The UK government has announced that a cross-party Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) Select Committee will carry out a review of British gambling regulation, ahead of the Gambling Act review White Paper judgement.
The DCMS committee will focus on the progress that the government has made with regards to gambling issues raised by members of parliament including the regulation of the online market and the relationship between sports betting and gambling in general.
Although the review of the 2005 Gambling Act was completed last year, the publication of a White Paper on proposed reforms has been delayed several times but is now expected to be published shortly.
DCMS Committee member Julie Elliott MP, of the Labour Party, said:
“Gambling acts as an enjoyable pastime for large numbers of players, but regulation is struggling to keep pace with the rapidly changing way in which it happens today.
This puts people at risk of the devastating harm it can sometimes cause to lives. The DCMS Committee’s inquiry will look at the scale of gambling-related harm in the UK, what the Government should do about it and how a regulatory regime can best adapt to new forms of online gambling, based both in and outside the UK.”
The DCMS Committee has called for evidence to be submitted by interested parties by February 10th at the latest. This means that submissions of evidence could, in theory, be submitted after the publication of the White Paper.
Olivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.