GC confirms financial risk checks to make up first tranche of white paper consultations

Gambling Commission (GC) deputy CEO Sarah Gardner has revealed the regulator will publish its first tranche of white paper consultations next month.

Speaking at the KPMG Gibraltar eSummit, Gardner lifted the lift on the GC’s plans around delving into the proposals put forward in the government’s white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review.

The deputy CEO said that the consultations will last for 12 weeks, and the entire process will take “several years” given the breadth of the white paper.

Gardner reminded the audience that the policy paper contains more than 60 areas of work to implement.

Beginning this summer, the GC will begin consultations into age verification in retail premises, financial risk and vulnerability checks, cross-selling and the removal of features which increase play intensity.

A second tranche of consultations will then begin in the autumn, with the topics yet to be confirmed by the GC.

The consultations will involve operators, trade bodies, consumers and those with lived experience of gambling-related harm.

Gardner said: “We want to get implementation of the Gambling Act review white paper right. And that means it’s worth taking time to do things like consultations and structured implementation timetable properly. Less haste and more speed will be our approach.

“We are determined to make progress quickly. But I’m sure I’m not the only one who has seen over the years examples of well-meaning policy changes having unintended consequences for the public due to the way they were implemented in the real world,” she added.