Labour's Tom Watson calls for creation of gambling watchdog to protect consumers

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson will on Tuesday call for the creation of a new gambling watchdog dedicated to consumer protection and data transparency.

In a speech to be delivered at an event hosted by think tank Demos, Watson is set to give more details on the Labour Party's gambling policies.

They will include the creation of a Gambling Ombudsman which would be equal to the Gambling Commission and form part of a major overhaul of the way the industry is regulated and how those who have suffered harm from gambling are treated.

Watson, who launched a gambling review last September, will also reiterate his call for a new Gambling Act.

The new ombudsman, Watson will say, would provide customers with legal safeguards and ensure financial compensation when appropriate, citing examples such as a woman who spent £40,000 on gambling on several credit cards until they were declined and was encouraged by an operator to continue gambling through bonuses and free bets.

He will say in the speech: "What kind of system allows a dirty deal to be struck between an operator and a vulnerable person? Where is the framework of consumer protection?", adding: "I cannot think of a single other type of transactional arrangement for goods or financial services that would allow this type of situation: unclear terms and conditions, a lack of transparency, a lack of framework – and fuelled by predatory bonus offers."

Tom Watson says the Gambling Commission is 'overstretched'

Watson is also set to argue that the current tripartite arrangement between the Gambling Commission, the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and GambleAware – the charity which oversees the commissioning of research, education and the treatment of gambling-related harm through voluntary contributions made by the industry – needs to be restructured.

He will describe it as "asymmetrical", with "an overstretched regulator, an underfunded commissioner using voluntary contributions, and no formal recourse for consumer protection, no formal integration with the NHS".

It would be replaced by a new structure with the regulator overseeing operators, the ombudsman to protect consumers, and a specialist NHS programme to oversee the commissioning of research, education and treatment.

A number of politicians and campaigners have called for a mandatory levy on operators raising as much as £100 million to fund research and treatment of gambling-related harm

Watson will argue that a restructuring would be necessary should such a levy come into force, saying: "In no other area of government would we think that it is reasonable to have an industry levy of over £100 million without formal processes of auditing, impact assessments, training and clinical standards attached to how that levy is spent."

In February Watson called for a "culture of limits" to be introduced for internet gambling, with a system of thresholds placed on the spend, stake and speed of online gambling.

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