legislation. Every time the long-awaited gambling white paper appears to be on the verge of publication, a cabinet reshuffle sees the person responsible moved somewhere else.

The gambling white paper was initially due a year ago. By mid-2022, it was to be published in “a few weeks” and leaked content suggested it was almost ready. But after two changes in prime minister and several changes at the department responsible for gaming, that never happened.

In early December, Paul Scully, who was handed the gambling brief, again used the phrase “in a few weeks” to define when we could expect the paper. Those few weeks have almost become a few months, and Scully’s just been moved from the post in yet another reshuffle that’s seen the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport reduced to the Department of Culture Media and Sport under Lucy Frazer.

It’s not yet been confirmed who will become the sixth minister in just over two years take on the gambling brief, but many stakeholders are starting to express the fact that they’ve had enough.

The UK gambling industry lobby and standards body the Betting and Gaming Council congratulated Frazer on her appointment but urged her to publish the gambling white paper without delay.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: “On behalf of the 110,000 people whose jobs rely on our members – we would like to warmly welcome Lucy on her new appointment. I know she is someone who is liked and respected across parliament, and her appointment comes at a critical time for our industry. From high streets to hospitality, from tourism to tech, our members generate £4.2bn in taxes for the Treasury and contribute £7.1bn to the economy in gross value added.

“There are still issues to finalise, but the long-awaited package of welcome reforms should be published without delay. We hope the new Secretary of State will listen to racing and to the millions of punters who are concerned about blanket, intrusive, low level ‘affordability’ checks driving people to the unsafe unregulated black market online. We also hope that as a sector supporting jobs and investment in the UK, recovering from the pandemic and facing tough economic headwinds, she will reject calls for any new taxes on the industry.

“We continue to call for big changes so that standards in safer gambling continue to improve, but these changes must be carefully targeted to protect the small minority who are at risk or vulnerable, and not interfere with the overwhelming majority who enjoy betting safely and responsibly.

“We have already called for an ombudsman to improve consumer redress and have engaged extensively with previous ministers. It’s time now for the government to end the damaging uncertainty and get on with publishing the white paper as soon as possible.”

Campaigners complain the gambling legislation delay “isn’t fair on anyone”

Meanwhile, campaigners have also called for haste. Steph Shilton, the wife of England great Peter Shilton, who struggled with gambling addiction, called on the government to publish the paper at a summit run by EPIC Risk Management and the UCFB’s Global Institute of Sport at Wembley.

“The government just keep kicking it down the road and it is so frustrating,” Shilton said. “In a weird way it is not fair on anyone. It is not fair on the gambling companies because everyone is in limbo. You can’t set budgets, you can’t do planning, so everyone is losing out in it being stalled. Why Rishi (Sunak) is not pushing it through I just don’t know because it is there ready.

“The whole time the numbers of people being affected are totting up. It will also benefit treatment, prevention and education and I don’t think number 10 get that. I don’t think they understand the need for it and the stability it would bring in terms of protecting and safeguarding.”

Meanwhile, EPIC programme facilitator and former footballer Scott Davies told PA: “The longer it has been delayed, the more of a negative impact on people it has had when it comes to gambling. More and more people are being affected.

“The last couple of years with Covid, I have people reach out to me who work at home and their jobs are in jeopardy or footballers who are unsure of their contracts, they are at home searching for that risk and buzz element.

“It has been quite dramatic the increase in the number of people reaching out for different reasons, so the white paper will be massive when it does come out. It will shine a lot on it and the work we do, what the Pro Sport Advisory Board do and their findings, it will all help.”