What to Expect from the Government’s Gambling White Paper

It appears that the Gambling White paper is about to be published. After multiple delays and three years of waiting, this will come as a relief for many of us. Initially pegged for Parliament’s return on the 17th of April, we are now being told that it is likely to come out this Thursday.

While I am assured that Government has listened to our evidence about the terrible consequences of gambling related harm, I have my reservations that the White Paper will go far enough.

The recent suspension of a Government MP for offering to lobby on behalf of the gambling industry is deeply concerning, but is indicative of a much wider issue. Gambling companies have been consistently granted meetings with staff from the Treasury and have lobbied hard to prevent further regulation of the industry. We only find out about these meetings through freedom of information requests and we do not know how many of these meetings have taken place since the Gambling White paper was first promised in December 2020. I fear that further delays to the White Paper will allow industry executives to have more meetings with government officials, in a last-ditch attempt to water down the recommendations in the White Paper.

As a member of Peers for Gambling Reform and with my own Private Member’s Bill aimed to highlight the dangers of gambling-related harm, I have been closely following gambling reform for over 8 years.

One important area of progress appears to be that the Government will now recognise gambling as a public health matter. This is an implicit acknowledgment that many forms on online gambling have been designed to be highly addictive and therefore need stronger regulation.

Gambling Advertising

Currently, £1.5 billion is spent by the gambling industry every year on advertising, the overwhelming majority of that is spent on direct marketing to individuals. Many of these adverts are viewed by children and vulnerable adults. It is not uncommon for the adverts to offer free bets and membership of VIP schemes.

One key issue is a ban on gambling advertising in sports. We understand that this is likely to be a voluntary ban. This is a welcome first step, but it is worrying that we are hearing reports that advertising may still be allowed to take place on the side of stadiums or on other parts of footballers’ clothing.

Statutory Levy

We welcome the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling profits, which will be used to fund research into gambling harms and support for those affected. Currently, the voluntary levy provides about £25 million a year to fund research, education and treatment.

This needs to be much more. A report by Public Health England has estimated that the total cost of gambling harms is £1.27 billion a year. Hopefully a statutory levy would bring in at least £120 million annually to pay for treatment.

Category D Gaming Machines

An important focus of our campaigning has been Category D machine style slot machines, which are particularly accessible to children. Research by Dr Heather Wardle has shown an increase from 23% of children gambling on fruit machines in 2011, to 40% in 2017. Access to gambling at such a young age is a clear worry, and the White Paper need to address this problem.

Affordability Checks

Gambling companies need regulation to ensure that people cannot bet what they do not have. Very recently, William Hill allowed a new customer to bet £20,000 in 20 minutes. Clearly something is very wrong here.

However, one of the issues with affordability checks is that many people bet through multiple betting firms. What we need is light-touch affordability checks, which means independent oversight of individuals to ensure they are only betting what they can afford.

Ombudsman

With very little time left in the Parliamentary session for primary legislation, there is little the Government can do to create a gambling ombudsman. There are currently seven or eight different companies that provide betting dispute resolution, but these are chosen by the gambling company and therefore they do not have the same power as a fully-fledged ombudsman.

Summary

It will be a relief when the Gambling White Paper is finally released. With an estimated 409 suicides every year from gambling-related harm, it is vital that the Government finally step up and deliver a plan to fix this. I hope to continue working on my Private Members Bill, and alongside Peers for Gambling Reform, to deliver a stronger gambling policy. It is important that we support those who are most affected by this most destructive problem.