UK government launches new enquiry into UKGC problem gambling funding

The UK parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has launched a new inquiry into whether the Gambling Commission (UKGC) is adequately funded to deal with gambling-related harm.

Officials from the Public Accounts Committee will question members of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), as well as the UKGC, on how well the current regulatory framework protects gamblers.

“The industry is increasingly complex, with new risks emerging from online and mobile gambling and games that share features with gambling but are not regulated as such,” the Public Accounts Committee wrote in its inquiry documents.

This latest inquiry comes in response to February’s National Audit Office (NAO) report which called on DCMS to provide more funding to the UKGC to help it meet its regulatory objectives.

In the report, the NAO claimed the current funding structure did not allow the UKGC to be flexible in its licence fees and called for DCMS to greater incentivise operator regulatory compliance.

“The NAO concludes that even with improvements, the Commission’s ability to protect gamblers faces constraints in the regulatory framework, including inflexible funding and gaps in redress arrangements, and that the Commission is unlikely to be fully effective in addressing risks and harms to consumers within the current arrangements,” the Public Accounts Committee said.

In addition to examining funding, the Committee will also quiz officials about how current restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic could affect those susceptible to the negative impacts of gambling.

A formal virtual meeting will be held on 27 April, however no details have yet been released as to the individuals testifying on behalf of the regulator or the industry.

In the interim, operators and industry stakeholders can submit online responses to the call for evidence until Wednesday.