Gambling Minister moves to reassure punters over financial risk check fears
Stuart Andrew insists 80% of people will “never be impacted” by checks as he commits to supporting horseracing in blog post
Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew has insisted financial risk checks will not impact the vast majority of punters ahead of the upcoming white paper consultations.
Writing in the Racing Post, Andrew moved to reassure concerned parties over the impact of the measures, commonly known as affordability checks, and said only a small fraction of bettors would be hampered by the new intrusion.
Financial risk checks are set to make up part of the first tranche of consultations undertaken by the Gambling Commission (GC) this summer following the publication of the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review back in April.
Andrew said he was aware that financial risk checks were “particularly concerning” to punters but stressed they would not result in a material impact to bettors.
Andrew said: “We understand most people gamble without issue and problem gambling rates remain low, so I want to reassure these measures will not impact those people, or anyone who put a few quid on the horses at Ascot over the past few days.
“The checks will only look at whether the highest-spending customers’ losses are a sign their gambling is out of control. Eighty percent of people will never be impacted by even the lowest-level of check. Only about three percent of the highest-spending accounts will have more detailed checks.”
Elsewhere, Andrew added that the review of the horserace betting levy was underway, and that he wanted the sport to be “appropriately funded”.
On horseracing, Andrew added: “I said back in April the white paper’s impact on the sport would be minimal. I stand by this.
“I continue to meet regularly with representatives of the betting and racing industries and will continue to listen to them to make absolutely sure we get an outcome which will support racing for many years to come,” he concluded.