Gambling Commission unveils new plans to protect children from gambling
Updated strategy follows a spate of media coverage of gambling addiction among young people
The UK Gambling Commission has laid out new plans to help protect children from gambling, including stringent testing on age-verification process.
The regulator unveiled its new plan this morning after taking advice on the issue from the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board.
Key areas of focus include more testing of age verification checks on websites, potentially increasing the minimum age of National Lottery customers to 18 and co-ordinated action with government, local authorities, operators and trade bodies.
“Safeguarding children in a digital age is complex, and what both RGSB and our research has highlighted is that it takes a multi-faceted approach by us, government, educators, gambling firms and parents,” said Tim Miller, an executive director at the Gambling Commission.
“It will take firm ongoing commitments from the Commission as gambling regulator, but also from all of those with a part to play.”
Miller added: “The advice [from RGSB] helps us to refocus and reinforce what we are doing already, and what we need to do next. For example, this year we will be carrying out targeted compliance and enforcement activity to identify and tackle any weaknesses in the age verification processes.”
The announcement comes in the wake of a flurry of media stories of problem gambling among young people, with stories in the Financial Times, The Guardian and Vice over the last week.
Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party, told the FT: “Britain is in the throes of a hidden epidemic of gambling addiction, with the rise in online and smartphone gambling a central part of the problem.
“The current laws aren’t fit for the purpose of regulating these new products. If we are to get a grip on the rise of problem gambling we need a new Gambling Act fit for the digital age.”
Meanwhile, The Guardian covered a “student gambling epidemic”, with Vice writing about a millenial gambling problem.
Last week Coral became the latest operator to be sanctioned by the ASA for hosting “child friendly” games on its website.