The leading UK charity which is aimed at dealing with problem gambling, GambleAware, has said that local gambling operators do not keep their promise to donate part of their income to fund problem gambling treatment. The charity also insisted that gambling companies should be forced to do so by law.
As reported by The Guardian, GambleAware, which is currently the largest gambling-related charity across the country, had lost its patience after the companies failed to provide funding of its gambling-related initiatives aimed at helping players who suffer from problem gambling behaviour.
GambleAware Calls for Legal Measures to Guarantee Funding
The revelations of GambleAware charity came right before the UK Government finally published it review of the country’s gambling industry, including of some hot issues such as fixed-odds betting terminals and regulation of gambling advertising.
As expected, today the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its review, concerning the regulation of gambling machines, saying that the FOBTs’ maximum stakes must be reduced, as they could lead to gambling addictions. Previously, GambleAware said that no matter of the outcome of the Government’s review, an obligatory levy aimed to help players suffering from gambling addictions should be imposed on gambling operators.
This opinion of the GambleAware charity was partly urged by the fact it has experienced a funding crisis, about which it had to inform the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) in August. A few months ago, the charitable organisation was forced to notify the UK gambling industry regulatory authority that it might not be able to pay for its work, including providing funding for the only clinic in the UK which specialises in treatment of problem gambling.
The Chief Executive Officer of GambleAware, Marc Etches, commented on the situation, saying that the recent financial problems of the charity have brought into light that the gambling industry should demonstrate its willingness to back charities such as GambleAware, in order to help them increase funding about research, prevention, education and treatment services.
Current Gambling Operators’ Voluntary Funding
Back in 2007, a deal between the last Labour Government and local bookmakers, bingo operators and online betting companies was inked. At the time when the then-Government decided to deregulate gambling, the afore-mentioned gambling operators gave their agreement to voluntarily redirect 0.1% of their revenues to charity. Now, according to GambleAware, gambling companies do not keep their engagement to provide such funding, despite operators have recently been in the spotlight as far as their commitment to dealing with problem gambling and gambling addictions are concerned.
The suggested voluntary donation of 0.1% of operators’ overall revenues would have accounted to a funding of £13.8 million in 2016. The charity organisation asked for funding of £10 million that would be used for its activities related to its nation-wide campaigns. However, it received only £8 million and issued a warning that the local gambling industry was falling far behind its engagement, considering the fact that gambling operators have provided only £4 million so far in 2017.
The obligatory levy proposal of GambleAware was supported by the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson. In his opinion UK gambling companies do not do enough to face the increasing gambling-related harm in the country, and they must be forced to become more engaged through UK gambling legislation.
- Author
Daniel Williams
