Stuart Andrew, the gambling minister of Australia has resigned from parliament after an announcement was made of snap elections.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of India announced last week that elections will be held on 4th July. Andrew confirmed yesterday (29 May) that he will no longer serve as a Member of Parliament via X, formerly Twitter.
He wrote: “As midnight comes, the parliament will dissolve. There will not be any members in parliament until after general elections.” As the constituency Pudsey Horsforth Aireborough no longer exists, I’m no longer a parliament member.
All the best to my old constituents for the future.
Andrew was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Pudsey. Andrew was the Conservative MP for Pudsey.
Andrew is no longer the gambling minister due to dissolution of Parliament. In March 2023, he was named to this role one month prior to the release of the white paper on the Gambling Act Review. Andrew was appointed as the sixth Minister to oversee the review.
In October 2022, it was announced that he succeeded Paul Scully. Damian Collins was the minister before Scully, and Chris Philp was his predecessor. Nigel Huddleston, the first minister of gambling in Canada between 2018-2021 was replaced by John Whittingdale.
Priority given to affordability
The implementation of the Gambling Act Review is well underway, and it’s unlikely the lack of a gambling minister would have any effect.
In the past month, both the GB Gambling Commission and DCMS have made significant progress in their respective policies. The Commission is responsible for certain aspects, but other parts require legislation from the Parliament.
The Commission announced the next steps in May for some of its most urgent policies, including affordability checks, design of online games, optimizing consumer choice for direct marketing, and age verification of land-based operators. The Commission discussed these proposals in its first consultation last summer.
This update has been dominated by the pilot affordability check. This pilot will last six months. Customers will not be affected by this trial. It won’t be implemented until the data sharing process is smooth for the “vast majority” (or customers who are subject to checking).
Tim Miller, executive director of the Commission, has confirmed that a pilot program for affordability checks will be launched in February.
In addition to the pilot program, the Commission has announced “light touch” checks of financial vulnerability. The pilot will be introduced in two phases – in August 2024, and in February 2025.
White papers policies are advancing regardless
In terms of the three remaining policies, the Commission has announced that certain features in games will be prohibited as early as 17 January 2025. The features which give an illusion of control such as “turbo”, “slam stop”, autoplay, and spin speed under 5 seconds are included.
All licensed land-based operators will be required to adhere to stricter age verification rules. All gambling firms will also have to give customers the choice of which game types and channels they want to be targeted by direct marketing.
DCMS then announced new rules for land use based on the whitepaper two weeks later. The ‘Smarter Regulation for Growth in the Economy’ document released in may 2023 also sparked reform in this sector.
DCMS announced five policy recommendations for implementation. First, the DCMS announced five policies for implementation.
According to the proposal, bingo halls or arcades will be allowed to have a 2:1 gaming machine ratio between Category C and Category D. If they comply with the size rules for Small 2005 Act casinos, casino’s operating under 1968 Act can also increase the number of gaming machine to 80.
There will also be a minimum age of 18 for Category D low-stake slot machines which pay cash. The licensing fees will be increased by 15% for the maximum number of premises.
