Regulated Gambling in the UK and its Political Nemesis

In a surprisingly frank speech at the International Association of Gambling Regulators (IAGR) Conference in Gaborone earlier this month, UK Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes shared the challenges of regulating gambling in a region where it is a political platform topic.

Addressing political party pressure, Andrew Rhodes said:

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“… gambling is not a topic that falls along party-political lines. We have some exceptionally polarised lobby groups on either side of the debate. Virtually every initiative is described by someone as being likely to drive everyone to the illegal market and will destroy the industry or as being woefully inadequate by someone else.”

We have broken his speech down into its core messages to make it easy to review his statements to understand what the British government has in store for casino and betting fans, as well as the backstory to some of the recent media headlines.

 Separating Political and Real-World Needs

A significant challenge that the UKGC faces when it comes to balancing the needs of the players and the business of online gambling is the political ebb and flow surrounding the industry.

Commenting on the opposition regulators face, Rhodes said:

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“Regulators have the unfortunate role to sit between all the competing voices. Operators, lobby groups, charities, academics, politicians, the media, and a host of others who often have totally different opinions and very often have views that vehemently disagree with others. But we regulators aren’t in this line of work to make friends every day.”

One begins to realise why some of the UKGCs less well-received may have come into being given this resistance while trying to manage over 2300 internationally licensed operators and serve a gambling community of around 22.5 million people, with a staff of only 350 people.

To better support the Commission in staying focused on the issues that matter, they have implemented three key principles by which they judge their initiatives:

1. Always put the people involved first.
2. Do the right thing for them.
3. Ensure that implemented regulations work for all sides.

These might be three easy phrases to write, but they are complex to deliver consistently, especially the third option, as in matters of conflict, it is only sometimes possible to have a win-win outcome. But it will give them a guideline for addressing real-world needs rather than kowtowing to political pressure.

Gambling Community Whitepaper Review

Rhodes shared that the review of the current Gambling Act is driven by this need to protect the players and inform the longevity of the gambling sector by proactively addressing some of the criticism levied against it by various political speakers.

In addition to addressing advancements in technology and how this can change some pre-existing definitions, he listed five key priorities for the updated Gambling Act:

1. Setting the stake limit for games with high loss risks, such as online slots.
2. The implementation of an independent ombudsman to oversee player claims of unfair treatment by casinos.
3. The introduction of a mandatory levy to fund gambling-related research, education, and treatment.
4. Improve land-based gaming machine allowances and license sports betting at casino venues.
5. Future-proofing the regulator by building data and reporting infrastructures to address illegal gambling and other challenges.

To assist in the community feedback process and to allow them to analyse the consultation data they receive intelligently, the UKGC launched an online data hub.

The next four up for review in the coming weeks are:

1. How to handle age verification in different gaming venues.
2. Removing features that increase or encourage intense play in non-slot games.
3. How to give players the power to choose what direct marketing they receive.
4. The viability of financial risk and vulnerability checks.

These issues barely scratch the surface of the sixty touchpoints highlighted in the review Whitepaper.

How to Play the Regulatory Long Game

Rhodes shared with the regulators at the IAGR that the future success of the Gambling Commission is interwoven with its ability to plan.

• In the coming months, we expect to hear more from the Commission on social responsibility, gambling management tools, bonus and promotion controls, initiatives to reduce excessive and harmful gambling, and more.
• He revealed that the Commission's three-year plan includes gathering a broader evidence base across six essential categories: early gambling experiences and gateway products, the range and variability of gambling experiences, gambling-related harms and vulnerability, the impact of operator practices, product characteristics and risk, and illegal gambling and crime.
• Beyond these three years, they will run a new Participation and Prevalence survey entitled “The Gambling Survey of Great Britain". This enhanced survey has had a successful pilot. It is expected to return more than 20,000 consumer responses to essential online gambling and land-based wagering issues each year and can be run indefinitely.

While we believe it is important to be critical of gambling regulators to ensure they always maintain the well-being of the community and the industry as their focal point, this speech has highlighted how disruptive disingenuous political interference has been to the Commission’s attempts to facilitate a safe and engaging market.