Major bookmakers sign up to package of safer gambling commitments

A new four-year national programme to educate young people about the risks associated with gambling is part of a package of safer gambling commitments set to be announced by the UK's leading operators on Wednesday.

The commitments follow a Gambling Commission report two weeks ago which revealed that, although fewer young people are participating in gambling, around 55,000 children are classed as problem gamblers.

The move also follows on the heels of an interim report from the Gambling Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) calling for a root and branch review of online gambling.

The chief executives of companies including bet365, Paddy Power Betfair's parent company Flutter Entertainment, GVC Holdings – the parent company of Coral and Ladbrokes – Sky Bet and William Hill, as well as casino operators, have signed up to the commitments, which cover areas such as underage gambling, advertising and the treatment of problem gambling.

The education programme for children will be delivered by the charities GamCare and Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust.

The signatories have said the commitments will be reported on regularly and publicly, with an independent monitoring and evaluation process to ensure transparency.

Flutter Entertainment chief executive Peter Jackson said: "These commitments are an important step forward for the sector in their own right and also signal a genuine desire to ensure that acting responsibly is at the heart of our businesses."

The commitments come on the same day that the new trade association for the sector – the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – is formally launched, while Responsible Gambling Week begins on Thursday.

Betting and Gaming Council chairman Brigid Simmonds

BGC chairman Brigid Simmonds said: "These are commitments that the BGC will champion and drive forward to build public and institutional trust in our industry."

The news was welcomed by Gambling Commisison executive director Tim Miller, who said: "We have been encouraged by moves across the industry in recent months to work together on player protection and we hope this programme marks another step forward by gambling companies in delivering on the ambitions in the National Strategy."

The APPG's report, which recommended a £2 stake for online slot games and restrictions on 'VIP' accounts, resulted in more than £1 billion being wiped off the value of gambling firms on the stock exchange on Monday, although some stocks made a modest recovery on Tuesday.

Gambling industry consultants Regulus Partners said the report's recommendations could hit industry revenue by £600 million and have a similar impact on the industry to the £2 maximum stake on FOBTs "but with a much broader constituency of negatively impacted stakeholders".

They added: "Avoiding a £2 stake is therefore key to overall sector profitability as well as the sustainability of a number of businesses."

That view was echoed by industry analyst Warwick Bartlett, chief executive of the Global Betting & Gaming Consultancy.

He said: "Slots are an important part of the product mix and this interim report if taken forward to a statutory instrument will reduce profitability significantly."

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