According to Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) minister Paul Scully, the long-awaited Gambling reform white paper could be released within the next couple of weeks.
In Line with the Digital Era
The white paper will reveal updated conditions to the Gambling Act to bring it in line with the digital era. Mr. Scully who took the position in October 2022 is confident the results of the review will be made available within the next two weeks, after almost two years of setbacks after a tumultuous time for the UK government.Fundamentally, the gambling review will bring the outdated Gambling Act 2005 into the present digital era with a high emphasis on the protection of vulnerable players and may contain more in-depth affordability checks, plus a maximum bet on slots and casino games capped between £2 and £5.
White Paper Concerns
However, there have been concerns raised by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) in terms of a recent survey showing 70% of participants said they would not be willing to allow gambling operators to carry out affordability checks, which the BGC is concerned would push punters to the unsafe and unregulated black market gaming sites.The UK government has proposed affordability checks such as credit checks which are less intrusive be implemented rather than more strict and intrusive affordability checks.Judging by the response from the UK’s new prime minister Rishi Sunak a more heavy-handed approach would be necessary to provide more protection to problem gamblers ensuring the public are aware the UK government does not follow protectionism towards the gambling sector. Furthermore, Mr. Sunak is keen to roll out the updated gambling laws sooner rather than later to bring the gambling laws in line with the current digital era.