A number of new consultations have been announced by the Gambling Commission in regards to financial penalties.
It is hoped that the 13-week consultations will “increase transparency and clarity” in how fines are calculated. It will also be decided whether fines are based on the gross gaming yield (GGY), or if they will start at a certain amount.
Consultations will include financial event reporting. Plan is to consider “the increasing complexity of mergers, acquisitions and gambling” in addition to “the increased globalisation”.
Kay Roberts stated that these consultations were part of the Gambling Commission’s ongoing efforts to make Britain the most highly regulated gambling market in the world.
We would like to encourage all of our stakeholders to participate in these consultations, as we will consider all opinions on the proposed changes.
Gambling Commission response to White Paper
The whitepaper on the Gambling Act Review has led to these consultations. This white paper included proposals for how the UK should regulate gambling in future. The proposals are based upon a government review of the Gambling Act 2005.
The Gambling Commission has launched an anonymous confidential reporting system earlier this month.
The launch came after the Commission published statistics showing a boom in gambling on land. Over the past year, this sector has seen a growth of over 20 percent. Business is now back to its pre-pandemic level.
The total GGY grew by 6.8% per annum to PS15.1bn (19.0bn/EUR17.5bn), for the 12-month period from April 2020 to March 2023. The total GGY, which includes all remote and land-based licensed gambling operators, grew 6.8% in the 12 months from April 2022 to March 2023.
GambleAware statistics highlight online slot machines as a key issue
The British charity GambleAware released statistics in the first week of this month which highlighted online slot machines as an area that should be taken seriously.
In 2022 and 23 over a third (33%) of GambleAware’s support service contacts were from people who had suffered gambling-related harm due to online slot machines.
Internet sports betting came in second place with 15,6%. Bookmaker machines with fixed-odds games were second, at 12.8%.
