The Gambling Commission has been asked by the Prime Minister to prioritise growth, but will the regulator heed the call and allow the amusements, gaming and gambling industry to help Britain get back on track, or will it continue to stifle the sector’s growth plans?

The Prime Minister has called on “every regulator” to prioritise growth – but will the Gambling Commission play ball?

In letters sent from the Government last week, Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said they wanted to see “concrete proposals” from regulators setting out how they could “go further” to “prioritise growth”. They are “determined that every department and every regulator should prioritise growth” – and so that must include the regulator for the gambling industry.

“Improving regulation in the UK – ensuring that it enables growth and does not unduly hold back investment – is an essential part of this Government’s growth mission,” read the letter. “This is a shared endeavour in which we all have a stake, and therefore we would like your support in delivering it.”

While the FCA, Ofgem, Ofwat and the CMA are among the bodies reported to have received letters, it has not yet been revealed if the Commission directly received the same edict. The Prime Minister’s plea comes after a tough economic start to Labour’s term in office, with figures published just before Christmas showing there was no growth between July and September – and even a small recession at the end of 2023. Restoring growth forms the basis of Starmer’s first “mission” in Government, with Labour aiming to make the UK the fastest growing economy in the G7. To achieve this, every regulator will have to chip-in.

And there’s a lot of chips on the Gambling Commission’s plate; the industry has long called for a release from over-burdensome regulation, not just those restrictive blocks to innovation, technical standards and machine numbers, but also the bureaucratic red tape that is literally bombarding small to medium sized businesses with cluster bombs of form after form.

It’s a position the Government seems to understand. “This collaborative effort is essential to ensure that our regulatory environment becomes more pro-growth and pro-investment,” the letter continued. “We respect the independence of regulators and are committed to working with you to achieve these objectives.”

Starmer had already signalled his aim of removing red tape, telling the government’s flagship International Investment Summit in the autumn: “We’ve got to look at regulation across the piece, and where it is needlessly holding back the investment we need to take our country forward.”

Thanks to industry trade bodies Bacta, the Gambling Business Group and the Bingo Association, the Commission and the relevant government ministers should already know which regulations are holding back the amusements, gaming and gambling industry. In fact, some of them are on the table to be updated once the gambling review proposals finally get implemented. Unfortunately, the soundings from the regulator, particularly on technical standards, machine ratios and debit card use, are not promising. Neither too, however, is the lack of movement at the DCMS on stakes and prizes for over a decade.All obstacles to the industry’s growth. There is still significant movement to make.

Hopefully Starmer’s letter will speed these up while reminding the Commission that it doesn’t just exist to publish research and punish wrong-doers, it exists to protect both the industry and the nation – and the industry and nation needs growth.