A new UKGC industry forum is in place to help the regulatory authority understand the industry better from the operators’ point of view. (Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash)
A pathway into the UKGC has been made easier for operators within the UK gambling industry via a UKGC Industry forum. From what I have read, it is a way to bridge the gap between operators and the regulatory authority.
The forum is open to those involved in the UK gambling industry, which is any stakeholder in the business. This will help the UK’s gambling authority understand how things look from the operator’s perspective. That means the likes of 888 Holdings, which operates Mr Green, William Hill, 777 Casino, and 888 Casino. Also, operators such as 21 Casino, NetBet, LeoVegas, Platin Casino and other gambling entities are on the Casinoplusbonus UK online casinos lists.
The forum could help with regulatory decisions in the future and help the UKGC understand operators better. It will involve advisory groups and a number of research panels to feed stats to the UKGC.
All-in-all, the UKGC is attempting to improve communications across all stakeholders involved. However, the forum will be a formal and transparent way of achieving the communication goal. We certainly don’t want a repeat of news reports of top gambling companies winning and dining or giving government ministers special seats at sports events.
UKGC Works in Favour of Operators: One of the reasons for the forum could also be because of the UKGC’s reversal on banning gambling ads. There was plenty of industry backlash, and the forum might help those against ads understand the stats while operators can better understand the backlash of problem gambling.
Parties the UKGC Mentioned Would be Involved
As mentioned, a variety of stakeholders from the UK industry will be involved. The aim specifically stated in the UKGC announcement on its website “[it] will be to provide the Commission with further insight into operators views”. Access to this report is at the bottom of this news report. The new UKGC Industry Forum is already looking for someone to fill the position of ‘Chair of the Forum’ to control proceedings on a 3-year deal. On top of this, 10 more reps will join the forum’s chair to ensure multiple views.
In the official report on the UKGC website – New Gambling Forum –Marcus Boyle, Commission Chair, said: “We’ve always listened to the industry’s views when deciding how best to make progress, but this new forum will give us another way to work with representatives”.
Here are some of the stakeholders listed in the UKGC announcement:
- Lived Experience Advisory Panel
- Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and the Digital Advisory Panel
- Consumer Research committees
Is this something that could have been earlier?
It is probably a little late. Or should I say something the regulatory could have brought in earlier? I say that because, as we have seen Aspire Global fold due to a mega fine, Energy Casino and other online gambling establishments leave the UK. Many have stated they left because the rules are either too strict or unclear, thus increasing the risk of fines.
On the other hand, hindsight is a wonderful thing, it is clear that by opening the forum, the UKGC is trying to help, and under the leadership of CEO Andrew Rhodes since June 2022 and Marcus Boyle at the end of September 2021, there have been several mechanisms put in place to help two sides of the coin.
- The responsible gambling advocates: The non-profits who see the harms of gambling every day put pressure on the government to tighten the rules.
- The operators: The people who see the fun and entertainment gambling brings. Plus, these companies create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK.
There are always those politicians who are not doing the job they are supposed to do and point the finger at gambling to divert attention away from their failures to keep happy. However, the UKGC industry gambling forum is there to bring facts and figures to the table. This means that those lazy ministers who deflect from their failures can be met with cold, hard facts.
For more information and a deeper look into what is happening in the UK’s gambling industry, a great place to start is reading the White Paper PDF, which you will find at the bottom of the Gambling White Paper Reactions news report.
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