Racecourse MPs slam insufficient scrutiny and lack of transparency as they urge a halt to introduction of 'damaging' affordability checks

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

MPs representing 19 British racecourses have signed an open letter to culture secretary Lisa Nandy urging her to halt the proposed implementation of affordability checks, which racing estimates could cost the sport £250 million over the next five years.  

The letter comes after it emerged on Saturday that bookmakers believe the controversial checks, termed financial risk assessments by the Gambling Commission, may be open to legal challenge amid fears inconsistent results from credit reference agencies mean one in five punters with an annual spend of £200 or more would face requests for financial documents.

The 19 MPs who have signed the letter warn: "We do not believe there has been sufficient parliamentary scrutiny of this policy and neither has there been a sufficient level of transparency around the results of the Gambling Commission’s pilot of these checks.

• Bookmakers threaten legal challenge to affordability checks that could mean one in five regular punters are asked for financial documents 
• Lee Mottershead: A day that could ruin lives, enrich criminals and damage a great British industry - unless Gambling Commission board members choose to be heroes 

"The pilot of affordability checks involving credit reference agencies has proved that the checks cannot be frictionless for racing bettors. The commission, however, seems intent on pursuing this damaging policy despite both the current and former gambling ministers promising that affordability checks would be introduced only if ‘fully frictionless’."

The MPs add: "We ask that you urgently intervene to reconsider this policy which was introduced by the previous government in its 2023 Gambling White Paper. The betting landscape has changed significantly since then with a booming illegal market fuelled by increased regulation and taxation on the licensed betting sector. 

"Growing numbers of people are already choosing to bet illegally rather than be subjected to intrusive checks more appropriate for securing a mortgage than engaging in a legal pastime enjoyed by millions of Britons."

Nandy has been urged to act ahead of a Gambling Commission meeting on Thursday, when the regulator's board is expected to be asked to approve the rollout of the checks.

Signatories to the letter sent to the culture secretary on Sunday represent five different political parties, and include those whose constituencies cover Aintree (Dan Carden, Labour), Ascot (Jack Rankin, Conservative), Epsom (Helen Maguire, Liberal Democrats) and Newmarket (Nick Timothy, Conservative). 

The MPs' intervention follows the threat of legal action by the betting industry in a letter sent last month to the Gambling Commission's interim chair Charles Counsell, Nandy, gambling minister Baroness Twycross and the Gambling Commission's acting chief executive Sarah Gardner.

Greg Swift: thanked the 19 MPs for their support

Greg Swift, the BHA's director of communications and corporate affairs, said: "We're grateful for the tireless support of racecourse MPs who have recognised the existential threat to their constituencies posed by these checks. The damaging blow to racing’s finances will lead to job closures in their areas, as well as devastate a much-loved sport that is the beating heart of their communities.

“This is not the first intervention by racecourse MPs and their opposition to these checks is spread across several parties. Racing communities depend on a successful, thriving and financially viable sport and the government publicly recognised that in the last budget. 

"The checks about to be implemented are in direct contradiction to the government’s public messages of support for racing and so we call on it to stop the checks and think again."

Last month the Gambling Commission provided its first update on the affordability pilot for 11 months. Helen Rhodes, the commission's director of major policy projects and evaluation, claimed commentary around checks had been "ill-informed or inaccurate" and that the pilot had given "very encouraging findings on how frictionless and speedy assessments could be".

• Affordability check results cannot be trusted, Gambling Commission told, as it moves closer to decision on controversial scheme 

A YouGov poll commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) found two-thirds of respondents would not hand over financial documents if required to continue betting, while the BGC has estimated 120,000 extra punters could be caught up in checks if they are implemented.

The damage this would inflict on the finances of British racing, as well as the impact it would have on the ability of punters to bet in the regulated market, was put forward in a letter to Nandy signed by more than 400 figures from the sport, while Dr James Noyes, an adviser to the government on gambling policy, dramatically quit his position this month, saying that plans to roll out the controversial policy without proper scrutiny were "clearly unacceptable".

In support of the intervention by MPs on Sunday, Wilf Walsh, chairman of the Racecourse Association, said: "We are grateful for the continued support of MPs representing our members in the House of Commons who have recognised the urgency of this matter. 

Wilf Walsh: warned of further financial damage to racing

"The financial damage inflicted on British horseracing by affordability checks has already been felt, and this will be exacerbated if the pilot becomes policy. We again call on the government to intervene and pause the pilot programme to allow for a thorough and transparent evaluation of the evidence."

The full letter

Sent from 19 MPs, representing British racecourses, to culture secretary Lisa Nandy

Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP
Secretary of State
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

Dear Secretary of State,

We are writing to you as a cross-party group of constituency MPs representing racecourses across Great Britain to express our deep concern over the Gambling Commission’s plan to implement financial risk assessments (FRAs) – better known as affordability checks – later this month.

This policy will cause lasting damage to British horseracing and the 59 racecourses across the country which welcome over 5 million people each year. Racing contributes over £4bn to the UK economy and £300m in tax to the Exchequer, supporting 85,000 jobs nationwide.

As this government has rightly recognised, horseracing is not only a major economic contributor but a source of skilled employment across rural Britain and an integral part of the nation’s cultural and sporting life.

It is precisely because of that importance that we are concerned about the potential unintended consequences of the Gambling Commission implementing affordability checks on horserace bettors, given that racing and betting are uniquely interlinked. We do not believe there has been sufficient parliamentary scrutiny of this policy and neither has there been a sufficient level of transparency around the results of the Gambling Commission’s pilot of these checks.

We understand that the pilot of affordability checks involving Credit Reference Agencies has proved that the checks cannot be frictionless for racing bettors. This will lead to more intrusive requests for personal financial documentation. The commission, however, seems intent on pursuing this damaging policy despite both the current and former gambling ministers promising that affordability checks would be introduced only if ‘fully frictionless'.

Nick Timothy: one of the MPs to sign letter to secretary of state Lisa Nandy

This is why we ask that you urgently intervene to reconsider this policy which was introduced by the previous government in its 2023 Gambling White Paper. The betting landscape has changed significantly since then with a booming illegal market fuelled by increased regulation and taxation on the licensed betting sector. 

Growing numbers of people are already choosing to bet illegally rather than be subjected to intrusive checks more appropriate for securing a mortgage than engaging in a legal pastime enjoyed by millions of Britons.

According to analysis by industry expert Yield Sec, one in 10 bettors is already active in the illegal market. This is not only likely to be an underestimate, but the situation will get much worse if the Gambling Commission is allowed by the government to press on with these hugely unpopular checks.

The Treasury has itself recognised the scale of this challenge, allocating £26m to the Gambling Commission to tackle illegal gambling, which grew by 522 per cent between August 2021 and September 2023. Research by the Betting & Gaming Council estimates that the drift of bettors to the illegal market will cost the Treasury £300m a year in lost revenue. Once that business has drifted from the licensed, tax-paying sector, evidence suggests it is very unlikely to return. Ultimately, this will result in a significant reduction in betting turnover on racing, with a potential loss to the sport of £250m in the first five years alone.

The racing industry was assured by the government when the pilot began that no permanent measures would proceed without ministers reviewing the outcomes of the pilot themselves, rather than relying solely on the Gambling Commission’s assessment. That position seems to have changed, with the commission indicating that a decision will be made by its board later this month.

We believe however that it is essential that the principle of ministerial oversight is upheld. We therefore urge you to ask the Gambling Commission immediately to pause any further progression beyond the current pilot phase until a full and transparent assessment has been undertaken of its impacts on racing, consumers, the regulated betting market, and the public finances.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Carden, MP for Aintree racecourse
Lee Dillon, MP for Newbury racecourse
Sarah Dyke, MP for Wincanton racecourse
John Glen, MP for Salisbury racecourse
Andrew Griffith, MP for Fontwell and Goodwood racecourses
Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath racecourse
Robert Jenrick, MP for Southwell racecourse
John Lamont, MP for Kelso racecourse
Sir Edward Leigh, MP for Market Rasen racecourse
Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth racecourse
Helen Maguire, MP for Epsom Downs racecourse
Jerome Mayhew, MP for Fakenham racecourse
Ben Obese-Jecty, MP for Huntingdon racecourse
Andrew Ranger, MP for Bangor-on-Dee racecourse
Jack Rankin, MP for Ascot and Royal Windsor racecourses
Sir Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Wetherby racecourse
Sir Julian Smith, MP for Ripon racecourse
Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley racecourse
Nick Timothy, MP for Newmarket (Rowley Mile) racecourse

Read more here:

Bookmakers threaten legal challenge to affordability checks that could mean one in five regular punters are asked for financial documents

Betting expert hits back at 'clearly ludicrous' claim affordability checks can't be assessed until they are implemented 

Affordability checks driving a 'massive worldwide money laundering issue', warns leading financial crime expert 

Affordability checks will be evaluated 'in the real world' despite calls for a pause in their implementation 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.