Gambling Commission needs more time to deliver reform, says executive director

The Gambling Commission’s (GC) executive director of policy and research, Tim Miller, has said that the regulator needs more time to implement the necessary changes to deliver reform in the UK’s gambling market.  

Miller was speaking as part of a panel reviewing the current state of the UK market, led by the government’s Health and Social Care Committee.

When asked whether more work was needed to implement a shift in the UK gambling market, Miller said: “Absolutely more is needed because we are only partway through delivering this programme of reform. 

“This is a landscape that has been rapidly changing over the last few years and will continue to and so from our scope as a regulator, we are constantly shifting and adapting.  

“We’re probably slap bang in the middle of arguably one of the biggest periods of regulatory reform since the Gambling Act itself was passed. There was that rare moment of cross-party consensus that fell in behind the gambling white paper. 

“From our perspective as the regulator, we’re now two years in to actually delivering a lot of that change.” 

So far this year, the GC has announced it will be introducing mandatory deposit limits for customers, which are set to come into effect from 31 October.  

Last month, the regulator also introduced a ban on mixed product promotions from operators, meaning companies can no longer offer welcome bonuses which apply to both sportsbook and online casino.  

Wagering requirements will also be limited to 10x, with both measures coming into effect from 19 December.  

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) also confirmed the mandatory stake limit for online slots, valid from 9 April. Over 25s will be subject to a £5 online slot stake limit, with a limit of £2 set for people aged between 18 and 25.  

The DCMS also introduced a statutory levy for operators, which will see them pay between 0.1% and 1.1% of their gross gambling yield (GGY) every year. Funds raised will go towards research, education and treatment (RET) of gambling-related harm.  

Miller added the government has already taken steps to address recommendations set out in the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review, which was published in April 2023.

He explained: “The government has already committed to the two things that we want in the white paper. One was to have the powers for us to be able to require internet service providers to take down illegal websites, and that is now in the criminal justice bill.  

“The other is to give us power to be able to set our own licensing fees so that we can flex our resources to meet those changing challenges. I’ve highlighted the illegal market, for example – that is going to become more and more costly for us to address – and we need to have that freedom to be able to flex our licensing fees to meet those challenges.” 

Miller noted the GC has had to move away from “traditional ways of regulating the industry” thanks to an added threat of illegal overseas operators targeting vulnerable players.  

He also said the GC’s efforts are already leading to greater levels of compliance from UK operators.  

Miller continued: “In terms of some specific impacts that we’ve seen, the egregious breaches that we were seeing back then, often some of the biggest operators, are just not [repeating errors].  

“In our case, we are still seeing issues that we have to tackle, but those big breaches that go way beyond what’s acceptable are just not there.” 

Miller went on to hit back at claims that the gambling industry can be accused of self-regulating.

“I think it’s important to say that where things are done on a voluntary basis, I do not see that as being self-regulation,” he added. “This is not an industry that is self-regulating.  

“It’s worth remembering, although we’re the statutory regulator of Britain, every local authority in the country is a gambling regulator. The Secretary of State is a regulator of gambling.  

“So I think it would be wrong to suggest this [is a] self-regulated industry, but there are absolutely opportunities where industry can go beyond those set standards.”