UK Government Must Take BGC Advice in Gambling Reform
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The UK government will publish its Gambling Act review white paper in the next few months. It will be the first major update to the gambling legislation since 2005. The industry contributed $2.8bn to government coffers last year. Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Michael Dugher provided some advice for the government on Monday.
UK Government Must Take BGC Advice in Gambling Reform. Look towards the evidence. In a Telegraph column Dugher reiterated an argument often heard in opposition to gambling regulation reform. He urged the government to follow an “evidence-led” approach to avoid a rise in black market gambling. France, Norway, Italy, and Spain have tough restrictions on gambling, while Sweden imposed strict deposit limits for online casino gambling during the pandemic.
BGC CEO Dugher believes that gambling's opponents are not interested in safer gambling but in reducing gambling. He also believes a smaller regulated industry means fewer jobs and less revenue for the Chancellor. The gambling industry supports 119,000 jobs through betting shops, hospitality, and tech. The introduction of a £2 limit for online casino games and a similar limit on fixed-odds betting terminals in the UK has resulted in more than 1,00 betting shop closures since 2019.
The proportion of young people who gamble fell from 23% to 11% between 2011 and 2019. Dugher believes the government should focus on child protection in its Gambling Act reform. The BGC has consistently funded efforts to increase gambling education in the young. The industry has a history of supporting such reform and introduced a “whistle to whistle” ban on TV betting advertising during live sport in 2019, which slashed the amount of TV gambling ads seen by 4 to 17-year-olds by 97%.
