UK Government Launches Review on the Gambling Act 2005

After a long debate on the outdated nature of the United Kingdom’s gambling laws, the 15-year-old Gambling Act 2005 is set to undergo a comprehensive audit that will overhaul the UK gambling sector. One of the biggest drivers of this wide-ranging review is the rapid changes that have been brought about by online betting particularly in the last decade.  

Oliver Dowden, the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport released a statement on Tuesday about the matter saying that; 

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“Whilst millions gamble responsibly, the Gambling Act is an analogue law in a digital age. From an era of having a flutter in a high street bookmaker, casino, racecourse or seaside pier, the industry has evolved at breakneck speed.

This comprehensive review will ensure we are tackling problem gambling in all its forms to protect children and vulnerable people. It will also help those who enjoy placing a bet to do so safely. This builds upon our clear track record of introducing tough measures to protect people from the risk of gambling harm - banning the use of credit cards, launching tighter age verification checks and cutting the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals.”

What Does the Gambling Act 2005 Currently Say?

The primary objective of the Gambling Act 2005 was to consolidate the gambling laws that existed back then and to revamp the structure of industry regulations from internet gambling, casinos, and betting kiosks that offer fixed odds betting services. More importantly, the Act lays out industry regulations under three pillars;

• Prohibits the association of gambling with any form of crime whatsoever,
• Emphasizes the fairness and transparency of the practice
• Underscores the protection of youngsters and vulnerable players to prevent gambling harm or any form of exploitation by the activity

On top of that, the legislation launched a new unified oversight body, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) to supervise industry activity and assist with the implementation of the regulations.

Since the legislation took effect on 1st September 2007, the UK gambling market has experienced exponential growth and the competition among operators continues to get stiffer. Given that the Act allowed gambling advertisements, the industry became a booming business, with the gross gambling yield shooting nearly by twice as much between 2009 and 2019, from £8.4 billion to a whopping £14.3 billion. 

But then, as the industry swelled, the percentage of players who identified as problem gamblers also increased significantly from 0.9% in 2012 to 1.2% in 2016 based on data collected by the NHS.

What Changes Should We Expect From this Review?

The current review will mostly focus on introducing a fresh set of restrictions for players and industry marketing, and UKGC’s powers will also be assessed as part of an evidence-based approach to take a closer look at how the sector has evolved over the last decade and a half.

As such safer gambling measures such as the introduction of limits on stakes and expenditure, plus limits on advertisements and bonuses will be explored. Moreover, during the review process, the government will also determine whether there is a need to implement additional protections for young adults to prevent gambling harm.

Part of the plan is also to roll out more effective solutions that can assist customers to take action whenever they feel that operators are breaching regulations in cases of intervention for patrons who show signs of compulsive gambling, and how youngsters can be protected from gambling-related harm.

New Changes that Already Took Effect

It’s worth noting that as serious as this review is, it doesn’t mean that nothing has been done to prevent the UK gambling industry from going haywire. There was the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 that was introduced to close loopholes that the 2005 Act had left unchecked. The 2014 legislation brought more controls to the industry, for example by making it a requirement for offshore online operators serving the UK market to have a UKGC license.

Come April 2019, the maximum permissible stake fixed-odds betting terminals was slashed from £100 to £2, and from what has been going on, the same might be implemented for online gaming. As for 2020, a ban on gambling using credit cards was introduced for UK players in April in a bid to prevent players from gambling with money that they don’t have.

The latest change that has been announced for the UK market is increasing the age limit for playing National Lottery games from the current 16-year-old threshold to 18 years. This new regulation will take effect in October 2021.