BHA 'hugely disappointed' as levy talks founder following general election announcement

The BHA has described its huge disappointment at the last-minute failure of an agreement with bookmakers on the levy, claiming a deal had been done on Wednesday before the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) withdrew its support due to the general election.

Those claims were subsequently rebutted by the BGC, who in turn claimed that no deal had been agreed and that the BHA had "regrettably rejected repeated offers".

Discussions have been taking place on a deal since last year and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had been due to update parliament on their progress this week. However, prime minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call a snap election halted the talks.

Last year the government began a review of the levy system, having promised to ensure racing did not suffer financially from the effects of the affordability checks contained in its gambling white paper.

Ministers called on racing and betting to come up with a voluntary deal to increase the sport's levy income, but talks between the two sides have dragged on without coming to an agreement.

On Thursday morning the BGC revealed the election had prevented an agreement being reached.

Julie Harrington: "We will continue to engage in a spirit of genuine goodwill with the next government"Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

BHA chief executive Julie Harrington said: "The BHA is hugely disappointed that a new deal to secure an improved levy that delivered significant extra funding for the sport could not be finalised during the final days of the parliamentary session.

"After months of painstaking negotiations between racing, the government and the betting industry, a deal was yesterday agreed between the sport and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and we had hoped it would be announced today.

"Regrettably, the Betting and Gaming Council this morning withdrew their support because of the election. We are pleased that they have said that under the next government they will work to find ways to ensure betting operators support the sport in the future."

Harrington thanked culture secretary Lucy Frazer, gambling minister Stuart Andrew and DCMS officials for their efforts in trying to come to an agreement.

She added: "The BHA, and members of the Gambling Strategy Committee, on behalf of British racing negotiated in good faith to agree a deal that would deliver extra funding to the sport now and look at ways to put its financial future on a more sustainable footing.

"We will continue to engage in a spirit of genuine goodwill with the next government, and the betting industry, to agree a fairer funding arrangement that delivers for the second most-watched spectator sport in Britain and one of our country's greatest sporting and cultural assets."

Earlier on Thursday the BGC had said it had "worked extremely hard, engaging in good faith and constructive dialogue with the British Horseracing Authority and the government" on racing's future funding.

However a spokesperson added: "Despite this positive engagement, an agreement was unable to be reached before the government chose to call a general election. Our members will continue to deliver significant funding to racing via the levy, media rights, sponsorship, promotion and advertising, which is essential to growing the sport.

"We will, of course, continue to work with the leadership of British racing and the next government, whichever party is elected, to support the sport into the future."

Asked later about the BHA claims that a deal had been agreed, the spokesperson said: "To be clear the statement from the BHA is incorrect. For the record no deal was agreed. We made it very clear to DCMS that we could not agree draft proposals suggested by the department, including for a further review into the funding of British horseracing.

"Nor would we agree to any proposals being negotiated with the BHA on any changes to the levy until we were satisfied that any wider government review would not prejudice these proposals.

"The BGC made it clear throughout that nothing was agreed until everything was agreed. We understand the frustration of BHA members who feel they have been left empty handed. But they should reflect on the fact that the levy is now at record levels and that BHA regrettably rejected repeated offers made by the BGC over several months, long before the government chose to call a general election."

Minister Stuart Andrew urged racing and bookmakers to come to a levy agreementCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

On Thursday morning Stuart Andrew had again urged racing and bookmakers to come to an agreement on levy reform.

He was speaking at DCMS questions in the House of Commons, with his answer coming in response to a question from Matt Hancock MP on what steps the DCMS was taking to support the racing industry.

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