Europe

The UK’s Gambling Commission has reiterated that its affordability solutions will have little to no impact on the vast majority of British bettors amid a wave of criticism.

Affordability checks, as they colloquially are known though the Commission prefers to avoid this term, have stoked a lot of controversy lately, with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) even going as far as to say legal action may be necessary to prevent full implementation.

In a speech this week at the Clarion Payments Providers event, Ian Angus, the Commission’s Director of Policy, reasserted that the planned Finance Risk Assessments (FRAs) are “are not affordability checks by another name”.

“Nor do the proposed thresholds for an assessment limit or cap customer spend,” he said.

Commission stands by affordability numbers

The need for some kind of affordable solution for UK gambling was promoted heavily by those calling for legal reform during the 2020-2023 review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

When the review Whi..

There will be growing alarm among online gambling licensees after it emerged that the frequency of affordability checks triggered for UK players could far exceed the estimates laid out in the White Paper.

It was expected that just 3% of players would be subjected to Financial Vulnerability Checks (FVCs); however, the total observed during the initial implementation phase hit 7% – according to an update provided by the Gambling Commission’s senior policy research team of Sarah Webster and Richard Sutcliffe.

Furthermore, it is anticipated that this number will rise further when thresholds for full checks are decreased from £500 to £150.

Insights about light-touch FVCs have been provided by the Gambling Commission (GC), offering information on their impact since their implementation in August 2024, before forecasting what the next steps will be.

Looking ahead, the GC reported positive feedback from the period, but there were also concerns raised over a lack of awareness or clarity ..

The British government is swinging back the hammer to drive the final nail into the coffin of NHS England, one of three administrative bodies tasked with overseeing funds generated from the statutory levy on gambling harms.

Yesterday, King Charles III delivered his annual speech, outlining the Labour government’s legislative plans for the rest of the year. Of the various bills announced by the King yesterday, the NHS Modernisation Bill was addressed for a forthcoming application.

If approved, the bill will abolish NHS England, a body of the Department of Health and Social Care established by the previous Conservative government to oversee the planning, budgeting and delivery of NHS services across English constituencies and councils.

The abolition of NHS England is nothing new, with Keir Starmer’s government having set out plans to do so over a year ago, the return of the UK’s health service under a streamlined framework to address the nation’s most urgent health needs and region..

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has released new details on the remit of the UK’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce, five months after its creation.

Back in January, Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross made a landmark announcement that the government has set up a specialised unit to wage war on the black market in the UK. Not much else was known about the operations of this taskforce, until now.

Three key objectives

Those assigned to the taskforce will work towards lessening the influence of illegal gambling by tackling three distinctive objectives – preventing payments from and to black market operators, taking down offshore online marketing, and enhancing cross-agency enforcement to crack down on illegal remote and land-based gambling.

All three objectives will be handled by a separate Taskforce sub-group, which will assess the progress made and propose follow-up amendments.

Enforcement powers still on the cards

The DCMS added that from the outset, the Taskforce and..

The not-so-coveted upcoming affordability checks in the UK have led to Dr James Noyes leaving the Gambling Act Review Evaluation Advisory Group in an act of protest against the government, as reported by The Sun.

Noyes was invited to be a part of the Advisory Group on behalf of the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) due to his credentials as an expert in gambling policy and his advisory work as a Senior Fellow at the Social Market Foundation (SMF).

The Advisory Group itself was set up in coordination with the Gambling Commission to provide technical advice on the provisions of the 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper, which Noyes alleged has fallen on deaf ears.

No agreement on affordability checks

What proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back were the highly divisive affordability checks, which would require bettors to provide proof of financial stability if they are flagged by an operator for accumulating extensive losses – according to the government.

The ch..

The Gambling Commission is moving to strengthen the UK’s fight against illegal gambling with the creation of a Head of Illegal Markets role.

It will focus on leading high-profile investigations and disruption activity targeting black market operators, as the licensed industry in the UK continues to battle the ever-growing presence of unlicensed operators.

Reporting directly to the Commission’s Director of Enforcement and Intelligence John Pierce, the successful candidate will sit within the regulator’s Operations Directorate and play a central role in shaping and leading its response to illegal gambling across the UK.

According to the job description, they will coordinate resources across Enforcement and Intelligence functions while working closely with the Illegal Markets team, Sports Betting Integrity Unit, Legal, Policy, Strategy and Communications departments.

The regulator added that the role will play a “critical part” in supporting its broader strategy to combat illegal gam..

Entain has reiterated its calls for the UK clampdown on unlicensed betting advertising in English football, taking its case to the new Independent Football Regulator (IFR).

The LSE-listed gambling group’s urging of the IFR comes three months after its Chief Executive Officer, Stella David, made a similar request to Richard Masters, the CEO of the Premier League, to intervene on the promotion of unlicensed online gambling brands, promoted by EPL clubs.

Concerns around the visibility of unlicensed betting firms in English sports, and particularly in the Premier League, are nothing new, with the lack of intervention called out by Labour and Conservative camps.

Yet Entain acts on the frontfoot as its leadership makes a stand against black market gambling as principal tenant of its corporate strategy in 2026.

An intervention is required as 2026 sees UK gambling licences implement further compliance safeguards, with no restrictions or policies to counter black market encroachment.

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