'Alarm bells should be ringing for punters' as gambling review details emerge

Racing's funding could be reduced by tens of millions of pounds due to proposals for affordability checks on punters believed to be in the British government’s gambling review, the sport has been warned.

It was reported last week that any checks proposed in the government's forthcoming gambling review white paper would be 'non intrusive', but there are concerns customers could still be required to provide personal financial documents.

However, with this government now threatened with collapse after the resignations of the chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday evening, the publication of the white paper and the policy that lies behind it is thrown into deep uncertainty.

The Racing Post understands that a proposal contained in the white paper places the threshold for enhanced checks at a net loss of £2,000 over a 90-day period.

It is also understood that ministers intend to bring forward the timing of a review of the levy system to this autumn, which would be regarded within British racing as a success for the sport's lobbying efforts.

However, Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) chief executive Michael Dugher claimed changes proposed by the government could still have "a drastic impact on the funding of the sport".

Affordability checks are set to be a feature of the government's proposals and have been the issue which has caused most concern for both punters and British racing's leadership.

It has been estimated the annual cost to the sport's revenues could reach as much as £100 million if the most draconian proposals at levels as low as a monthly loss of £100 were enacted, requiring intrusive checks on customers' financial information such as bank statements and wage slips.

Despite the government setting the threshold much higher, the BGC has claimed that a considerable number of racing bettors would still be caught up in such checks.

It also voiced concerns that the checks would still be intrusive, despite a report in The Times newspaper last week to the contrary, and called on ministers to direct the Gambling Commission to ensure they do not request sensitive financial information from punters.

The government is said to favour 'soft' credit checks, but customers would still have to agree to give credit reference agencies access to their financial information.

Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Michael Dugher

Contacted by the Racing Post, Dugher said: "I have not seen the white paper but, from what we believe is the case, alarm bells should be ringing among punters and racing about what the real impact of the government's potential affordability checks would be.

"At BGC we have strongly supported enhanced spending checks for online gambling, and we've spent a lot of time talking to the government about that.

"It's really about ensuring two things. That the government is targeting checks and any restrictions for those who are at risk, those who are vulnerable and those who are showing signs of problem gambling, but they leave the vast majority of punters who do bet safely alone. The issue then becomes about what levels and the nature of the checks, and I think there is some concern."

Dugher said that gambling minister Chris Philp had told MPs the thresholds for affordability checks would be set "in the thousands".

He added: "To go for £2,000 but over 90 days is stretching the credibility of that assertion because what you are really looking at is £600 a month."

Dugher said the argument that such checks would not sweep up what he described as "genuine" punters "is just not true", and that while it was good the government understood the need for non-intrusive checks it now needed to follow through.

He added: "They've got to be explicit in the white paper and in the direction that they give to the Gambling Commission that checks at that kind of level genuinely have to be non-intrusive, and that they won't default to a demand for documentation – wage slips and bank statements.

"They need to be wary of the impact that asking customers for consent to access their private financial data has in terms of leading to an exodus of customers to the unsafe and unregulated black market."

Dugher argued another concern was the potential repercussions for racing, which is already witnessing the results of the cost of living crisis. The betting industry believes the consequences of checking documents on the levy would be between £20m and £30m.

He said: "They've come through two horrendous years and just at the point when they are still financially very weak and vulnerable, you could be seeing the government pulling the rug from under them in terms of what will amount to be a serious reduction in funding from betting."

The levy, British racing's central funding system, was last reformed in 2017 when it was extended to operators based overseas. That boosted annual yields to more than £90m.

The 2017 reforms are not officially up for review until 2024, but racing's leaders have been pressing for that date to be moved forward, with calls for the levy to be changed to a turnover-based model from gross profits, and for it to be extended to bets placed on foreign racing. It has been estimated the latter could add £30m a year to the levy yield.

The Racing Post understands that, as part of the white paper, the government has said that it recognises the contribution horseracing makes to Britain, that it wants to avoid the sport suffering any unintended consequences as a result of affordability checks and is therefore bringing forward the levy review to this autumn.

However, Dugher said: "We've no problem with discussions on levy reform beginning earlier, but racing shouldn't be fooled into believing that the bigger changes in the white paper couldn't potentially have a drastic impact on the funding of the sport.

"In terms of arguments about non-intrusive checks they shouldn't necessarily fall for it. The devil is very much in the detail here."

The white paper, which will set out the government's proposals for reform of gambling legislation to make it "fit for the digital age", is expected to be published before the summer recess begins on July 21.

Asked for comment by the Racing Post, a spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: "We are undertaking the most comprehensive review of gambling laws in 15 years to ensure they are fit for the digital age. We will be publishing a white paper as part of a review of gambling legislation in the coming weeks."

Read more on affordability checks:

'Out of control' regulator told to leave affordability checks to gambling review

Gambling Commission boss defends 'lack of transparency' on affordability checks

Affordability checks are already hurting racing's income says new BHA chair

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