Gambling Industry

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  • Jan.12.2019: Gambling on credit cards could be banned in overhaul of betting. Industry watchdog to call for evidence on move that would affect billions of pounds of bets a year. culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, said he would haul bookmakers and major retail banks into meetings to discuss concerns that up to 20% of deposits with some gambling firms are made using money that consumers do not actually have. The industry regulator, the Gambling Commission, will launch a call for evidence on the matter in February. The move is part of a broader crackdown that will also lead to the govt seeking to address slow progress on self-exclusion schemes, which are designed to help addicts opt out of betting. The industry’s own scheme, GamStop, was due to launch at the end of 2017 but has been beset by delays, amid concern from the Gambling Commission that people who use it may still be sent promotional material encouraging them to bet. Earlier this month the government said it would open specialist NHS gambling clinics around the country. Only one such facility is currently open. Rob Davies, The Guardian.
  • Jun.21.2018: ‘Reprehensible’ delay by the Treasury The govt’s attempt to delay implementing curbs on fixed-odds betting terminals is indefensible. The only practical obstacle seems to be the technical one of giving the bookmakers enough time to re-programme the machines. But, since the experts are agreed the task could be completed in a fortnight, it can’t be right to wait until 2020, which seems to be the official plan. The dead hand of the Treasury, which gets about £600m a year from duty on the machines currently, must be at work. “Morally reprehensible” – dissenting MPs’ verdict on the delay – is correct. A principled reform is being held up for no good reason. Nils Pratley, The Guardian.
  • Nov.10.2018: Gambling firms allow children to place bets. Gambling companies are allowing Irish children to open online accounts without checking their age. Few consumer protections are in place for punters and most companies do not require proof of age to open an account. 37 of the 39 most popular gambling sites in Ireland did not require any identification to open an account and place bets. European-wide research has found that one in ten Irish boys aged 15 to 16 gamble frequently. Jack Chambers, a Fianna Fáil TD, said: "... the industry is incapable of behaving in a sensible way, has zero interest in protecting vulnerable young people from developing gambling addiction problems, and is solely interested in generating as much profit as possible.” Aaron Rogan, The Times.
  • Nov.01.2018: Minister accused of 'betraying promise' to reduce FOBT stakes. Tory MPs and Labour press government on delay to fixed-odds betting terminals cap. Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, faced renewed criticism from the shadow culture secretary, Tom Watson, who was granted an urgent question to ask why a “verbal promise” to make the change in Apr.2019 was amended in the budget to Oct.2019. The wait is to allow bookmakers and the gambling industry to adjust to the change, as well as helping Treasury coffers, with the lower stake expected to cost £1.15bn in reduced gaming duty over 5 years. Peter Walker, The Guardian.
  • Oct.25.2018: Tory revolt over plan to stall betting reform. Philip Hammond is facing a rebellion next week if he presses ahead in the budget with plans to delay a cut to the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). The Treasury has resisted the cut to £2 from the present £100 on the ground that it would cost about £400 million in lost revenue. Jeremy Wright, the present culture secretary, alarmed campaigners when he refused this week to confirm that the stake on the machines would be cut to £2 in April. Mr Hammond is said to argue that the stake cannot be reduced until the Treasury can replace the lost revenue from FOBT machines with income from a planned rise to remote gaming duty. Francis Elliott, The Times.
  • Jul.30.2018: Casino owners donated to IEA after thinktank's pro-gambling report. The National Casino Industry Forum (NCIF) confirmed it donated £8,000 to the IEA having fact-checked a draft of the report. Senior officials at the forum met the author before it was written and received feedback on its conclusions before its launch, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian. The report was published as an “IEA discussion paper” with no mention that casino owners had been in any way involved. The report argued for more casinos to be allowed in Britain’s towns and cities, and concluded regulations were getting in the way of more casinos opening and there was “no obvious reason why a reasonably sized town or city should not host at least one small casino”. Robert Booth, The Guardian.
  • May.18.2018: Regulator unconvinced by industry problem-gambling measure. Online gambling firms could be banned from sending promotional material to customers amid concern from the industry regulator about “unacceptable” flaws in a system designed to help problem gamblers bar themselves from betting. The Gambling Commission warned the industry trade body, the Remote Gambling Association, of failings in betting websites’ new GamStop self-exclusion scheme. The commission’s executive director, Tim Miller, said he was “yet to see proper evidence of the effectiveness” of GamStop, which was scheduled for launch by the end of 2017 but has suffered delays. Labour MP Carolyn Harris led the campaign to reduce the maximum stakes on FOBTs. Rob Davies, The Guardian.
  • May.17.2018: Maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals cut to £2. The maximum permitted stake on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will be cut from £100 to £2, the govt has announced after ministers ignored pleas from bookmakers and branded the machines a “social blight”. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) opted for £2 after more than a year of furious argument between anti-FOBT groups and high street bookmakers, who derive more than half of their revenue from the machines. The change, subject to a parliamentary vote likely to take place in 2019, will reduce the govt’s tax take from the machines but this will be paid for by an increase in duty applied to online gambling. The secretary of state for DCMS, Matt Hancock, said the govt had chosen to “take a stand”. Nearly 14% of people who use FOBTs are problem gamblers, according to Gambling Commission figures from 2016, higher than every other popular form of gambling. Bookmakers across the UK make an annual income of £1.8bn from FOBTs See "Guick Guide om this article. Rob Davies, The Guardian.
  • Aug.24.2018: Number of problem gamblers in the UK rises to more than 400,000. Gambling Commission report finds more than 2m people are addicted to gambling or at risk of developing a problem. It also found evidence of an increase in addiction among those playing controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which have been criticised for allowing betting shop customers to spend up to £100 every 20 seconds. Earlier this year, the govt delayed a report on whether to curb FOBTs and limit the spread of gambling ads on television. Rob Davies, The Guardian.
  • Jul.24.2012: Gambling: The Secret Addiction. For a growing minority, gambling can wreak devastation. In the past decade, a multitude of new forms of gambling have sprung up. A growing number of problem gamblers are finding the temptations available overwhelming. The Responsible Gambling Trust is one of the few charities focused on the issue. But it is backed by the industry, with a board made up of both industry figures and independent members. It raises £5m a year from the industry to fund treatment, research and education. The UK’s gambling industry earned £5.5bn last year, meaning it spent less than 0.01% of its profits on tackling problem gambling. Professor Jim Orford, a gambling expert at Birmingham University, believes problem gambling should be recognised as a public health issue, and the Department of Health should be a leading role in setting policy – gambling is currently overseen by the Department of Media, Culture and Sport. To highlight this issue and others surrounding problem gambling, Orford has started the Gambling Watch UK campaign, aiming to oppose the relentless expansion of gambling opportunities and to campaign around, for example, the advertising of gambling. Alice Ross, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

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