DCMS Select Committee to conduct inquiry into current British Gambling Regulation

‘The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) is set to conduct an inquiry into gambling-related issues raised by Parliament. The DCMS is looking to investigate the progress the Government has made to ensure regulation can keep up with innovations in online gambling sector. The Committee will also review the relationship between gambling and broadcasting and sports.

DCMS Committee member Julie Elliot MP said “Gambling acts as an enjoyable pastime for large numbers of players, but regulation is struggling to keep pace with the rapidly changing way in which it happens today. This puts people at risk of the devastating harm it can sometimes cause to lives. The DCMS Committee’s inquiry will look at the scale of gambling-related harm in the UK, what the Government should do about it and how a regulatory regime can best adapt to new forms of online gambling, based both in and outside the UK.”

In support of its inquiry the Committee has invited written evidence to be made by Friday 10^th February on the following questions:

• What is the scale of gambling-related harm in the UK?
• What should the key priorities be in the gambling White Paper?
• How broadly should the term, ‘gambling’, be drawn?
• Is it possible for a regulator to stay abreast of innovation in the online sphere?
• What additional problems arise when online gambling companies are based outside of UK jurisdiction?

A link for the call to evidence can be found here.

Chief Executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, Michael Dugher welcomed the news, and stated, ‘I am sure the Committee’s inquiry, like the Government’s Gambling Review, will be genuinely ‘evidence-led’ and has to strike a careful balance in making recommendations that are about protecting the vulnerable, while not unfairly impacting on the millions of customers who bet perfectly safely and responsibly’

It is believed the inquiry could cause further delays to the publication of the gambling white paper, projected to be published early next year.

You can find full information on the inquiry here.

For any further information or queries, please feel free to contact any of our licensing solicitors.