Today (26/07/2023), executive Director of Policy and Research, Tim Miller, gave an update on the upcoming Gambling Act Review summer consultations. The short YouTube video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs0DesLljFA ) encourages responses to the consultations which are now open on the Commissions website and can be found here; https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/about-us/consultations 

The following four areas form the first set of proposed changes to the regulatory framework following on from the Gambling Act Review:

Improving consumer choice on direct marketing

Intended to empower customers by giving them more control over the direct gambling marketing they wish to receive. The Commission propose introducing a new LCCP requirement to provide customers with options to opt-in to the product type they are interested in and the channels through which they wish to receive marketing.

Strengthening age verification in premises

They are consulting on removing the current exemption from carrying out age verification test purchasing for the smallest gambling premises and changing the relevant ordinary code (good practice) elements of the LCCP to say that licensees should have procedures that require their staff to check the age of any customer who appears to be under 25, rather than under 21.

They are also seeking views on how licensees make sure they have effective age verification procedures where their premises may not be directly supervised.

Remote game design

The Commission are consulting on a series of changes to existing Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards and new requirements, in order to reduce the speed and intensity on online products while making them fairer and increasing consumer understanding about game play. They are proposing a 5 second minimum game speed which targets the fastest versions of non-slots products. They are also propose removing features which can speed up play to reduce the harm experienced by consumers who are gambling particularly quickly or intensely. Another proposal seeks to remove features which may mislead consumers or create dissociation from awareness of play. The Commission are also consulting on a technical update to RTS security requirements to reflect the 2022 update to ISO 27001.

Remote gambling: financial vulnerability and financial risk

In line with the white paper proposals, they are consulting on new obligations on operators to conduct checks to understand if a customer’s gambling is likely to be harmful in the context of their financial circumstances, in the form of financial vulnerability checks and financial risk assessments (as opposed to ‘affordability checks’).

They are proposing to include the new codes for these measures in the Customer Interaction section of LCCP, the rationale being that while they are proposing new specific requirements on operators in relation to financial risk, operators should use the information obtained within their overall approach of identifying risk of harm and taking action to prevent gambling harm.

Unrelated to the white paper, they are also consulting on the following areas:

Extending Personal Management Licences requirements

Gambling licensees must ensure that an employee holds a personal management licence (PML) if they are responsible for one of the ‘specified management offices’ defined in Licence Condition 1.2.1. They are consulting on changes to this licence condition which would both clarify and extend the roles captured by this definition.

Changes to Regulatory Panels

They are consulting on a number of changes to the composition and decision-making processes of the Commission’s Regulatory Panels.

If you want more insight into the proposed changes and how they might affect your business, email us at [email protected]