A.J. Koehn

Shortly after calling for an increase in Category B Machine Gaming Duty, the Social Market Foundation (SMF) is now suggesting major reforms to the UK’s public health policies where problem gambling is given the same priority as alcohol-related harm, substance abuse and smoking cessation.

According to the think-thank, current problem gambling services are a post factum phenomenon in their majority across the UK. Therefore, the central government and local authorities as an extension to that central power must take a different approach, equipping first responders with questions on gambling in patient questionnaires as standard.

SMF’s proposal follows years-long debates in the UK where health experts and politicians have pondered whether gambling should be treated as a public health concern. So far, this rhetoric has failed to find solid ground, as only 2.7% of the adult population has been identified as problem gamblers.

Nevertheless, SMF believes that prevention is key to maintaining..

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has told SBC News that it is keeping “all options” open as the Gambling Commission presses ahead with plans to implement the most stringent level of customer finance checks.

On Tuesday 7 July, the Commission announced that Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) are now in the pipeline. FRAs are the second of two layers to finance risk checks, the most widely used and least stringent being Financial Vulnerability Checks (FVCs).

“We are considering the Commission’s latest announcement and all options available to us,” a BGC spokesperson told SBC News.

“No decisions have been taken at this stage.”

The measures have been colloquially called ‘affordability checks’ by the industry and gambling law reform advocates since the early days of the 2020-2023 review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

The White Paper on this review proposed financial risk checks when published in April 2023.

Over the following years, this concept has morphed into FVCs and FRAs – the for..

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has revealed to SBC News that a consultation “will go live soon” as it looks to ban unlicensed operators from sponsorship deals in British sport.

It comes as licensed operators in the sector, namely Ladbrokes Coral owner Entain, grow more and more frustrated about the presence of black market bookmakers in the Premier League despite being subject to a voluntary front-of-shirt sponsorship ban.

The front-of-shirt ban has driven numerous operators, both unlicensed and unlicensed to look for alternative sponsorship routes, yet a ban on unlicensed operators sponsoring British sports will not come into place until the 2027/28 at the very earliest.

Licensed firm Betano has secured a deal to become Tottenham’s training kit sponsor, for example, while UK-focused (and licensed) Midnite has agreed deals with four Championship sides in Sheffield United, Middlesbrough, Wolves and Southampton.

The ban also comes at a strenuous time for UK oper..

The Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee has written to the Gambling Commission regarding the latter’s decision to go ahead with Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs).

It is the latest in a series of unwinding events which have followed the Commission’s FRA revelations on Tuesday morning.

The Commission and Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have both faced criticism from horse racing representatives and from Conservative MPs for not taking the issue to parliament.

CMS Committee Chair, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, set out five key questions in a letter addressed to Sarah Gardner, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Gambling Commission.

CMS Committee’s questions to the Gambling Commission:

1. Will the Commission publish the full dataset, evidence base and methodology that informed its decision to proceed with Financial Risk Assessments and to determine the proposed thresholds?

2. The Commission has stated that Financial Risk Assessments should reduce the need for doc..

Liverpool City Council has joined the Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA), becoming the latest local authority to back calls for tighter restrictions on gambling advertising as part of its wider strategy to reduce gambling-related harm.

The move follows the launch of the council’s Reducing Gambling Harms Action Plan earlier this year, which sets out measures to improve early intervention, increase access to support services and reduce residents’ exposure to gambling marketing.

According to the council, around one in six young adults in Liverpool experience gambling-related harm, with men and people facing financial disadvantage considered most at risk.

It said gambling-related problems can contribute to debt, poor mental health, relationship breakdown, homelessness and contact with the criminal justice system.

The council said joining CEGA would strengthen its efforts to address what it described as the normalisation of gambling through widespread advertising across television, s..