Proposed white paper changes on betting will not take effect until after consultations - Gambling Commission

The first consultations stemming from last week's publication of the gambling white paper will be launched this summer, the industry's regulator has said.

However, while the government has outlined its proposals in areas such as financial risk checks for punters, the Gambling Commission has warned the current regulations will remain in place until changes have been made as a result of consultation or legislation.

Concerns have been expressed about the checks to which gambling operators have already been subjecting customers, whereby they have requested personal financial information such as bank statements and payslips in order for bettors to prove they can afford their level of losses.

The white paper stated that such requests for documentation should only be used as a last resort, and instead proposed a system of "frictionless" financial health checks using credit checks and open banking. The Gambling Commission has been blamed for operators carrying out more intrusive checks, although the regulator has denied mandating them. Nevertheless, the current regime will remain in place according to the commission's executive director Tim Miller.

In a blog on the commission's website, Miller said: "The government has published a white paper setting out how it wants gambling regulation to change. This, however, is not a change to legislation at this point and the current rules and regulations remain the same until changes have been made as a result of consultation or as a result of a statutory change, such as legislation, for example."

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller

Miller said the white paper contained more than 60 areas of work for the regulator alone and that it was likely implementation would take "a number of years" to complete.

However, he said rapid progress could still be made in some areas, saying pre-consultation engagement with stakeholders had begun.

He added: "Importantly, these consultations will be sharply focused on how changes are implemented. While not all, many questions of public policy have been settled by the white paper itself. Where they have, our consultations will not be an opportunity to reopen those debates."

Miller said the commission wanted to ensure "as wide a variety of experiences and expertise" would influence how the white paper commitments became reality.

"History shows too many examples of well-meaning policy changes having unintended consequences for the public due to the way they were implemented in the real world," he added. "We will not want to make that mistake."

Miller said the scale of work outlined in the white paper was significant and it would dominate the commission's schedule for some time to come.

He added: "The scale of change, even with increased resources in future, means there will be very little space for the commission to consider other policy developments not included in the white paper."

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