UKGC CEO: Industry must take responsibility for UK “bad news stories”
Neil McArthur says individuals with a wavering commitment to reducing harm should “find another job”
UK Gambling Commission CEO Neil McArthur has said operators should take responsibility for the “bad news stories” attacking the industry in the UK press.
Speaking at the annual CMS law conference in London yesterday, McArthur acknowledged the UKGC’s role in piling on the negative headlines through its enforcement measures, but insisted it has never been the regulator’s role to “suppress bad news stories”.
“Are the bad news stories about gambling our fault?” asked McArthur. “Maybe – but the solution sits with operators, not me.
“In 2017, we introduced a much tougher compliance and enforcement regime. We did that because we needed to significantly change the behaviour of operators and those who run them.
“There were far too many failures, too many repeated instances of lessons not being learned and – frankly – standards were not good enough.
“I realise that each press release we put out adds to the weight of negative stories, but it’s not my job to create positive stories or supress bad news stories.
“The cure lies in having good news to tell and not having bad news stories of compliance failures to publish in the first place,” he added.
The industry has made sour headlines on a daily basis since the turn of the year, provoking parliamentary debates and NHS intervention.
McArthur also used his platform at the conference to call on operators to reduce the rate of 340,000 problem gamblers in the UK.
“If you think that we cannot reduce the number of people experiencing gambling-related harm, you need to find another job,” he said.
However, McArthur added there was a consensus building on this issue, highlighting the work of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) in its five safer gambling pledges, alongside the UKGC’s own formation of three working groups to address responsible gambling issues.
The UKGC has pursued a more hardline approach towards enforcement since 2017, something McArthur said was born out of a need for “significant change” in the behaviour of UK operators.
He insisted the UKGC would continue to be tough on operators, but said the regulator was “seeing signs” that attitudes are changing for the better.