Urgent reform of our gambling laws is needed. Our current legislation is outdated and analogue - we need a new Gambling Act, fit for the digital age.
- 1There should be stake limits for online gambling to create parity with land-based venues - including a £2 stake on harmful slot content.
- 2Affordability checks (with a soft cap of £100) are urgently needed and should be overseen by a Gambling Ombudsman.
- 3VIP schemes and harmful incentives must be banned.
- 4There should be a clear duty of care on operators to protect consumers from harm.
- 5A “smart”, mandatory levy should be applied to operators to fund safer gambling initiatives and research.
- 6There should be a ban on all advertising in sport, on direct marketing and on inducements. Stronger advertising restrictions on broadcast, online, streaming and social media advertising should be brought in to limit the exposure of children to gambling.
- 7The Gambling Commission is not fit for purpose - its capacity to regulate online gambling must be urgently reviewed and the Government must commit further flexible funding for the Commission, with rigorous spending oversight.
- 8A Gambling Ombudsman must be set up to protect consumers.
APPG’s Submission to the Gambling Review
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will use responses to the Call for Evidence phase of the Review to inform any legislative proposals put forward to reform, or even replace, the current Gambling Act 2005.
Latest News
The Chair, Carolyn Harris MP, has written to the Interim Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, Andrew Rhodes, about the Fourth National Lottery License Competition and prevention of gambling-related harm during the Third National Lottery License. The Gambling Commission’s response can be found here.
Letter to the Minister of State for Media and Data from the GRH APPG and PGR on Gambling Advertising
The Chair, Carolyn Harris MP, has written jointly with the Chair of the Peers for Gambling Reform, the Rt Hon. The Lord Foster of Bath, to the Minister of State for Media and Data, the Rt Hon. John Whittingdale OBE MP, on the impact of gambling advertising. The Chair’s letter can be found here, the […]
The Chair, Carolyn Harris MP, has written jointly with the Chair of the Peers for Gambling Reform, the Rt Hon. The Lord Foster of Bath, to the Minister of State for Media and Data, the Rt Hon. John Whittingdale OBE MP, following the recent session on emerging harms from online gambling.
Further to our letter of 13th April to the Prime Minister in which Members of the APPG and the Peers for Gambling Reform – joined by a range of other supportive Parliamentarians – called for an independent public inquiry into the collapse of Football Index, we have now received a response from the Minister of […]