The Gambling Commission has issued an update about its plans for implementing the review of the Gambling Act 2005 in the UK government’s Gambling White Paper.  In particular, it plans to issue a series of consultations about its implementation later this month. 

As well as the proposed consultations (see more detail later), the Commission has already been taking action to implement the proposals in the White Paper.  For example, it has issued a consolidated guide about white labelled services and plans to publish web content about its approach to vulnerability.

It is also working to improve the evidence base for gambling in Great Britain. As part of this, it has published updates about its work to improve its participation and prevalence statistics and the publication of its three-year evidence gaps and priorities review.

However, readers should be aware that six new consultations are on the way.  The first four are relevant to the Gambling Act review and will cover:

  • age verification in premises;
  • remote games design: building on earlier work on online slots, the Commission plans to consult on similar protections for other online casino games;
  • direct marketing and cross-selling, with the aim of ensuring that consumers have more control over the direct marketing they receive; and
  • financial risk and vulnerability checks for remote operators.

The final two will cover the rules around personal management licences and procedures for regulatory panels.

Once these consultations are complete, the Gambling Commission will be consulting on further Gambling Act Review commitments, including:

  • socially responsible inducements; and
  • gambling management tools.

As well as the consultations, the gambling industry is making voluntary commitments to implement the Review, such as the ombudsman and single customer view.  In addition, the Gambling Commission is advising the government on amending aspects of the legislation and on implementation of these changes. In terms of the proposed levy, the Commission points out that the government will lead on the creation of a statutory levy, including deciding the destination of such funding. The Gambling Commission will collect the levy and distribute in line with the government’s direction. It will need to consider the impact of a levy system on the destination of any future regulatory settlements.

The Gambling Commission wishes to proceed as quickly as possible with the reforms, but the full implementation will nevertheless take several years, as the regulator is legally obliged to consult on any changes and is moreover keen to avoid getting it wrong – as pointed out previously by the Commission's Executive Director for research and policy, “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. We will not want to make that mistake.”