UK commission merger consultation to close today
Discussion of potential merger between Gambling Commission and National Lottery Commission began formally in June.
The consultation period regarding a possible merger between the UK’s Gambling Commission (GC) and National Lottery Commission (NLC) is to be brought to a close today after a period of almost three months.
Opened on 31 July, the consultation is part of a wider-reaching government strategy of “increasing the accountability and reducing the number and cost of public bodies”, and has been presented as having the capability to “help achieve this aim while preserving the appropriate and effective regulation of gambling and the National Lottery and delivering other organisational benefits”.
The intention of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as stated in the introduction of the consultation, would be to abolish the NLC and transfer its powers to the GC. As required by law, it invites views for and against such a move.
It estimates that such a merger would save a net total of £166,000 per year, with the figure largely attributed to reductions in the board and senior executive, while the DCMS anticipates the number of commissioners involved in the combined body will not exceed 15.
Any merged body would be chaired by Philip Graf, who has chaired the UK Gambling Commission since April last year and was appointed “On the basis that, should the merger take place, he would
Chair the merged body
The consultation paper accepts the differences in the roles of the two commissions, paying attention to the ‘client’ role held by the NLC in terms of its relationship with lottery operator Camelot, however it accepts “The regulator will wish to ensure there will be strong competition for future licences.”
It explains: “A challenge for a merged body will be to demonstrate that it is acting fairly and is even handed. There is potential scope for legal challenge to its decisions: a risk that exists for current regulators.”
In an exclusive column for eGaming Review‘s October issue, William Hill chief executive Ralph Topping said the operator was “…Firmly in the camp that the UK needs an independent regulator, which makes gambling policy free from political interference and on the basis of empirical evidence.”
Topping described the leadership of the Gambling Commission as “remote” and “far more preoccupied with fence-sitting than explaining how strong UK regulation actually is,” however he accepted that – while “far from perfect” – it “still has a role to play and the industry has to engage to shape its future and its operational processes.”
In addition to the 17-page consultation document, an accompanying impact assessment has been published.
Full list of questions posed in government consultation:
Q1. Do you agree in principle to the proposal to merge the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission? If not, please explain why.
Q2. Do you have any concerns about a single regulator? If so, please specify
Q3. Do you agree that the measures for handling the different regulatory requirements of the National Lottery should not be prescribed in statute, but left for the Board to decide, within the usual ALB oversight arrangements? What considerations do you think the Board should bear in mind?
Q4. Do you agree with the Government’s preferred option of abolishing the NLC; transferring its functions to the GC?
Q5. Do you agree that the proposed merger will not remove any necessary protection? If you have any concerns please specify.
Q6. Do you agree that the proposed merger will not prevent any person from continuing to exercise any right of freedom which they might reasonably expect to continue to exercise? If you do not agree please give details of the rights at risk.