How will the new National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms impact online operators?

In April we launched the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, a three-year strategy which will drive and coordinate work to bring a lasting impact on reducing gambling harms. It’s the first time health bodies, charities, regulators and businesses will come together in partnership to effectively tackle the issue.

And the focus is on two areas: prevention and education, and treatment and support. Prevention and education refers to making significant progress towards a clear public health prevention plan which includes the right mix of interventions, while treatment and support relates to delivering national treatment and support options that meet the needs of users.

As part of the strategy we have also promised to explore the establishment of a new National Research Centre and the first steps are being undertaken to pilot the approach of a National Data Repository for research purposes.

But what does this mean for the online sector specifically?

Remote operators are ideally placed to lead the way in reducing gambling harms. They hold valuable data on consumers, which can be used to inform innovative methods of communicating safer gambling messages, and research into new tools for consumers to manage their gambling. This data can also be used to identify those consumers who may be at an increased risk of harm, and to take action tailored to those individuals.

As well as having access to consumer information, we know that the remote sector is increasingly collaborating on activities to promote safer gambling. The consultation on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms that we conducted earlier in the year demonstrated comprehensive buy-in from the industry, but what the strategy requires is for businesses to commit to be a part of a coordinated effort to reduce gambling harms and implement what works.

As part of the National Data Repository, we are going to be examining patterns of play to understand how they vary across different environments, products and characteristics. This will help us to better understand if, how and why some gambling products are more harmful than others. To achieve this, online operators will need to regularly share data with us and we are pleased to see some businesses working with us.

A key enabler of the strategy is evaluation, taking a mature and transparent approach to identify what works, and crucially, what doesn’t work, and how through collaboration between the industry, public health bodies, third sector organisations and regulators, we can share best practice to accelerate progress.

So, what are the next steps?

In the coming months we will be publishing our collective implementation plan for the strategy. We will be asking the online businesses to help populate this plan with the clear commitments they will deliver under the strategy, alongside regulators and public bodies.

This plan will set out roles and responsibilities and will enable us to embed the actions we all need to take on prevention and education, and treatment and support.

The implementation of the strategy will be an evolving process, and one that should adapt according to the needs of the consumers, and as we learn more through research, collaboration and evaluation. For online operators we want you to set out clearly your joint commitments to the strategy, so that we can support you to innovate and collaborate to reduce gambling harms.

This is a three-year strategy but the two strategic priority areas of prevention and education, and treatment and support will continue to drive activity to reduce gambling harms over the life of the strategy and beyond.

Helen Rhodes heads up the Gambling Commission’s safer gambling team, leading the Commission’s policy and work connected with protection of children and those in vulnerable circumstances. During her time at the Commission, she has worked across a wide range of policy and implementation areas, most recently leading the development of the Commission’s new three-year strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.