The UK’s Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society and Minister for Equalities, Stuart Andrew has moved to reassure gamblers about the introduction of financial risk checks.
In an article published in the Racing Post, Andrew wrote:
“Since we published our gambling white paper in April, I’ve heard concerns across the racing industry, often covered by the Racing Post, about the impact our new regulations may have on punters and the sport’s revenues. The government and the Gambling Commission will launch formal consultations over the coming weeks and months looking at the plans in more depth ahead of our main measures – including the gambling operator levy and online slot stake limits – coming into force over the next year.
We want to support horseracing to succeed, but we need to ensure the measures designed to shield vulnerable gamblers are right. It is therefore vital we go through these crucial consultation periods.
One area I know is particularly concerning is financial risk checks. We understand most people gamble without issue and problem gambling rates remain low, so I want to reassure Racing Post readers these measures will not impact those people, or anyone who put a few quid on the horses at Ascot over the past few days.”
According to Andrew, the checks will only target those who are among the highest spending customers who incur significant losses. He stated that as much as 80% of gamblers will never be subjected to the lowest level of check. He went on to add that only 3% of the higher spending accounts will undergo detailed checks at British gambling sites.
Referring to the horseracing betting levy, Andrew wrote:
“We have begun our review of the horserace betting levy, which I know racing has been calling for since 2018. We want racing to be appropriately funded and we will look at the evidence from betting and racing. We will focus on what has changed since 2017 when we last reviewed the levy. That review brought online operators within scope and doubled the amount returned to racing over the subsequent year.”
Andrew also reiterated his claim in March of this year that the government’s white paper on gambling reform would have a minimal impact on sports.
The UK currently has an estimated 29 Million active gamblers.
Image credit: Roger Harris / CC By 3.0
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.