Gambling Commission 'working really hard' - but racing still waits for results of affordability checks consultation

The timetable for the Gambling Commission's response to the consultation it carried on affordability checks has slipped but it is still expected to be published in the next few weeks.

The consultation on the checks, which the government has termed financial risk checks, closed in October and both racing and bookmakers have been waiting for a full response from the industry regulator since then.

In February, the Gambling Commission did confirm it would carry out a pilot of the enhanced tier of checks being proposed by the government, while chief executive Andrew Rhodes told the Betting and Gaming Council annual meeting the full response would be published in March.

The consultation was one of a number stemming from the government's gambling white paper which was published last April.

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller

Speaking at the KnowNow Player Protection Forum event this week, Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller said: "We have been working really hard to finalise our response document to the window one consultations, taking account of the absolutely huge number of responses that we received to those."

Miller said he expected the response to be published "soon" but that the commission was working alongside the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on an exact date.

He added: "Given the range of issues that DCMS has also consulted on alongside us, it is really important that the implementation of those changes is done in a managed and coordinated way. So we are currently working closely with our colleagues at the department to finalise the publication dates for next steps on all of those White Paper proposals.

"Of course there has been a lot of discussion around financial risk checks and assessments, and responses to this particular area really did drive a lot of the engagement we saw with the summer consultations.

"We are due to set a date for the publication of the response document so I don’t have any further detailed updates on those topics beyond those that we have already spoken about publicly, in particular that financial risks checks will be subject to a pilot before any final decisions are taken on implementation."

Alongside the consultation response and launch of the pilot, details are also expected on an interim system of uniform checks to run while the pilot takes place, along with news on reform of the levy system.

Stuart Andrew: met with Lambourn trainers this weekCredit: Edward Whitaker

Stuart Andrew, the minister responsible for both gambling and racing, was in Lambourn this week with parliamentary colleague and MP for Newbury Laura Farris, where he met local figures to discuss issues surrounding the sport, affordability checks and the levy.

Among those who attended were Nicky Henderson, Ed Walker, Jonathan Portman, Tarnya Sherwood and Lambourn Trainers Association chairman Merrick Francis, who described the meeting as "very positive".

Also present was National Trainers Federation chief executive Paul Johnson, who said on Thursday: "We were very appreciative of the time that Stuart Andrew and Laura Farris took to meet with Lambourn trainers yesterday to discuss the potential impacts of affordability checks and levy reform on the sport and the businesses and people that depend on it."

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