Gambling Commission CEO slams “misuse” of official statistics in industry debates
Andrew Rhodes reveals regulator has already referred certain bodies to the Office for Statistics Regulation in clampdown
Gambling Commission (GC) CEO Andrew Rhodes has said the misinterpretation of statistics by various bodies to caveat their causes and position on the sector has been “unacceptable”.
In an open letter published today, 14 August, the CEO took the opportunity to remind “operators, trade bodies, charities, media outlets, sporting venue owners and others” about their responsibility to frame the debate around gambling in a correct manner and not to mislead.
Rhodes said the misuse of statistics to support arguments was “wholly unacceptable”, with some parties even using data which the authors of said data themselves explicitly stating is not reliable enough to draw wider conclusions.
The CEO also confirmed the GC had received, or been copied into, complaints about the misuse of statistics by another party, only for the complainant themselves to also misuse statistics to labour their point.
Rhodes said the GC has already referred some unnamed bodies to the Office for Statistics Regulation for repeated failure to correct the record.
He emphasised that the GC holds the right to “publicly challenge the misuse of statistics by any party, if they fail to correct their misstatement”.
Rhodes went on to highlight key areas where statistics had been misrepresented recently.
The regulator chief said bodies citing that just 0.3% gamblers suffer from harm is simply incorrect, with that figure relating to the entire UK adult population, not just those who have gambled.
Rhodes also hit out the misuse of statistics regarding products having varying degrees of harm. Rhodes said this was “not true and misleading”.
He said: “We know that problem gambling rates vary by activity from 0.9% of those playing the National Lottery to 2.8% of those betting on horseracing, not online, and 8.5% of those who participate in online gambling on slots, casino or bingo.
“However of course, it is not only the type of activity that a consumer is taking part in that is important in helping to determine risk but also how many gambling activities they are taking part in, as those who partake in more activities are more likely to be experiencing problem gambling.”
In his closing remarks, Rhodes stressed that among the debate, gambling-related harms and problem gambling had real-world impact.
Rhodes said: “The debate around gambling is often a fierce one but nobody is well-served by statistics being misused to further an argument.
“I therefore ask anyone commenting on this area to take a greater degree of care to ensure they are using evidence and statistics correctly, accurately and in the proper context and with any necessary caveats applied,” the CEO added.