The gambling industry will be forced to donate tens of millions of pounds for programmes associated with research, education and treatment of gambling-related harm following another gambling reforms reversal of the country’s Government.
Apart from that, online gambling operators will have to carry out stricter financial checks on their consumers. According to reports emerging from the UK Government, so-called VIP packages will also be suspended from online gambling platforms. English Premier League (EPL) football clubs will not be banned from featuring betting and gambling operators as their main shirt sponsors.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, lawmakers have unveiled plans to reform the country’s gambling legislation and the changes were supposed to be published almost two years ago. Unfortunately, the process has been delayed several times amid ongoing political turmoil in the UK Government, which included the appointment of two Prime Ministers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ongoing review of the country’s Gambling Act of 2005 has been an initiative of the Conservative Government. The process has been overseen by four culture secretaries and six gambling ministers.
Late in 2022, the UK Government seems to have abandoned the idea of imposing a compulsory levy on the local gambling sector and preferred to leave the existing voluntary contribution system untouched, although a lot of online gambling operators are currently making little to no handout. However, the adoption of a statutory levy is apparently back into consideration, with the Government’s White Paper on gambling set to be published in the upcoming weeks.
According to some Government insiders who asked to remain anonymous, gambling companies would be legally forced to allocate 1% of their gross gaming yield (GGY) – which is essentially the profit they generate from betting after payouts – to contribute to research, education, prevention and treatment of gambling harm, raising approximately £140 million on an annual basis.
Political Turmoil in the UK Government Has Delayed the Planned Gambling Laws’ Review
For the time being, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) recommends that operators donate 0.1% to the largest gambling charity organisation in the country, GambleAware, to raise a total of £14 million. This target, however, has still not been met. Reportedly, the Government will set some limits to the stakes on online slots between £2 and £5, while the exact scope of the proposed affordability checks that would be faced by British gamblers was still under consideration.
People with knowledge of the situation have revealed that lawmakers have proposed £125 caps on monthly losses or £500 worth of losses on an annual basis before the controversial affordability checks are activated. These limits, however, could be reduced.
The former leader of the Conservative Party, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, shared that the political will had changed after former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss left the position. Both of them have previously been reported to have opposed the implementation of a statutory levy, although there has been evidence that online casino platforms were making contributions of about £50 every year under the existing voluntary system. According to Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the vast majority of the Conservative Party members would have supported the proposed reforms due to concern over potential gambling-related harm that has escalated over the last few years.
According to campaigners, who have been insisting on stricter regulation of the sector, the Government’s White Paper would represent a significant overhaul of the UK “analogue” gambling laws. Some of them, such as Matt Zarb-Cousin of the Clean Up Gambling foundation, believe that the lawmakers must also reveal how and when affordability checks could be adopted in order to prevent local gamblers from accumulating bigger losses.
- Author
Olivia Cole
