The UK Gambling Commission is aiming to make “rapid progress in a number of key areas” after Lucy Frazer published the long awaited Gambling Act review white paper, despite acknowledging that it “will likely take a number of years” to fully implement.
In a blog post, Tim Miller, Executive Director for Research and Policy, also issued a warning that despite the work that lies ahead, including over 60 areas of work for the UKGC, the regulator will not be distracted “from continuing to robustly pursue compliance” with existing requirements.
“Where gambling operators fail to meet our standards we will continue to take action to protect consumers and raise standards, whilst at the same time playing our part in meeting the government’s ambition of delivering gambling reform for the digital age,” he said.
Miller stressed that the first set of Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice consultations will be published this summer, when pre-consultation engagement with stakeholders will have begun across an array of further policy areas.
A wide variety of experiences and expertise will also inform the way that those commitments are turned into practical reality in a bid to avoid “unintended consequences for the public” evidenced in the past due to how “well-meaning policy changes” have been executed.
“The Commission will be focussed upon our role in delivering the comprehensive package of reforms that the government set out last week,” Miller wrote.
“The white paper gave a commitment to increasing our regulatory powers to tackle illegal gambling and to facilitating cross-government collaboration on a number of areas, which will help us deliver on our growing regulatory responsibilities.
“The scale of work outlined in the white paper is significant, and rightly so. This will be the dominant policy initiative for the Commission over the next few years as we move through the stages of development, implementation, evaluation and review.”
In addition, stakeholders have also been notified to consider and input each stage, with Miller informing that there will be little space for other policy developments not included in the white paper, despite the potential of increased resources.
“The government has published a white paper setting out how it wants gambling regulation to change,” it was added.
“This, however, is not a change to legislation at this point and the current rules and regulations remain the same until changes have been made as a result of consultation or as a result of a statutory change, such as legislation, for example.”
