'The government's feet should be held to the fire' - industry demands assurances over affordability checks

The UK government needs to be held to its word that its plans revealed on Thursday to have frictionless financial checks on punters do not become something more intrusive.

That was the message from Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) chief executive Michael Dugher as the racing and gambling industries continue to digest the government's long-delayed gambling white paper published on Thursday.

The proposals included what the government described as "background checks" set at a £125 net loss within a month or £500 within a year, while a second enhanced tier of checks would come in at proposed thresholds of a £1,000 net loss within 24 hours or £2,000 within 90 days. 

Ministers said the checks should be "frictionless" and conducted through credit reference agencies or open banking, with requests for documents only used as a last resort. The government claimed only three per cent of customers would be subject to more detailed checks.

However, Dugher said he understood why punters would be anxious about what the changes might mean. He added: "It's okay for the government to say only a minority of customers will be impacted by this. Unfortunately Racing Post readers fear they are in that minority and the government is talking about them.

"We need to hold government's feet to the fire when we take this forward that this genuinely means no disruption to the customer experience, that documents are only ever going to be a last resort, that this frictionless system should replace the need for documents and there shouldn't be spending caps. This shouldn't be intrusive.

"It's not for me to do the government's job for it in explaining its own proposals but I do think the government needs to do a better job in explaining its own proposals. I think this is a good white paper but terrible presentation and I fear the government is in danger of losing the argument with racing punters."

The white paper included estimates from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that British racing's income from the levy, media rights and sponsorship could fall by as much as £14.9 million a year as a result of the financial risk checks, although BHA chief executive Julie Harrington has said there are concerns this is an underestimate.

Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Michael Dugher

Dugher said: "Racing is undoubtedly going to take a hit here, as we have consistently warned. I think that is regrettable. One of the issues around this is the extent to which racing is being listened to by the politicians. What I would like to see is racing continue to work with us in the months ahead because there is a symbiotic relationship between betting and racing and I think we need to work very closely together on the shared challenges that we face in terms of the future of the sport."

The white paper also revealed the government had started a review of the levy, British racing's central funding system, in which it would look at whether to extend it to overseas races, increase its contribution and change it to a turnover-based model from gross profits.

Dugher said: "We will work closely with racing on levy reform but it is not the panacea that some people think it is. This great sport of ours faces huge challenges. So I think there needs to be a fundamental look at what we can do together to improve the long-term financial health of the sport."

Dugher also said he had been unhappy with the government's rhetoric in announcing the white paper, with culture secretary Lucy Frazer having said that the "temptation to gamble is now everywhere in society".

"I am not sure how responsible it was to indulge in some of the moral alarmism that we had around the white paper," he said, "echoes of the religious right with talk about temptation is everywhere. Occasionally politicians do themselves no favours and can reveal just how out of touch they are."

Lucy Frazer: some of the culture secretary's observations questioned by the industryCredit: Anadolu Agency

He added: "There could also have been more acknowledgement of the economic contribution the industry makes. The secretary of state said we pay millions in tax – well we actually we pay billions in tax. There are 110,000 people in this country whose jobs depend on the betting industry and there was not a single word in the secretary of state's statement to acknowledge that."

That sentiment was echoed by Ian Proctor, chair of the UK & Ireland division of gambling giant Flutter Entertainment, parent company of Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair.

He said: "Somewhere lost in all of this is that there are millions of people who enjoy doing this, this is our fun and I think that balance didn't really come out yesterday. There are millions of people who have a bet every weekend and it's really key that we make sure that whatever we do next that we are not interfering with people's enjoyment in life, that's really important."

The white paper also indicated the £29m in reserves held by the Levy Board could be used as a stop gap to mitigate racing's financial losses while the levy was reviewed, although the BHA voiced concerns that was not an appropriate use of the funds.

Levy Board chief executive Alan Delmonte said: "We will be holding discussions with DCMS on the white paper, the projections of its financial impact and on the levy review process. The board will consider everything in the round first when it takes decisions in June about expenditure for the rest of 2023, and then later in the year for 2024."

What's your verdict on the white paper? Email us at editor@racingpost.com with the subject 'Gambling review' to share your views following the publication of the gambling review white paper

Read these next:

Gambling white paper: key plans, affordability checks and what it means  

BHA concern over financial risk checks as government reveals white paper  

Three years, six ministers and one white paper: how we got here 

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