UKGC: Reduced problem gambling rate is not “mission accomplished”
Executive director Tim Miller insists regulator will “not use positive data as an excuse to take its foot off the accelerator” as UK consultation ends
The Gambling Commission (UKGC) has warned UK-licensed operators against complacency after the country’s problem gambling rate halved year-on-year.
The UK’s problem gambling rate was recorded at 0.3% for 2020, down from 0.6% in 2019. It stood at 0.7% in 2016, 0.6% in 2017 and 0.5% in 2018.
At the time, the UKGC said the reduction was not considered “statistically significant” as it did not meet the regulator’s 95% confidence assessment level.
Despite this, UKGC executive director Tim Miller said there was an emerging trend of a decline in problem gambling rates over the last five years during a CMS Conference speech yesterday.
“I know when I said this a couple of weeks ago it caused some debate on social media,” said Miller. “Should the Commission even be talking about data if it’s not statistically significant?
“On the other side, there were voices heralding this as evidence of mission accomplished,” he added.
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The UKGC’s wide-ranging consultation into the gambling sector amid the government’s wide-ranging review into the Gambling Act 2005 ended today.
From the outset, industry stakeholders have demanded an evidence-based approach to regulation, with the outcome of the review likely to focus on affordability, online slots and sport sponsorship.
Addressing this, Miller said: “We cannot have a repeat of the debates of the past where evidence is dismissed simply because it doesn’t support your views or trumpeted as conclusive when it does.”
The UKGC will base its conclusions on a broad range of evidence, including statistics, lived experience and research.
“In forming our advice we will want to look at the broadest range of evidence- statistics, lived experience, research. We will fill evidential gaps where we can and provide assessments of evidential value.
Referring back to problem gambling rates, Miller said the UKGC would remain “vigilant” and would not measure industry progress solely on the problem gambling metric.
“We will not move at the pace of the slowest,” said Miller. “We won’t use some positive data to take our foot off the accelerator.
“We won’t be distracted from the immediate challenges and risks by the longer-term policy debate. We will keep building momentum,” he added.