Government says it is 'pushing hard' for racing and betting to agree voluntary levy deal

The government has said it is "pushing hard" for racing and betting to agree a voluntary deal on the levy as it responded to a plea from a number of political heavyweights calling on ministers to help restore the sport's finances.

The call came in the form of a letter sent this week to culture secretary Lucy Frazer by former minister Lord Herbert of South Downs and signed by former cabinet members Matt Hancock, Priti Patel, Ben Wallace and Nadhim Zahawi, his fellow former ministers George Freeman and Lord Soames, and incoming Jockey Club senior steward Baroness Harding.

It had asked ministers to raise the levy rate and extend the sport's funding system to capture a share of money bet on overseas racing by British punters, along with a call for the government to drop affordability checks on punters, or at least give racing a carve out from the proposals.

When the government published its gambling white paper last April it promised to review the levy to ensure racing did not suffer financially from the impact of affordability checks, or financial risk checks as it has called them.

Racing and betting were, though, asked to come up with a voluntary deal by ministers who have said there is no legislative opportunity to make changes.

Gambling minister Stuart Andrew is expected to report back to parliament on the progress of those talks, which have run since last summer without a conclusion, in the coming days.

Lord Herbert of South Downs: has warned of the impact of affordability checks on British racing

Asked for a comment on Lord Herbert's letter, a spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: "We're pushing hard for all parties to agree a deal on the horserace betting levy that ensures sufficient funding for the sector, alongside the introduction of financial risk checks."

Racing and its political supporters have been lobbying the government about the potential impact of the two-tiered system of affordability checks, which it is estimated could cost the sport in Britain £250 million in revenues over the next five years.

The Lord Herbert letter had called on ministers to adopt the package of measures outlined within it to "repair the perception that government policy has, regrettably if unintentionally, undermined the nation's second most popular spectator sport".

The DCMS spokesperson added: “We have been clear all along that these checks will be frictionless and will replace the onerous and ad-hoc checks that are currently being conducted by betting companies. 

"These checks are part of a wider range of measures being introduced to protect those most at risk of gambling harm and the Gambling Commission will publish their response to the consultation soon.”

The culture secretary is expected to respond to Lord Herbert's letter in due course.

Read these next:

Heavyweight political allies of racing call on ministers to drop affordability checks and reform the levy 

Rishi Sunak 'aware of the issues' after MPs voice affordability concerns to prime minister 

Government says it has been 'listening carefully' during development of interim solution to affordability checks 

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