British MPs question coronavirus 10-point safer gambling plan
Cross party group reveals concerns over pledges from Betting and Gaming Council and calls for stricter measures
The Gambling-Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) insists the Betting and Gaming Council’s 10-point Covid-19 safer gambling does not go “anywhere near far enough”.
In a four-page letter to the BGC, copied to the UK’s five largest gambling operators, the cross party group responds to each individual pledge before proposing its own measures.
The group claims the 10 pledges are “loosely worded, do not make firm commitments and merely restate existing obligations”.
The APPG has today written to the @BetGameCouncil, @GVCHoldings, @WilliamHill, @SkyBet, @bet365, @FlutterPLC, and @DCMS @HuddlestonNigel calling on them to do the right thing and take urgent steps to reduce gambling harm during the Covid-19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/qSC3JVndkk
— Gambling Related Harm APPG (@GRHAPPG) April 3, 2020
It highlights four of the pledges as being already contained within the Gambling Commission’s existing licensing conditions and codes of practice (LCCP), claiming they should be adhered to regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We therefore have deep concerns about the ‘pledges’ which have been proposed this week by the BGC: these fall well-short of what is required,” the APPG writes.
“All are very weak, a number need further explanation and others are obligations already set out within the existing Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCPs),” the APPG added.
In response to the BGC’s pledges, the APPG has called for the implementation of five minimum requirements for operators for the duration of the Covid-19 shutdown.
These include a commitment by gambling operators to implement deposit limits on all players for the duration of the UK-wide lockdown. In its 10-point plan, the BGC said it would actively promote deposit limits, but stopped short of requiring its members to introduce them.
It has also said operator VIP accounts should be terminated, claiming that they encourage high levels of expenditure.
The BGC has recently committed its members to introducing measures to block under 25s from joining operator VIP programmes following discussions in the UKGC’s working group on VIP accounts.
The APPG said a £2 stake limit should be introduced for all online slots, as well as an end to all gambling advertising and sign-up offers for bonuses for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, the APPG called on operators to make data on players available for independent research purposes in order to assess the potential for gambling-related harm and whether any other prevention measures are needed.