Gambling Minister: Current affordability checks are “nothing to do with government”

Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew has claimed existing affordability checks being put in place by operators are nothing to do with the government.

In an interview with ITV Racing at Cheltenham, the Conservative MP said the measures, that have been met with ire from the industry, are not as a result of the government intervention as no legislation has been passed.

The affordability check measures were included in the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review which was released in April 2023, with a consultation into the proposals closing in October.

The Gambling Commission and government are set to provide further details on the rollout of affordability checks in the coming weeks, with a pilot scheme already having been confirmed.

During the interview, Andrew claimed that 80% of customers would face so-called “frictionless checks” before adding that the measures will be put in place to prevent gambling-related harm for a small percentage of bettors.

Andrew began the interview by stating he wanted to “clear up some myths” in regard to the checks.

The MP said: “I recognise that at the moment, there is an inconsistent approach going on. I want to stop all of that. What I want to bring in is a streamlined approach that deals with the issue of these affordability checks so that the vast majority of people who are here today enjoying gambling safely and [can] continue to do so.

“But, there are those background checks that people will not know are going on that will identify those people who may be entering gambling harm, and it is the responsibility of us to ensure that we have those mechanisms in place.”

However, Andrew said the affordability checks being administered by operators currently, were nothing to do with any direct intervention from the government.

He asserted: “Let me make this really clear. The affordability checks that are happening now are nothing to do with government. We haven’t put in any legislation yet.”

When pressed by interviewer Matt Chapman on the fact operators have been putting measures in place in anticipation of the checks becoming compulsory, Andrew replied: “When I got the gambling brief, I asked the Gambling Commission and industry to come together to see what they could do in the interim period, before we get a more consistent approach.

“Some in the industry are telling people how much money they can spend. That may be part of their terms and conditions, it may be part of affordability checks. It is not for me to say what people should be doing with their money but it is for me to say that we have systems in place that identify the people who are maybe getting into harm.”

Andrew proceeded to swerve answering a question on driving customers to the black market, but chose to emphasise that the measures were designed for the whole gambling ecosystem, not just horseracing.

In a separate interview with Racing TV’s Nick Luck, also at the festival, Andrew stressed the government was not trying to threaten the horseracing industry.

He also doubled down on comments made in the ITV Racing interview regarding the government’s adjacency to affordability measures implementation thus far.

Andrew said: “What’s happening now, which is not as a result of anything that government has done, is what’s causing the problem.

“We want to make sure that it’s a much more simplified process [and] it is one that people don’t even notice is happening; it’s all in the background. That’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

Image credit: UK Parliament / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/