What might the next Gambling Act look like?
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The government is conducting a review into the Gambling Act 2005. The list of proposals for reform was supposed to be released in March, but nothing has been announced yet. The latest update from Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy Chris Philp was that it would appear in the coming months.
The Gambling Act was approved by Parliament in 2005 and came into force two years later. The Act's stated aims were to protect consumers and overhaul safety practices. Conservatives committed in their manifesto to a review of the 2005 Act.
The current legislation covering gambling needs a rethink. Issues relating to safer gambling are likely to be central to the review. The next Gambling Act might look like this.
The APPG for Gambling-related harm is discussing the government's proposed reforms to the G gambling law. The APP argues that the current responsible gambling approach is unsustainable because it takes the focus away from the addictive nature of gambling and makes any problems the customer's fault. The BGC stopped promoting ‘When the fun stops, stop’ in favour of “Take time to think”. It is the responsibility of the player to recognise when their gambling habits become problematic. This is a more considered approach than the previous one. i.e. the slogan ’When it stops it ends‘ was adopted in 2015.
Gambling Minister Chris Philp spoke at the GambleAware conference on 8th December. He said that preventing gambling-related harm is an essential objective of gambling regulation.
Philp wants to introduce a system of affordability checks. The Gambling Commission called for this last May. Philp suggests that the solution to this problem could be digital, with operators and banks working together to monitor customers’ activity. Some may argue that it's an intrusion on players' individual liberties, but on balance it needs to be enforced to prevent problem gambling. It's also necessary to force operators to recognise the signs of gambling harm.
The next Gambling Act review will look at the role of gambling-related advertising within sport. The 'whistle-to-whistler' ban introduced in 2019 had a substantial effect. Betting and Gaming Council wants further protection for children against gambling harms. However, the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and it's not the time to call for further bans. FIGC wrote to the Italian government earlier this year, asking for gambling advertising to be re-legalised.
Loot boxes are randomised rewards that players can pay real money for. Belgium and Netherlands banned them in 2018. UK government is considering a law change to make loot boxes gambling. The White Paper will probably include a reference to the fact that lootboxes are gambling in the definition. The Royal Society for Public Health has been campaigning for a change for some time. It's high time the government took a stand on loot box law. They are to all intents and purposes a form of gambling, as the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport claims.
The next Gambling Act might ban VIP programmes. Chris Bruney committed suicide in 2017 after losing over £30,000 in online bets. He had been a member of a VIP programme that had granted him VIP status and plied him with special offers. Last year, sites performed extra checks on players before allowing them to become VIPs. According to the BGC, this has led to a 70% drop in the number of VIP accounts set up since. The ban might disappoint some, but it will probably do the industry and players a world of good.
The government is considering a new Gambling Act. The White Paper is only a set of proposals. It will be subject to debate by Parliament and undergo more changes. Not all of the proposals outlined in the White paper will end up becoming law. The current G gambling act was being debated when a proposal for a network of so-called ‘supercasinos’ was dropped in 2007.
Gambling industry leaders have been cosying up to politicians during the review of the Gambling Act. Tory MP Lawrence Robertson was hired as an advisor by the BGC in October 2020 for £24,000 per month. He has since made speeches criticising harsher gambling laws. B GC Chair Michael Dugher served as MP from 2010 to 2017.
It's too early to comment on the effectiveness of any new gambling law.
There are concerns that tighter regulation might drive players into the arms of unregulated, black-market operators. However, it's hard to escape the conclusion that further regulation is needed.
