The Gambling Reform APPG has this week launched an enquiry into the Future of Gambling Regulation in the UK.
The group, which has been consistently ignored – and for good reason given its prohibitionist stance, effectively wants to restart the Gambling Review debate and, by default or design, push reform and modernisation of the industry back another decade.
The industry and the third sector charities that are actively engaged in the safe gambling arena have been working in a framework set in 2005, and it’s taken twenty years for successive governments to finally lead stakeholders to a Gambling Act Review that reached cross-party approval last spring.
Interrupted by the general election, the momentum has stalled – prompting the APPG to now seek a complete review of the review.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Chair of the APPG for Gambling Reform, explained: “The previous Government’s White Paper marked a step in the right direction by beginning to address some of the challenges posed by today’s gambling industry. However, it is clear that much more needs to be done to ensure our regulatory framework is fit for the digital age to protect people from harm. This inquiry will play a crucial role in shaping our recommendations to Government, and I strongly encourage organisations and individuals to submit evidence to help inform our work.”
In fairness, who is IDS kidding – many consider the APPG a gaggle of anti-gambling zealots who, like every stakeholder, had their say at the last round of consultations – and they have continued to shout their prohibition message, much of which the industry has taken on board.
Their real problem, however, is credibility; the official facts from the Gambling Commission, the NHS and the local authorities do not fit their narrative. Neither do the stats they publicly quote from their own sources.
But, their enquiry is on the go, so expect noise on proliferation, machine numbers, problem gambling and suicides.
And then, consult the official statistics – AGCs down one third since 2008; gambling machines in AGCs down 20 percent since 2008; NHS problem gambling rates currently stand at 0.4 percent; and gambling related suicides number one and not 496 as quoted by gambling charities.
The final date for submissions to the APPG is Friday 12 September. The remit includes the suitability of current gambling regulations; the suitability of proposed liberalisation set out in the White Paper; the efficacy of the Gambling Commission; the status of gambling harm prevention.
Sound familiar? Well it should, the sector has been discussing this for over six years and eventually reached universal agreement in 2024.
It’s been two decades since the last Gambling Act – the APPG’s intervention would knock modernisation into decade number three. That will leave the industry operating with legislation that was actually formulated in the 19th century when Sir Alan Budd was considering the invitation to compile a definitive report on gambling reform.
