Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about gambling regulation.
The Government has now published its White Paper ‘High Stakes: gambling reform for the digital age’, and this is available on the government website.
The Secretary of State, Rt Hon. Lucy Frazer KC MP, introduces the Paper and sets out its objectives:
‘At the heart of our Review is making sure that we have the balance right between consumer freedoms and choice on the one hand, and protection from harm on the other. It has become clear that we must do more to protect those at risk of addiction and associated unaffordable losses. We must also pay particular attention to making sure children are protected, including as they become young adults and for the first time are able to gamble on a wide range of products. Prevention of harm will always be better than a cure, so we are determined to strengthen consumer protections and prevent exploitative practices.
This can and should be done in a proportionate way. Millions of us enjoy gambling every year and most suffer no ill effects, so state intervention must be targeted to prevent addictive and harmful gambling. Adults who choose to spend their money on gambling are free to do so, and we should not inhibit the development of a sustainable and properly regulated industry which pays taxes and provides employment to service that demand. What we will not permit is for operators to place commercial objectives ahead of customer wellbeing so that vulnerable people are exploited.
This white paper outlines a comprehensive package of new measures to achieve these objectives across all facets of gambling regulation, building on our work over recent years. Working with the Gambling Commission and others, we will now make online gambling safer with an overhaul of game design rules to remove the features known to exacerbate risks, and put new obligations on operators to prevent unchecked and unaffordable spending. We will tackle aggressive advertising practices like using bonuses in ways which exacerbate harms. We will also develop independent messaging that raises awareness of the risks of gambling harm while helping to remove the fear of stigma that stops people coming forward for help. We will work with the industry to create an ombudsman to adjudicate complaints and order redress when things go wrong. We will modernise the rules for land-based gambling and make sure that all gambling, be it online or offline, is overseen by a beefed up, better funded and more proactive Gambling Commission which can make full use of technology and data to keep abreast of the industry.’
Thank you again and I hope that this is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Mel Stride MP
MP for Central Devon
