Government says it is working 'at pace' to have white paper measures in force by the summer

The government has told a committee of MPs that it and the Gambling Commission are working "at pace" to deliver the main proposals set out in the gambling review white paper in the coming weeks.

When the gambling review white paper was published in April last year ministers had promised headline measures such as affordability checks, a statutory levy on operators and a new ombudsman would be in force by this summer.

However, as yet the sector is still waiting for firm details of plans for all those, although the government has confirmed the introduction of a statutory maximum stake limit for online slots of £5 per spin for adults aged 25 and over and a £2 per spin for those aged 18 to 24.

The government reiterated its promise in its response revealed last week to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's report on gambling regulation, which was published just before Christmas.

The report had described the government's aim of this summer as "challenging and at risk from wider political events", the committee adding it was concerned there was no mention of gambling legislation in the King's Speech and calling for a detailed timetable for the delivery of the white paper's proposals.

That detailed timetable was not forthcoming but the government's response said: "As the committee recognises, the government and the Gambling Commission are working at pace to deliver the main proposals by summer 2024.

"The government and the Gambling Commission are of the view that the new protections need to be in force quickly. This is why we took the decision to implement the proposals through a range of vehicles, including utilising existing powers, laying secondary legislation and encouraging industry-wide voluntary action.

"This enabled us and the Gambling Commission to enact reforms quickly rather than relying on parliamentary time for a bill to cover all measures."

The committee had also called on the government and Gambling Commission to ensure the white paper consultations were "thorough and receive input from an appropriate range of stakeholders".

The government claimed the consultations had helped develop understanding of the impact of proposed changes, "minimising the potential for legal challenges that would delay the implementation of our important reforms and support development of evaluation approaches".

Among the consultations the Gambling Commission has carried out was one on affordability checks, or 'financial risk checks' as they have been termed by the government.

The Gambling Commission provided an update on its proposals for checks in February, and the government response to the report said the pilot of enhanced checks "will launch this summer".

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes

The select committee had said that affordability checks would only be "fully effective" when they worked across all operators with which a customer had an account and called for the government and Gambling Commission to set out progress in the work to develop a 'Single Customer View' (SCV).

The government response did set out the work done on an SCV, but not quite the system the committee had called for.

An industry-led pilot called GamProtect involving the four largest operators has been operating since February 2023 but it has been focused on sharing information where customers have disclosed very serious markers of health-related harms, rather than financial risk.

The government revealed the first phase of the trial had been evaluated by KPMG and had been rolled out to additional operators at the start of April, meaning the scheme would cover approximately 95 per cent of the online market.

The government said financial risk check thresholds will exist "per operator", but did add that further iterations of GamProtect will expand the system to consider customers who are showing other indicators of harm.

It added "In this context, we would expect that when a risk of harm is identified, such as harmful binge spending, it is shared with operators so that a coordinated response can be taken to protect customers from harm."

The committee's report had also described the delay in the publication of the government's gambling sponsorship code of conduct as "highly regrettable" and said the government should require sporting bodies to publish the code "without further undue delay".

The government stopped short of that, although in racing's case it said the BHA had signed up to the principles of the code and was "developing bespoke provisions for British horseracing".

I Am Maximus lands this month's Grand National Credit: John Grossick

BGC Grand National campaign raises £15,000 for charity

The Betting and Gaming Council's Grand National Charity Bet campaign raised more than £15,000 for good causes.

More than 50 parliamentarians placed a charity bet on the race, won by I Am Maximus, with bookmakers handing over all winnings to the MPs' charity of choice.

Among the charities to benefit were Sir Jackie Stewart's Race for Dementia, Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare and The Fed social care charity for the Greater Manchester Jewish Community, while every nominated charity will receive at least £250 even if an MP's horse did not win.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: "I would like to thank all those MPs who took part for supporting so many fantastic good causes and for taking the time to visit constituents working in betting shops."

National reigns supreme according to Entain figures

The Grand National attracted 700 per cent more bets than its nearest rival this year, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, according to figures released by Entain last week.

The operator revealed that 82 per cent of cash bets on the race were of less than or equal to £5, and less than one per cent of bets were of more than £20.

Almost half of turnover on the Grand National was in bets of £5 or less, compared to around 30 per cent for the Gold Cup, while 30 per cent of Grand National players were having their first sports bet, were first-time depositors or had not bet since the previous year’s Grand National.

Watchdog appoints panel for spread betting probe

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has appointed a four-person panel chaired by Richard Feasey as it looks into the merger between spread betting companies Spreadex and Sporting Index.

The CMA last week launched an in-depth 'phase two' investigation into the merger after saying it was concerned the deal could remove competition for sports spread betting services.

FDJ 'pressing ahead' with Kindred deal

La Francaise Des Jeux (FDJ) last week said it was moving forward with its bid for Unibet's parent company Kindred Group.

FDJ chair and chief executive Stephane Pallez said the group was "confidently pressing ahead with the Kindred acquisition" as it announced first quarter revenue of €710 million (approx £612m), up seven per cent.

France's national lottery operator made a £2.2 billion (€2.6bn) takeover offer for Kindred in January.

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