Only the odd clue about the gambling white paper - and no sign of its publication

Paul Scully's decision to give a speech at last Thursday's annual meeting of the Betting and Gaming Council in London did not go down well with everyone. There were mutterings about how unseemly it was for the minister to be attending the event so close to the publication of the government's gambling review white paper, questions about his impartiality and concerns about the chance for the industry to do some last-minute lobbying.

It would not seem unreasonable for the minister responsible for gambling to speak at the annual meeting of the body representing British gambling, and Scully had previously given a speech at the annual conference of the problem gambling charity GambleAware a few weeks ago. He had also met with campaigners for gambling reform.

Putting all that to one side, though, there was not much chance to lobby the minister on this occasion anyway. Scully had been answering to ministers from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the House of Commons 15 minutes before the meeting was due to begin, then he headed to the Savoy Hotel, gave the first speech and left.

Those attending did get to hear Scully speak for ten minutes or so about the industry and give the odd clue about what will be coming when the long-delayed white paper finally appears. The main message, and the most pointed comments, came around the issue of affordability checks, or financial risk checks as the minister called them.

Scully even deviated from the official version of his speech published by the DCMS to emphasise the point that it was not up to the government or the Gambling Commission to decide what someone could afford to bet. He also made a point of talking about "frictionless" checks rather than the intrusive ones currently being carried out.

In an ideal world, operators would row back the checks they have been carrying out and the Gambling Commission would reduce the pressure on operators that is leading them to carry out the checks, not only until the government's proposals finally appear but also until the end of the consultation process that will inevitably take place after publication.

That would be best for the vast majority of the gambling public and, as a result, British racing, although the industry should still be vigilant in preventing the vulnerable from suffering harm.

Chris Philp: former gambling minister favoured gambling reforms

There have been enough gambling ministers since the launch of the gambling review in December 2020 to field a five-a-side football team and Scully would certainly seem to be one of the less hostile to the industry, certainly compared to his near constituency neighbour Chris Philp.

Scully also made a point of saying how it was "important not to discount the social and entertainment benefits to customers when we think about gambling policy", although he made clear that there had been too many cases of people slipping through the net and coming to harm from gambling.

There were not too many more clues to be gleaned about other potential reforms contained in the white paper. British racing has a very real interest in what will happen around television advertising of gambling, given the importance of the ITV deal to the sport, but the wait goes on for concrete news on the government's policies in that area.

The subject was back in the news last week following the publication of academic research claiming a reduction in gambling advertising would result in reduced harm. There was also a poll conducted on Twitter by personal finance expert Martin Lewis on the subject which received more than 100,000 votes and found that more than 80 per cent of respondents wanted gambling advertising banned.

There was also no mention of whether a statutory levy on gambling operators to raise funds for research, education and treatment of problem gambling – said to be, along with affordability checks, one of the reasons for the continued hold-up of the white paper – would indeed be among the government's proposals. And the audience did not get much of a clue as to when the government's proposals for gambling reform would finally appear.

Scully said the government would "set out our vision for the sector in the coming weeks", but he and his predecessors have been saying that for a year now and nothing has appeared. Before last Thursday's DCMS questions had been ringed in the calendar as a potential publication date, but that has come and gone and time is running out to publish before parliament goes into recess next week, which could mean the earliest the white paper might finally appear is late February.

The continued delays are not doing anybody any good and the last thing needed is for any further personnel changes in government before the white paper is published to complicate matters further.

Culture secretary Michelle Donelan is due to take a short period of maternity leave this year, while Scully has been linked to the vacant position of Conservative Party chairman following the sacking of Nadhim Zahawi and, looking further ahead, a bid to be London's next mayor. So it would be best if the process does not drag on.

However, as Scully made clear last week, the white paper is just one stage of the process and the debate over affordability checks and other aspects of gambling reform is set to continue for some time yet.

Read these next:

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Minister rebukes Gambling Commission over intrusive affordability checks 

At last, common sense on affordability checks  

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